The Harry Potter series of books, film adaptations and themed slots have gained a huge following over the last few years. The popular children's novels by JK Rowling are best sellers, with "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" being the best selling book in history.

The eight movie adaptations of the Harry Potter franchise have succeeded since their release. There are currently two more films to be released, with the final one being released in 2011. All eight movies are certified as box office 'hits' by Box Office Mojo.

The Harry Potter themed slots games at the online casino SlotGun have been developed under license from Warner Bros., who also produce the movie franchise. The main producer of the Harry Potter slot games is IGT, who also developed a range of themed slots based on the James Bond movies.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published in 1997. The story follows Harry as he learns his wizardry skills from Hogwarts School teachers such as Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. One of the three main plots within the book is the search for the Philosopher's Stone. Harry, Ron and Hermione find themselves in competition with Professor Quirrell and Lord Voldemort to locate the stone first.

Casino slot games related to Harry Potter are available on IGT, WMS Gaming, Cryptologic and Playtech software platforms. Although all of these slots games share common themes (magical spells, magic wands and Harry Potter themed symbols) the games are different in terms of the features offered. The theme remains constant throughout all slot variations however, with character symbols including Harry Potter himself, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Professor Dumbledore.

Slot software platforms which have released Harry Potter themed slots include: IGT's Wizard of Oz, Monopoly, Avatar and The Dark Knight Rises. WMS Gaming has also made a range of Harry Potter slots under the brand names Zeus 3, Bier Haus, Spartacus and Davinci Diamonds. Playtech have made their own range of Harry Potter themed slots under the brands Immortal Romance, Terminator 2 and Frankenstein.

Gaming software developer Cryptologic have been responsible for creating the following Harry Potter slots games: Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban.

A range of different bonus games can be found in the Harry Potter themed slots games. Each game varies according to how it is triggered and what kind of feature is offered as a result of its activation. 

Popular bonus game in Harry Potter themed slots

Randomized Wilds - IGT's Wizard of Oz, Zeus 3 and Monopoly slots include this feature whereby wild symbols will randomly substitute for standard symbols throughout the base game.

Wizard Symbols Bonus Round - This bonus round is activated when 3 or more wizard symbols appear on reels 2,3 and 4. This triggers multipliers which are applied to the final amount won in the base game. The multiplier can be as high as x6.

Free Spins - Activated when 3-5 scatter symbols are visible on the payline of any spin. Free spins can be retriggered, resulting in multiple free spins being played.

Wand Mode - Available on the Wizard of Oz slots game. This is triggered when 3 or more 'wand' symbols appear on reels 1,3 and 5 simultaneously. The game switches to wand mode which offers upto 25 free spins with random wilds for added excitement.

Gamble Feature - This feature is triggered at the end of any cash win, and offers players a chance to gamble their winnings by correctly predicting the color of an upcoming card.

Considering that there are 8 movies in total (including prequels), this game franchise has created its own universe (universe d'Harry Potter) which keeps expanding every year, with new books and movies.

There are multiple genres in this universe: fantasy (magical items such as the invisibility cloak), adventure (Hermione's Time Turner used for time travel) and action (the Triwizard Tournament).

It is a franchise which has been created by JK Rowling, one of the most popular authors of all time. She had created a world, populated it with characters who are now part of pop culture.

Every book is sold more than 50 million times, making it one of the best-selling book series of all time.

The first movie was released in 2001, and has since made more than 7 BILLION dollars. The last movie was released in 2011, and has made more than 1.3 BILLION dollars.

These are some impressive numbers, especially if we consider that the 7 books have sold 450 million copies. That means there are nearly 50% more people who have not read the book but have still watched the movie!

The world of Harry Potter is a world in itself: the books and movies are able to draw pictures in our minds when we read them or watch them.

There is already an expansion of this universe created by JK Rowling with the release of new books, such as and new games like The Harry Potter franchise will continue to be successful for years (even decades) to come.