Merkur Gaming Experiences

A New Zealandother primary rock

Merkur is a name that every New Zealandother players simply must know, because this company is simply New Zealand's contribution to the development of the casino industry as we know it today. We say casino industry on purpose, because Merkur goes back so far into the past that the spread of the Internet and thus of online casinos are only one chapter in the history of the company.

When New Zealand was economically on the ground after the Second World War, there was a good opportunity for many young entrepreneurs to start over completely. This is how things started for Paul Gauselmann, who started setting up slot machines part-time in 1957. Later he became self-employed and not only dealt with the distribution of slot machines, but also manufactured the devices himself and opened his first Merkur Spielothek. So Gauselmann had become a developer of slots himself.

Online Gaming: just the tip of the iceberg

Today, the Gauselmann Group leads the 200 Merkur casinos in New Zealand and another 200 more in other dollar-Paean countries. The group of companies also consists of numerous GmbH and Ltd. companies, all of which go back to Paul Gauselmann, who is still the chairman of the Aktiengesellschaft and spokesman of the Gauselmann Group. In addition to the production and distribution of slot machines, the companies also take care of service concepts and money processing systems, sports betting and of course: online gaming.

Because long before the online casinos became more and more fashionable and increasingly stole players from many land-based terrestrial Merkur Spielothek, Merkur had set out to offer its popular slot machine games as digital, software-based versions in the online gaming world. So the next logical question immediately arises here: hasn't Merkur just opened its own online casino?

Merkur and the Sunmaker Online Casino

In 2004, the time had come and Merkur fans were able to play the much–loved Merkur games online for the first time - exclusively at the Sunmaker Online Casino. Sunmaker became known as the Merkur Casino, as this provider was the first to officially offer the well-known Merkur titles in the form of online slots on the Internet. Later, of course, numerous other online casino providers were added, such as Platin Casino and others, who quickly realized that by advertising with original Merkur slots they could attract more customers and make the significant first deposit.

For this reason, Merkur games were often part of the welcome bonus, free spins promotions and other bonus offers – you just knew that with the players from New Zealand you can't go wrong with Merkur, because they have always had good experiences with it.

The best Merkur slot machines

But now let's talk about what the Merkur brand is actually known for: the slot machines! Many of the most popular Merkur games have been around for so long that many New Zealandother players associate pleasant childhood and youth memories with them - these games are so popular not only because of their quality, but also simply because they are now inextricably linked to the casino world in New Zealand as a nostalgia commodity. Here are the most important ones that you absolutely have to know and have played!

Eye of Horus

The Austrian competitor of the Gauselmann Group, Novomatic, has been causing a sensation for a long time with the slot Book of Ra. Since the Egypt theme has proved to be very successful in the slot machines, it is not surprising that Merkur did not let his colleague fool him and created his own Egypt slot: Eye of Horus.

Horus, the god of light in Ancient Egypt, and the meaningful symbol of his eye are the namesakes of the slot, which was first loved by the players in land-based game libraries at the machines and later as a software version. A suitable soundtrack, mysterious symbols of jackals, scarab beetles and hieroglyphs and of course the symbol of the falcon-headed god himself, which acts as an expanding wild symbol, complete the adventurous classic. With a payout ratio of 96.31%, it is also not unlikely that you will really win a treasure.

Triple Chance

Fruits have been popular as symbols for the fateful reels since the beginning of the twentieth century, when the slot machines were still in their infancy. That's why they still give every slot a retro design that many players simply love: it's simple, funny, easy to play and yet just as exciting as it should be!

Triple Chance (and later the successor slots Double Triple Chance and Triple Triple Chance) was Mercury's interpretation of the classic fruit design.

Although the game is built very simply, it will not be boring. There is a risk ladder and a rewin function, through which a wheel of fortune appears, with which you can only really win. The experiences of the players speak for themselves: here it is only about flying fruits, but also about real money winnings with real dollars. A lot of small sums make a difference.

