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Inspired Gaming Software Review
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Introduction
Inspired Gaming is the game development arm of Inspired Entertainment, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed company (ticker INSE). Its online games are supplied through Inspired Gaming (UK) Limited, which is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority. The company grew up supplying server-based gaming terminals to UK betting shops, and it reports some 50,000 machines across its retail markets. That heritage shows all over the online catalogue: betting-shop classics such as Reel King and Centurion turned into online slots, low-stake play built for small bets, and a business model in which the operator, not the player, chooses the game's return setting.
The online catalogue runs to roughly 270 slots, plus a small range of RNG table games, a handful of scratch games, virtual sports under the V-Play name, and a newer line called Hybrid Dealer, which pairs RNG results with pre-recorded hosts and CGI so that it looks like a live table without one existing. Inspired delivers its games through its own Virgo remote gaming server, and they are carried by operators including BetMGM, Borgata, FanDuel, bet365, PartyCasino, Betfair and MrQ.
Slots are almost the entire business, and they are what this review covers. Inspired has no current online blackjack or video poker. Its retail terminals do offer blackjack, which is why the name sometimes gets attached to the game, but the online catalogue has none. V-Play virtual sports are fixed-odds markets priced with a bookmaker's margin that Inspired does not publish, so they are not rated here.
The short version: Inspired's published slot returns are ordinary for the industry, clustered between 95% and 96.5%, and the difference between the best and worst of them is real money. The bigger issue is that the operator picks the return setting, so the number that applies to you is the one on your casino's help screen, not the one in any review, including this one.
Online Slots
The catalogue is built around a few families: the Cash Bank collection mechanic (Wolf It Up!, Bigger Piggy Bank, Kong It Up!), the Grand Chance series, Megaways versions of retail classics such as Reel King Megaways and Centurion Megaways, and branded titles. Inspired publishes no reel strips, symbol weights or feature probabilities for any of them, so no slot return can be derived independently. Every return below is the figure Inspired reports for the game, and the expected loss column is simple arithmetic on that figure: the house edge applied to $1,000 of total bets.
The following table shows the slots reviewed in alphabetical order.
Inspired Slot Returns, Alphabetical
| Game | Return | House edge | Expected loss per $1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anubis Wild Megaways | 95.81% | 4.19% | $41.90 |
| Bear Money | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
| Book of Christmas | 96.23% | 3.77% | $37.70 |
| Desperados Wild Megaways | 96.49% | 3.51% | $35.10 |
| Elemental Beasts | 96.00% | 4.00% | $40.00 |
| Gimme Gold Megaways | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
| Gold Cash | 95.00% | 5.00% | $50.00 |
| Jagrs Super Slot | 95.91% | 4.09% | $40.90 |
| Rainbow Cash Pots | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
| Super Fire 7s | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
Here is the same list in returns range, choose your game wisely.
Inspired Slot Returns, Sorted by Return
| Game | Return | House edge | Expected loss per $1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Money | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
| Gimme Gold Megaways | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
| Rainbow Cash Pots | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
| Super Fire 7s | 96.50% | 3.50% | $35.00 |
| Desperados Wild Megaways | 96.49% | 3.51% | $35.10 |
| Book of Christmas | 96.23% | 3.77% | $37.70 |
| Elemental Beasts | 96.00% | 4.00% | $40.00 |
| Jagrs Super Slot | 95.91% | 4.09% | $40.90 |
| Anubis Wild Megaways | 95.81% | 4.19% | $41.90 |
| Gold Cash | 95.00% | 5.00% | $50.00 |
What the Numbers Say
Four titles share the top return of 96.50%: Bear Money, Gimme Gold Megaways, Rainbow Cash Pots and Super Fire 7s. Gold Cash sits alone at the bottom at 95.00%. That gap of 1.50 percentage points sounds small, but it means the same $1,000 of play costs $50.00 on Gold Cash against $35.00 on any of the top four, an extra $15.00 for a game that looks and costs the same per spin.
Seven of the ten titles return 96.00% or more, so most of this catalogue is priced in the same narrow band. The useful comparison is within a family. The three Megaways titles span 96.50% for Gimme Gold Megaways, 96.49% for Desperados Wild Megaways and 95.81% for Anubis Wild Megaways. The first two are effectively identical, a difference of one cent per $100 wagered. Anubis Wild Megaways costs $6.90 more per $1,000 than Gimme Gold Megaways, with the same reel mechanic underneath.
Your Casino Sets the Return
Inspired slot returns are configurable. The operator chooses the setting, and BetMGM states plainly that a game's return may differ from one jurisdiction to another. The same title can therefore be a different game at two different casinos, and the figures above describe a game, not necessarily the build in front of you. Before you play, open the game's help or information screen at your casino and read the return printed there. That is the only figure that applies to you, and it takes ten seconds to check.
One trap to avoid: some operators publish monthly payout reports labelled RTP that are actually observed results over a short period, which is why some of them show figures above 100%. Those reflect luck, not the game's theoretical return, and they say nothing about what a game will cost you over time.
Progressives
Inspired gives operators jackpot tools, but no current Inspired progressive publishes a reset value, a hit probability or a meter contribution rate. Without those three numbers no break-even jackpot can be calculated, and a large jackpot on its own is not evidence of a good bet.
Scratch Games
Inspired offers a small set of instant-win games, including the minesweeper-style Lucky Fish Finder. No prize distribution is published for any of them, so no return can be calculated. Any return shown on a game's own help screen is the operator's disclosed figure for that build.
Conclusion
Inspired is a betting-shop company that has turned its retail heritage into a large online slot catalogue. Its published returns are neither generous nor predatory, clustered between 95.00% and 96.50%, and most of its catalogue sits in a narrow band where the choice of game matters less than the choice of casino.
Among the titles reviewed, the four at 96.50%, Bear Money, Gimme Gold Megaways, Rainbow Cash Pots and Super Fire 7s, are the cheapest to play at $35.00 per $1,000 wagered. Gold Cash, at 95.00%, is the most expensive at $50.00. Within the Megaways family, Gimme Gold and Desperados Wild are effectively equal, and Anubis Wild costs more for the same mechanic.
Above all, check the return on the help screen at your casino before you spin. Inspired lets the operator choose the setting, and the figure on that screen is the one that decides what the game costs you.