Must-Hit-By Slot Machine List
A must-hit-by slot machine is one whose progressive jackpot is contractually forced to award before its counter climbs past a ceiling the machine itself publishes. The jackpot is guaranteed to land somewhere below that ceiling — the machine has no option to run past it. That guarantee is the entire mechanic, and it is why must-hit-by games are the first thing an advantage player looks for when they walk a floor.
23 machines in our catalogue are classified must-hit-by. They are listed below in full, grouped by who builds them.
- 23
- Machines listed
- 7
- Manufacturers
- 2017–2024
- Floor debuts
- 200+
- Catalogue
Which slot machines have a must-hit-by jackpot?
These 23. Every row is a machine we hold a guide for, and the year is when that cabinet first reached US floors. The last column says what the machine hands you to read — the object, not the number it has to reach. That number is the guide.
| Machine | Manufacturer | On floors | What carries the edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 Fortunes Emperor’s Coins | Light & Wonder | 2021 | An emperor's jackpot capped by a must-hit-by amount — richest sitting just beneath it. |
| Ascending Fortunes | Incredible Technologies | 2024 | A jackpot forced out before its cap — worth more the higher it's climbed. |
| Buffalo LinkFree | Aristocrat | 2021 | The herd's jackpot runs on a deadline — it can't roll past a fixed cap. |
| Coyote Moon Deluxe | IGT | 2019 | The coyote's jackpot can't outrun its cap. Value climbs the closer it gets. |
| Fire Wolf 2 | AGS | 2017 | A jackpot that can't roll past its cap. The closer it sits, the hotter it reads. |
| Forest Dragons | AGS | 2018 | A dragon's hoard due before a hard limit — richer the nearer it climbs. |
| Jewel Collection: Dragon | Sega Sammy | 2023 | A capped dragon jackpot on a deadline — value climbs as it nears the limit. |
| Jewel Collection: Vault | Sega Sammy | 2023 | A vault jackpot locked under a cap it must pay — richest near the top. |
| Legend of the 3x 2x Phoenix | IGT | 2018 | A jackpot on a deadline it can't push past — value climbs as it nears. |
| Lucky Larry's Lobstermania Deluxe | IGT | 2021 | Larry's jackpot has a line it can't cross unpaid — best read up near it. |
| Magic Wishes | IGT | — | A progressive forced to drop before a cap — worth most sitting near it. |
| Money Storm Deluxe | IGT | 2019 | This storm owes a jackpot before a hard limit — it builds value as it nears. |
| Phoenix 888 Dragon | AGS | 2017 | The dragon's jackpot is owed before its cap; worth more near the top. |
| Phoenix Link | Aristocrat | 2024 | The phoenix's jackpot can't cross its cap unpaid — ripest near the top. |
| Prosperity Pearl | IGT | 2021 | A pearl jackpot with a line it can't cross without paying — read how close it sits. |
| Regal Riches | IGT | 2020 | A royal jackpot that can't climb past its cap. The nearer it sits, the better. |
| River Dragons | AGS | 2017 | Its jackpot is owed before a hard limit — value rises as the river runs high. |
| Rocket Rumble | Bluberi | 2023 | Its jackpot is forced to land under a cap. The higher it sits, the better. |
| Stack Up Pays | Incredible Technologies | 2024 | Stacks climb toward a jackpot it must pay by a cap. Value rises near it. |
| Tian Ci Jin Lu | Aristocrat | 2021 | A prosperity jackpot with a hard cap it can't cross unpaid — richest near the top. |
| Winter of the Dragons | AGS | 2017 | It's required to pay before a fixed cap. The nearer the top, the better. |
| Wolf Queen | AGS | 2017 | The Queen's jackpot is forced out before a cap; it ripens as it nears one. |
| Zhao Cai Zhu | IGT | 2024 | A jackpot it's required to drop before a cap. Best caught as it nears the top. |
Buffalo Link is the one guide on this list published in full, with its ceiling and its sit-at point in the open. Read it first — it is the cheapest way to see exactly what a must-hit-by read looks like end to end before deciding whether the rest are worth having.
Which manufacturers build must-hit-by machines?
7 of them, and the depth is lopsided. This matters on the floor: manufacturers cluster their cabinets, so finding one must-hit-by title from a given maker usually means the rest of that maker’s bench is within a few aisles.