Joker's Cap

This silly slot takes you into medieval realms, which thematically revolves around the hustle and bustle of a royal court. The king and his symbol are accordingly important, but of course also the Joker, i.e. the jester, and his eponymous cap. Both the cap and the fool itself act as Wild symbols, which greatly increases the probabilities of winning.

This makes it so exciting that you won't miss a free spins round at all. Probably, that's why Jokers Cap is so popular in the player community: on the one hand, the extra game fun due to the many wilds, and on the other hand, simply the fact that the game process is structured differently than usual – after all, a little variety has never hurt anyone.

2018: Merkur turns its back on Online Casinos New Zealand

At the end of 2017, however, there was unfortunately a change that probably no one saw coming and that hit many die-hard Merkur players hard: the Gauselmann Group decided to withdraw completely from the New Zealand online gaming market and to offer the popular Merkur slot machines only in the terrestrial arcades in the future. Not even in the Sunmaker online casino there were still Merkur games.

A big blow for the growing community of players who really only wanted to play at the online casino from home! If you wanted to continue playing the classic slots that many had taken to heart for years, you unfortunately had to move out of the house and into a real Merkur Spielothek like in the old days.

Why did Mercury make such a serious decision? Officially, it was said that the Gauselmann Group would only stay away from the online market until the legal situation regarding online casinos in New Zealand was completely clarified. Because, as you might know as a hobby player, unfortunately there is still no consensus within the entire EU as to whether the EU fundamental right of freedom to provide services also applies to online casinos - and thus companies based and licensed in Malta or Curacao are allowed to offer online gaming completely legally in New Zealand. However, it is also rumored that the contents of the Paradise Papers had something to do with the sudden withdrawal.

The Best Alternatives to Merkur Slots

But what, how and why is ultimately not so important to a player – it's mainly about the fact that the Merkur games are now unfortunately gone from the Internet. Completely gone? No, fortunately not. You can still play for free, i.e. without depositing real money into a customer account. But other slot software developers were not lazy and took up the job with all their experience trying to help the players in this area! So here are the best alternatives to the classic Merkur games.

Horusauge remains Horusauge

So Eye of Horus hits the nerve of all those players who like to go on an adventurous journey of discovery and who are spurred on by curiosity. Of course, it was particularly gratifying for the Eye of Horus fans that the payout ratio of the game increased in the online casino version. Now Eye of Horus is no longer available online, but there were other game software developers on the spot who tried to fill the gap.

For this reason, you can still find Eye of Horus games with real money on the Internet today, because these were not released by Merkur, but by the developer Reel Time Gaming - and in such a way that you hardly notice the difference between the original and subsequent version of Reel Time Gaming. One wonders, therefore, whether Merkur did not even allow or help the other company, so that the iconic Merkur slot would not be forgotten. It would be a shame to have such an Egyptian treasure!

Jolly's cap and a whole basket full of fruit

Fruit slots like Triple Chance are like sand by the sea today. So, players who miss the real Merkur game have a whole bunch of alternatives to choose from: Fruit Mania, Fancy Fruits, Super Duper Cherry, Berry Burst and Magic Fruits.

However, if you are looking for Jokers Cap with the Double Wild feature, you will not find anything under the keyword Joker – but probably under the name Jolly's Cap. However, who developed Jolly's Cap is somehow not entirely clear – the online casinos always advertise the Jokers Cap Lookalike slot as a Merkur slot, of course. Whether Mercury has simply changed its name – a rumor that persists stubbornly. In the end, however, the players don't really care, because what matters is the fact that Jolly's Cap works exactly the same and is fun as Joker's Cap.

So players continue to have great experiences with Merkur or Merkur-inspired games, and we hope, like everyone else, that the situation will clear up soon and we can welcome Merkur back to the online gaming world. Because what would a casino be for New Zealandothers without Merkur games?