Wizard of Oz slot machines are a long-running series from WMS, the studio that is now part of Light & Wonder. Every spin on a Wizard of Oz slot is random, and there’s no trick that changes that. What differs from version to version is how the bonuses are built: Follow the Yellow Brick Road grows free-games meters that stay on screen for the next player, and Over the Rainbow has a balloon progressive jackpot on top of its character features.
This guide covers the series briefly, then goes deep on those two games: how they work, what carries over between players, and how to play them without wasting money.
Who makes Wizard of Oz slot machines?
The first Wizard of Oz slot was built by WMS Gaming and reached casinos in the late 2000s on WMS’s “Sensory Immersion” cabinet, with speakers built into the chair. It became one of the biggest hits in WMS’s history, and by 2013 WMS had released more than a dozen Oz titles, including the popular Ruby Slippers and Ruby Slippers 2. Glinda the Good Witch randomly turning reels wild has been a signature of the series from the start.
Scientific Games bought WMS in 2013 and changed its name to Light & Wonder in 2022, so newer Oz games carry the Light & Wonder name. The film rights belong to Turner Entertainment, which licenses the characters. Light & Wonder is still adding to the family: recent titles include Wizard of Oz: I’ll Get You My Pretty, a Hold & Spin game built around the Wicked Witch.
With so many versions around, the one thing to check first is which Oz game you’re looking at. They share characters but not mechanics.
Wizard of Oz: Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Follow the Yellow Brick Road is a 5-reel video slot built around three free-games meters: Silver, Gold and Emerald. Each meter shows how many free games its bonus will award when it triggers.
How the meters grow
When the ruby slippers land on the fifth reel, they add free games to the meters. The meters keep growing from spin to spin until one of the bonuses triggers, then that meter resets to its starting value. Silver triggers most often; Emerald is the rarest and the biggest.
Why this matters
Two things are true at once:
- The meters carry over between players. Whatever the last person built up is still on the screen when you sit down.
- They are not must-hit-by meters. No meter has a cap it has to award by. When a bonus triggers is random, which makes this one of the swingier games in the series.
So a machine with fat meters has bigger bonuses waiting, but nothing forces those bonuses to arrive soon. That mix of saved progress and random timing is exactly where rules of thumb go wrong: the meters, the bet and the machine’s payback setting all feed into whether a spin is worth more than it costs.
Wizard of Oz: Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow is a Scientific Games (now Light & Wonder) title that leans on the characters rather than one big meter.
- Glinda feature: at random, Glinda can turn 2 to 5 reels wild.
- Heart prizes: heart symbols carry credit prizes that pay when they land on enough reels.
- Free games with character upgrades: the bonus changes depending on which characters appear. Dorothy adds spins, the Cowardly Lion makes the reels taller, the Scarecrow adds wilds, the Tin Man collects heart prizes, and so on. Landing all of them stacks the upgrades.
- Balloon jackpot: a progressive that grows as people play and can be awarded on balloon wins.
- Top prize: five Over the Rainbow symbols can win a wide-area progressive on machines connected to one.
The balloon jackpot and must-hit-by
On the Over the Rainbow machines our bot supports, the balloon progressive is set up as a must-hit-by jackpot: the screen shows the amount it must award by, and on multi-denomination machines each denomination can have its own balloon jackpot with its own cap. As with any must-hit-by, the jackpot has to land before it passes the cap, so how far it has climbed changes what the next spins are worth. We explain the mechanic in full in must-hit-by slot machines.
Don’t read that as “a big balloon means play.” The value of a must-hit-by depends on the bet, the jackpot’s rate of growth, the machine’s payback and how much of the base game you’re paying for along the way.
Which Wizard of Oz slots save progress between players?
| Game | What carries over | Must hit by? |
|---|---|---|
| Original Wizard of Oz, Ruby Slippers and most other Oz titles | Nothing we track | No |
| Follow the Yellow Brick Road | Silver, Gold and Emerald free-games meters | No, triggers are random |
| Over the Rainbow | Balloon progressive jackpot(s) | Yes, on the versions we support |
Everything else in the series plays like a regular slot: the last player’s results tell you nothing about your next spin.
Wizard of Oz slot machine tips
- Identify the version first. Meters and a balloon jackpot change the math; a plain Oz game with no saved state is just a regular slot.
- Size your bet for the volatility. Follow the Yellow Brick Road can go a long time between Emerald bonuses. Pick a bet you can afford for a long session, not one that only lasts a few dozen spins.
- Check the bet on multi-denom machines. On Over the Rainbow, the balloon jackpot you’re playing for depends on the denomination you choose.
- Card in. On a regular Oz spin, free play and comps are the only return you can count on.
- Set a loss limit and a win goal. Glinda can turn a spin around, but chasing her isn’t a plan.
- Ignore “due” machines. Unless something is saved on the screen, a machine that hasn’t paid in a while is no closer to paying.
How to win on a Wizard of Oz slot machine
Honestly: on most spins, you can’t do anything to improve your chances. Wizard of Oz games carry a house edge like every slot, and a big Glinda hit is luck, not skill.
The two exceptions are the versions that remember the last player. On Follow the Yellow Brick Road the meters, and on Over the Rainbow the must-hit-by balloon jackpot, occasionally leave a machine in a state where the next spins are worth more than they cost. Most of the time they aren’t. Telling the difference takes actual math, not a glance, and that’s what Slot Hustlers does when you send it a photo of the screen in Discord. For the wider list of games like this, see advantage play slot machines.
FAQ
Who makes the Wizard of Oz slot machine?
The series was created by WMS Gaming. WMS was bought by Scientific Games in 2013, which renamed itself Light & Wonder in 2022, so newer Wizard of Oz games carry the Light & Wonder name.
Do the Follow the Yellow Brick Road meters have to hit?
No. The Silver, Gold and Emerald meters grow when ruby slippers land on reel 5 and stay on screen between players, but none of them has a must-hit-by cap. When they trigger is random.
What is the balloon jackpot on Wizard of Oz Over the Rainbow?
It’s a progressive jackpot that grows as people play and is awarded on balloon wins. On the Over the Rainbow versions we support, it’s a must-hit-by jackpot with its cap shown on screen, and multi-denom machines can have a separate one for each denomination.
What does Glinda do on Wizard of Oz slots?
On many Oz games, including Over the Rainbow, Glinda the Good Witch can appear at random and turn several reels wild. It’s the series’ signature feature.
Is there a strategy for Wizard of Oz slots?
On regular spins, no. Play a bet your bankroll can sustain, card in and set limits. The only situations where the machine’s state matters are the saved meters on Follow the Yellow Brick Road and the must-hit-by balloon jackpot on Over the Rainbow.
For players 21+. Slots have a house edge, and even a positive-expectation spot is a long-run average: any session can lose. If gambling stops being fun, call 1-800-GAMBLER.