Tap-Style Casino Games: New Category or Interface?

Kyle Kevin

iGaming Writer

Fact Checked

Tap-style casino games are emerging as a new category that replaces spin buttons with tapping actions. The wager stays RNG-based, but regulators are already grappling with where they fit.

Tap, not spin. That is the shift a new generation of casino games is pushing. Reels and spin buttons are giving way to tapping or arcade-like actions. The wager underneath remains decided by a random number generator. The question for regulators and operators is whether this is a tap-style new game category or merely a new interface for an existing one. Christina Muratkina, Chief Innovation Officer at OnlyPlay, is in the new-category camp. She told SiGMA News that today’s mobile-first audience — shaped by TikTok and casual mobile games — wants intuitive interactions, instant feedback, and active engagement. OnlyPlay has built a portfolio around this tap-style model, including titles like Piggy Tap where players tap their way to rewards rather than pressing a conventional spin button. However, the UK Gambling Commission has already examined tap-style games as part of its speed-of-play tap-style work. It ultimately resisted creating multiple game classifications. The regulatory gap between innovation and oversight is widening.

What Are Tap-Style Casino Games?

The mechanics are simple. A player taps the screen to trigger a game event. The RNG determines the outcome. The tap does not influence the result. It only starts the animation. That distinction is critical. BetMGM, in an explainer on a comparable format developed by Design Works Gaming, describes these games as “entirely luck-based with no element of skill.” The interaction model borrows from mobile gaming — think Candy Crush or Fruit Ninja — where tapping is the primary input method. The difference is that every tap costs money.

OnlyPlay also distinguishes tap-led games from crash products such as Aviator. In crash games, the player decides when to cash out. That is real-time decision-making with risk management. Tap-style games, by contrast, “emphasise interaction over decision timing,” Muratkina said. The player has more to do on screen, but the action does not change the odds. The format is not entirely new. Suppliers have used similar interaction models for several years. What tap-style is changing is the emphasis. Developers are now positioning tap-led games as a standalone format, adding multiplayer features, progression systems, and other mobile gaming conventions.

The direction of travel is clear. Casino games are asking players to do more than press a spin button, even tap-style when the wager underneath stays RNG-based. For suppliers, this is a differentiation play in a crowded slots market. For regulators, it is a categorisation headache. For players, it is a more engaging experience — or a more dangerous one, depending on how the illusion of control is managed.

OnlyPlay’s Vision: A New Category

Muratkina frames the development as category creation, not interface redesign. “I believe we are witnessing the emergence of a new category,” she told SiGMA News. The argument is that mobile-first players — influenced by TikTok’s short-form video and casual mobile games — expect different interaction patterns than traditional slot players. They want immediate feedback. They want to feel active. They want strong emotions delivered quickly. The tap mechanic delivers all three.

OnlyPlay’s game development reflects this philosophy. The company’s TapGame mechanics — featured in titles like Piggy Tap — let players tap-style interact dynamically with the game, making decisions and tapping their way to rewards. The games are built on HTML5 for cross-platform compatibility and use Provably Fair systems to guarantee transparency. OnlyPlay has also tap-style developed ultra-light crash games under 1MB for markets with limited connectivity, including Africa. The mobile-first philosophy is not a strategy, Muratkina has said. It is a necessity.

However, Muratkina also describes the company’s aim as to “modernise player interaction rather than reinvent gambling.” That is a careful formulation. It acknowledges that the mathematics are unchanged. Only the presentation is new. The tension between innovation and continuity is at the heart of the regulatory debate. If tap games are tap-style a new category, they may need new rules. If they are a new interface for existing RNG games, existing rules should apply. The answer determines compliance obligations, testing requirements, and market access.

The Illusion of Control Debate

The psychological issue is not new. Researchers Luke Clark and Michael Wohl have examined the “illusion of control” in chance-based gambling, including older slot-machine features that let players stop reels even though the outcome was already tap-style determined. With such a stopper, they wrote, “any sense of control from using the stopper is illusory.” The tap mechanic creates a similar effect. The player feels active. The player feels skilled. The player feels in control. None of it is true. The RNG has already decided the result.

Regulators have been wary of this for years. The UK Gambling Commission has examined slot features that could “provide tap-style consumers with an artificial illusion of control.” France’s gambling regulator has raised a related concern over prediction markets such as Polymarket, arguing that their investment-like presentation can reinforce what it calls an “illusion of competence.” The underlying worry is the same. If players believe their actions influence outcomes, they may gamble more, chase losses harder, and develop harmful patterns.

Muratkina insists that presentation should not blur the nature of the wager. “Making gameplay more intuitive should never come at the expense of transparency about how the game operates,” she said. She also rejected the suggestion that tap games are designed to broaden casino gaming’s appeal beyond existing players. “Our objective is not to target people who would not normally engage with regulated casino entertainment.” The statements are defensive. They anticipate the regulatory scrutiny that tap games will inevitably attract. Whether the games can deliver engagement without triggering harm concerns is the unanswered question.

UK Regulatory Position on Tap-Style Casino Games

The UK Gambling Commission has already grappled with where tap games fit. Under current rules, slots must adhere to a minimum 2.5-second game cycle. Other casino games — excluding peer-to-peer poker — must wait at least five seconds tap-style before the next game can begin. The Commission considered whether tap-style games needed their own classification and speed limit. It decided against it. “We do not think it would be useful or desirable at this point in time to define multiple game types with multiple game speeds,” the Commission stated. The rationale was tap-style practical. Multiple classifications would be unwieldy and would quickly lead to innovation at the edges designed to blur or create new game variants.

The Commission’s survey of online casino gamblers, published in February 2024, found that the majority of respondents across seven game categories reported average spin speeds as “just right.” Among remaining respondents, more said games were “too slow” rather than “too fast.” The data supported maintaining existing speed limits rather than adding new ones. The Commission also noted that casino table games typically play slower than slots but have a higher loss rate. The loss per minute for casino games is £1.12, compared with 31.8p for slots. Slowing games down further might reduce intensity but could also drive displacement to other products.

The new requirement 14G to RTS 14, which came into force on January 17, 2025, mandates a minimum 5-second speed for non-slots casino titles. Games can finish faster than 5 seconds, provided the next game cycle cannot commence until the full time has elapsed. This mirrors the existing slots requirement. For tap-style games, the implication is clear. If classified as slots, they face the 2.5-second minimum. If classified as other casino games, they face the 5-second minimum. The tap-style classification decision rests with testing labs and the Commission. For now, the regulatory framework is binary. The games may not be.

For more on how UK gambling regulation is evolving, AGBrief covers regulatory developments across jurisdictions.

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