IGT
8 must-hit-by titlesCoyote Moon Deluxe,Legend of the 3x 2x Phoenix,Lucky Larry's Lobstermania Deluxe,Magic Wishes,Money Storm Deluxe,Prosperity Pearl,Regal Riches,Zhao Cai Zhu
AGS
6 must-hit-by titlesFire Wolf 2,Forest Dragons,Phoenix 888 Dragon,River Dragons,Winter of the Dragons,Wolf Queen
Aristocrat
3 must-hit-by titlesIncredible Technologies
2 must-hit-by titlesSega Sammy
2 must-hit-by titlesBluberi
1 must-hit-by titleLight & Wonder
1 must-hit-by titleThe other half of the answer: we cover advantage-play machines from Ainsworth, Aruze, Everi, Gaming Arts, Konami too, and not one of them is a must-hit-by game. Their edge comes from accumulated state instead — value a previous player left in the machine. Walking a floor looking only for ceilings means walking past every one of those.
How do you spot a must-hit-by machine you have never seen?
The list above is finite; casino floors are not. New cabinets arrive, and the same mechanic ships under names nobody has written about yet. The tell is always the same and it is always printed on the machine: a running total displayed next to a stated end point. Wording varies — “must hit by”, “must award by”, “wins by” — but a published upper bound beside a live counter is a must-hit-by game, whoever built it.
Two things disqualify a machine that looks close. If the total climbs with no stated end, it is an ordinary mystery progressive: it can run for as long as it likes and there is nothing to count down to. And if the ceiling is stated but the counter is hidden until you are seated and betting, the read is unavailable at the moment you need it, which makes the guarantee useless to you.
The far more common mistake is the opposite one: correctly identifying a must-hit-by machine and then sitting at it too early. The ceiling makes the jackpot certain, not the session profitable. Everything between “this is a must-hit-by machine” and “this specific machine is worth my money right now” is the counter value, and that is the one thing this page deliberately does not print.
Common questions
Must-hit-by questions, answered
Which slot machines have a guaranteed hit point?
Must-hit-by machines do. A must-hit-by jackpot is forced to award before its counter passes a ceiling the machine itself publishes, so the hit is guaranteed to happen — the only open question is when inside that range. 23 machines in our catalogue are classified must-hit-by, built by 7 different manufacturers: IGT, AGS, Aristocrat, Incredible Technologies, Sega Sammy, Bluberi, Light & Wonder.
How do you tell a must-hit-by machine from an ordinary progressive?
Read the jackpot panel. A must-hit-by game states its ceiling somewhere on the glass or the help screen — wording like "must hit by", "must award by", or a printed maximum beside the running total. An ordinary mystery progressive shows a climbing number with no stated end. If there is no published ceiling, there is nothing to count down to and no read to take.
Is a must-hit-by machine always worth playing?
No, and this is where most of the money is lost. A must-hit-by jackpot sitting near the bottom of its range is an ordinary negative-expectation slot machine — the ceiling only matters once the counter has climbed far enough that the forced payout outweighs what it costs to play through to it. The mechanic tells you the machine can be worth playing; the counter tells you whether it is right now.
Which manufacturer builds the most must-hit-by machines?
In our catalogue, IGT has the deepest must-hit-by bench with 8 titles, ahead of AGS with 6. Several manufacturers we cover build no must-hit-by game at all: Ainsworth, Aruze, Everi, Gaming Arts, Konami — their advantage-play machines run on accumulators and persistent state instead.
Are must-hit-by slot machines still on casino floors?
Yes. The must-hit-by machines in this list span floor debuts from 2017 to 2024, so this is not a legacy mechanic being phased out — manufacturers were still shipping new must-hit-by titles in 2024. What changes is which specific cabinets a given casino carries, which is why the list is worth re-reading before a trip rather than memorising once.
Keep reading
What is not an advantage play
The machines and the moments that look like a play and are not.
Easiest machines to learn
The eight we rate easy to read and lowest-variance, for a first trip.
Accumulator vs must-hit-by
The two mechanics side by side — a ceiling versus banked value.
Reading the counter
Where the number lives on the glass and how to read it standing up.