Best Free Pokies Casinos in New Zealand 2024

Playing free pokies is as easy as playing them for real money. When you launch these games, you get free credits that you can use to spin the reels. Just keep in mind that whatever winning combination you land doesn’t earn you cash; you have to play with real money for that to happen. Regardless, free games offer you the same experience as playing for real money. Almost all online casinos provide free access to nearly all of their pokies so NZ players can try the game’s features and get a closer look at what they offer without risking their money. Some casinos require signup to get access to free games, while others are available to non-registered guests.

Free and real money pokies share the same features. For instance, if you’re playing Starburst for real money, you can trigger the Starburst Wilds feature. The same applies when you’re playing the free version. Both the free and real money versions of that game have the same payout, return-to-player percentages, odds, graphics, and symbols. However, there are a few things that tell them apart, and both have their benefits and drawbacks.  

Playing pokies online for free is undoubtedly a great way to explore the casino game before playing for real money. However, you can’t win real cash from these games. If you want to win cash, you play for real money. This means you must register, then deposit money (fiat or crypto) into your account. With free gambling pokies, you can play for as long as you want, but when playing real-money games, you can only play for as long as your deposited funds let you. If the game has a progressive jackpot, you can only trigger the prize when playing with real money. Besides these differences, playing free games offers the same gaming experience as playing them with real money.

Many online casinos in New Zealand offer pokies for free online, which you can play even without registering on the platform. However, there’s a lot more you have to factor in when choosing a safe and secure online casino besides the fact that it has free pokies games. You need to check the safety, the customer service, and the bonuses, among other factors. This makes it daunting to choose the best sites. To save you this stress, our experts have evaluated New Zealand online casinos following strict ranking criteria. Here are the things we consider when choosing the right online casino for free pokies.

Easy signup procedures

No player wants to deal with filling out long forms, that’s why it’s important for an online casino to have a simple signup process. Players should need to enter the necessary details on the registration form, which could include their full names, phone numbers, valid email address, and their dates of birth. Overall, a casino sign-up procedure should take only a few minutes.

Diverse bonus program

New Zealand players are usually attracted to huge bonuses, which is why it’s important that an online casino has multiple bonus programs for Kiwis. The most common of these promotions is a welcome bonus, which is exclusive to new punters. Reload offers, cashback bonuses, free spins, and VIP offers are some of the promotions we look out for. Besides checking out the bonus types and bonus amounts, our experts always review the terms and conditions attached to these offers. We recommend platforms with low wagering requirements and other reasonable conditions. With this, players can easily meet the necessary terms and cash out their bonus winnings.

Reliability and good reputation

An online casino with a good reputation is doing all the right things to please its players. Similarly, a site with a bad reputation is unlikely to satisfy its customers. We don’t base our casino reviews on what players have to say, but it is good to learn about their experiences on the platform. Aside from recommending new online casinos with a good reputation, we ensure that they are trustworthy. One of the things that shows if a site is reliable is a license. This accreditation proves that the site’s operations are regulated by a licensing body. Also, the online casino should use up-to-date security measures to make sure that any information a player shares on the site is safe.

Variety of free online pokies

Game variety is the spice of online casino gambling. Players should be able to play an assortment of gaming pokies for free. This selection should include classics with three reels, and a few paylines. There should also be a plethora of video pokies with more reel set-ups, more winning ways, and multiple bonus features.

Competent and fast customer support

The help section is a player’s first stop when they have questions or issues that need clarification. That’s why customer support is one of the factors we prioritize. Many gambling sites have an FAQ page, but there should be a few communication channels, including phone lines and a live chat feature. We also look at how customer service agents respond to a player’s query. Also, we recommend sites with the support that is available 24/7 so that you can get help whenever you need it.

NetEnt was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Sweden. Its outstanding selection of games has helped it grow into one of the most well-known developers in the business. The provider has won different awards, such as Mobile Supplier of the Year at the EGR Italy 2020 awards, GGA Casino Product of the Year 2019, and Casino Platform Supplier at the EGR Nordics Awards 2019. It also holds gambling licenses from a few regulatory bodies, including the Pennsylvania Gambling Control Board, the Gibraltar Gambling Commission, and the Malta Gaming Authority. NetEnt has more than 200 games, including branded games, classics, and video pokies with different themes, high-quality graphics, and bonus features. Its most popular releases are explored below.

Starburst

Starburst is played on a 5×3 grid with 10 paylines that pay both ways. The game features different lit gems, a 7 in a sphere, and a bar symbol. Its main attraction is the Starburst wild feature. If one of the Starburst symbols appears on one of the three middle reels during the feature, it expands to fill the entire reel, then stays locked in place and awards you with a free spin. The slot can be played in a free mode.

Gonzo’s Quest

Gonzo’s Quest, powered by NetEnt, is a video pokie with 5 reels and 20 paylines. The game has a Mayan setting and centers on the conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro (Gonzo). Animals, masks, and other figures are carved into stone slabs and used as symbols. There is a special Avalanche Reels feature that can multiply your wins by as much as 5x. A Free Falls feature also gives you multipliers of up to 15x if you land consecutive wins. The video slot is featured in many minimum-deposit online casinos.

