I've bounced around enough slot lobbies over the years to get pretty fussy with what I call actually worth a spin. Not talking about the stuff that looks flashy for 30 seconds then turns into dead spins and fake excitement. I mean the games you can load up on a random arvo and they still feel solid.
For me it usually comes down to the provider first. Pragmatic gets a lot of play because they're everywhere, but honestly they're a bit hit and miss. A few bangers, a lot of copy-paste. Hacksaw can be fun if you're keen on volatile stuff and don't mind a rough ride. Relax and Nolimit are more my thing when I want something with a bit of character instead of another reskinned hold-and-win job. Big Time Gaming still has a few that are worth a look too, even if the Megaways craze isn't what it was.
Game-wise, the ones I keep going back to are usually the ones that don't waste your time. Stuff like Mental, Money Train, Tombstone RIP, Dead or Alive 2 if I'm feeling brave, and even a few older ones like Thunderstruck II still get a run from me. Doesn't have to be brand new, just needs to have some actual tension in it. If a game can bonus in a decent way without making me sit through 400 nothing spins first, that's already ahead of half the lobby.
One thing that puts me off quick is when a site has heaps of titles but it's all clutter. Same game in 14 versions, autoplay buried somewhere weird, demo mode missing, mobile play feels cooked... nah. I'd take a smaller lineup that's easy to sort through over a giant mess any day. Good filtering helps too, especially if you're chasing high volatility stuff or older classics and not just whatever's been shoved on the front page.
Anyway that's where I'm at with it. Curious what other regulars reckon are the proper go-to games right now, not just the ones every streamer hypes for a week and forgets. What are you lot still playing when you want something decent rather than just chucking a spin on whatever's new?