Aristocrat is a casino games software provider based in Australia that has a reputation as a bit of a pokie king. Their software is popular in real casinos as well as online, but many of you may be unfamiliar with some of the games as they are not common in all casinos -and I'll explain why.

Queen of the Nile

I don't have too much experience with Aristocrat slot games simply because I don't come across them very often. The company is based in Australia and there are a bunch of restricted countries where you can't play their games. You can't even play the real money versions in Australia itself, which seems bizarre to me but then again the casino industry does operate in unusual ways.
That being said, I have had a chance to play a fair few Aristocrat games in my time. They're known mainly for their slot games (or 'pokies' as they say Down Under) with a very strong presence in land-based casinos. My first experience with Aristocrat games was during one of my (too frequent) visits to Vegas when I stumbled across a row of Queen of the Nile slot games, something which is now available at their online casinos too. It's a terrific game with 60 different betting combos which means it's good for small time players and the high roller club. I always like it when one slot caters for both, as I don't think it's fair that players on a smaller budget should be limited to certain slots. As part of the Egyptian theme it has a sand-coloured background, ancient Egyptian symbols and an almost ominous soundtrack that I think makes it really atmospheric.
Queen of the Nile was so successful that it was followed by Queen of the Nile II (another one which is available in their online games library) but I also think it was the basis for one of the most popular slot games in existence -Cleopatra. Unfortunately for Aristocrat Cleopatra was made by IGT meaning no royalties for them, although I should point out this is only based on my own observations of similarities between the two slot machines.

Most famous games

Aristocrat is definitely best known for their pokies, particularly the ones that you can play both online and in casinos. I've already spoken about my particular favourite, Queen of the Nile, but there are tonnes of others that players also enjoy from Aristocrat. 50 Lions, 50 Dragons, Tiki Torch, Buffalo, Pompeii and Miss Kitty are just some of their more popular slots.

Exclusivity

One other reason you might not have seen too many Aristocrat games is their unusual agreements with online casinos. I only tend to visit a few casinos at a time, so when I log in I usually know what to expect in terms of games and layout. Most of the casinos I use have games from the likes of Microgaming, Neteller and so on and the games pretty much remain the same, with a few new additions now and then.
With Aristocrat games, the casinos take out deals with the provider which are limited in time. This means that Aristocrat might make a deal with, for instance, 32Red to allow them to have their games exclusively for a few months. It's an unusual approach, as most software companies make it their mission to spray their games out to as many casinos as possible, which is why no matter how many new casinos I sign up to I always seem to see the same spattering of slots. With this approach, you can come across some genuinely unique games, which is a good thing for us players.
To find the biggest selection of Aristocrat games you'll have to shop around, but at the time of writing I found the most games were at Moneygaming, which has the exclusive rights to loads of games that you literally can't play anywhere else.

Summary

Aristocrat is not one of the biggest software providers around, nor does it try to be. I think its charm is found in the fact that it doesn't smash out games by the dozen, but instead picks and chooses its spots and only allows certain games to become available to players at selected casinos. It's also a big part of brick-and-mortar casinos, with many of their games available both live and online. This is perfect for people like me who might not always be able to access the casino but still want to play their favourite games.

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