Microgaming claims to have launched the first online casino in 1994. The developer stayed at the forefront of creating online pokies with great concepts and bonus features till it was acquired by Games Global. In addition to producing award-winning games, Microgaming also helped form eCOGRA, an organization that certifies the fairness of games. Until its acquisition, there were over 600 casino games in Microgaming’s portfolio. Additionally, Microgaming runs the biggest progressive jackpot network in the world, which has paid out over NZ$600 million to date. Some of its popular releases are as follows.

Mega Moolah

Mega Moolah is a progressive jackpot game with 5 reels, 3 rows, and 25 paylines. It has an African Safari theme, and symbols on the reels include a buffalo, a giraffe, an elephant, and a zebra. The lion serves as the wild, and 2, 3, 4, or 5 in a winning combination pay 0.6, 5, 60, or 600 times your wager. Aside from the four progressive jackpots in the game, players can trigger free spins by landing three or more witch doctor scatters. Despite being a progressive pokie, the game is still available for free.

Book of Oz

Book of Oz has a 5×3 grid in addition to 10 paylines. The game is inspired by the popular movie of the same name and features symbols like books, hearts, wizards, keys, and playing cards. Landing 3, 4, or 5 of the book scatters will reward you with 10, 12, or 25 free spins, respectively. Get three more scatters during these free spins to retrigger the feature. Thanks to the expanding symbols in the free spin round, players can win up to 5000 times their stakes.

Established in 2015, Pragmatic Play is a major player in the field of providing online casino games. The innovative, forward-thinking company boasts over 300 titles, many of which are compatible with mobile devices. At the EGR B2B Awards 2017, one of the most prestigious gaming events, the company was nominated for Software Rising Star, Innovation in RNG Casino Software, and RNG Casino Supplier. Some of Pragmatic Play’s famous releases, which can be played for fun, are:

Wolf Gold

This game is set in the breathtaking Grand Canyon, and its icons include wolves, cougars, wild horses, eagles, and buffalo. The wolf is the wild, and it can pay up to 20 times your wager. Scatter symbols are also available, and they can trigger one of the game’s two features: Wolf Gold Free Spins or the Money Respin Feature. If you manage to fill all 15 spaces with moon symbols, you’ll win the Mega Jackpot payout, which is 1,000 times your wager.

The Dog House

This 5-reel game is set in a huge dog kennel behind two suburban houses. Its symbols include A–10 royal values, a bone, a lead, and four dogs. The wild is represented by the dog kennels that appear only on the middle three reels and can stand in for all symbols except the scatter. Also, these wilds have 2x or 3x multipliers that apply to the payout of any winning combination they complete. The paw print is the scatter. It triggers a free spin feature and pays five times your wager when it hits reels 1, 3, and 5.

Pokies have come a long way from fruit machines they used to be. Today, there are different types of online pokies you can play, ranging from 3-reel pokies to more sophisticated video pokies. Let’s explore the types of games you can play at New Zealand online casinos.

Classic 3-reel free pokies

Games with three reels, a fruit theme, and one to five paylines are often referred to as “classic pokies.” This is because they are reminiscent of fruit machines. However, providers no longer limit their classic games to the fruit theme. There are multiple games with different themes. Good examples are Cosmic Cat and Break Da Bank from Microgaming.

5-reel free pokies

5-reel online free pokies are played on five reels, while the number of rows depends on the game. These titles have more paylines, meaning that there are more ways to win. Plus, they come with better bonus features than their classic counterparts. 5-reel pokies are available in different themes, and some providers create these games with a fruity theme associated with classic pokies. Games of this type are often posted in high-roller casinos in New Zealand.

Free pokies with unusual layouts

Usually, online pokies pay when players land matching symbols on a payline, but things are looking different with some recent releases. Game developers have increasingly shown a preference for introducing new grid styles, rather than sticking to the traditional 5×3 layout seen in most slot machines. There are stair-styled grids with additional reels that contain a different number of symbol positions. Valley of Riches 2 is an example of a pokie with a 3-4-5-6-7-8 stair-styled layout. Some pokies may have an orbital or radial layout where the reels are organized in a circle. Here, payouts occur when three or more matching symbols appear on adjacent blocks of the radial reels. Avatar’s Gate Guardians is an example of such a pokie. These are only a few of the many different unusual layouts you can find with free pokies.

Online pokies are enjoyable for gamblers who prefer games with simple gameplay. The only thing you do when playing is set a bet amount and spin the reels. Despite the simplicity, there are interesting features that add to the thrills of playing these games. Since there is no learning curve, you don’t need to be an expert to win when playing these games. We have listed online casinos where you can find the best free online pokies in New Zealand. At most of these sites, you can play these free games without signing up; on others, you must sign up. Thankfully, registration at our recommended online casinos is simple and takes only a few minutes.