{"id":6173,"date":"2022-05-24T07:36:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T07:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.com\/blog\/\/blog\/?p=6173"},"modified":"2024-04-08T02:55:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T02:55:07","slug":"slot-game-features-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.com\/blog\/2022\/05\/24\/slot-game-features-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Popular Slot Game Features"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
As with many other games, casino<\/a>-based or otherwise, there can be a lot of terminologies involved with playing online\u00a0slots<\/a>. Here\u2019s our attempt at clarifying the rules of slot gaming<\/a> and making things just a little bit easier to pick up. Check out the most important slot game features (and their definitions)\u00a0below.<\/p>\n\n This term describes the combinations that need to be made in order to claim a win on the reels. They can take any form or direction but, represented visually, they usually cross the gameboard from one side to another. The number of winning paylines in a slot can range from just a few to over a hundred-thousand if you are playing a Megaways game.<\/p>\n\n Wilds are special symbols that can be used in the place of any other symbol, especially when it comes to making winning lines. While an older feature of slot gaming, wilds have been subjected to quite a bit of experimentation in recent years. Consequently, they now come in lots of different types, including:<\/p>\n\n These wilds will stretch to cover an entire reel when they appear. The biggest advantage of expanding wilds is that they create more chances for the player to win.<\/p>\n\n This is a regular wild that remains on the reels even after the \u2018Spin\u2019 button is pressed again. Sticky wilds may also be referred to as locked or locking wilds, depending on the game and\/or developer.<\/p>\n\n Transferring wilds are symbols that \u2018spread\u2019 to other reels. This means that a wild on the first reel will be added to all other reels, too. How long this takes may be specific to each individual slot.<\/p>\n\n Also known as shifting wilds, a walking wild symbol begins on one reel and moves to another with\u00a0each subsequent spin. The walking wild can move either from left to right across the reels or vice versa.<\/p>\n\n A random wild appears whenever it likes – or so it may seem. Every new spin of the reels gives the player the possibility to reveal one of these random wild symbols.<\/p>\n\n This special symbol type is actually two or more wilds joined together. They can cover entire reels in some scenarios but will generally stretch to no more than five stacked wilds at once.<\/p>\n\n A scatter symbol often provides the key to opening up a bonus game or receiving a special prize. In general, scatters have their own unique imagery and must be found in quantities higher than one to be useful. Each game has its own rules for scatters so their value in gameplay will vary based on what slot you’re playing. For example, the hugely popular Halloween Fortune games from Playtech use the games logo as a scatter symbol, unlocking a bonus game when three or more appear on the reels at the same time.<\/p>\n\n Free spins describe exactly that – a free turn on the reels. It\u2019s how these spins are acquired that changes so much from one slot to another. For example, some games have a Free Spins symbol included on the reels (like scatters, you\u2019ll probably need more than one to claim a prize), while others may only hand out extra goes in bonus rounds.<\/p>\n\n A staple of TV quiz shows, bonus rounds are any additional modes hidden within a slot that offer new ways to win. The prizes that are available in these rounds may include extra credits, multipliers, free spins, or chances to climb the game\u2019s paytable. In any case, bonus rounds are highly-desirable features.<\/p>\n\n Simple but valuable, multipliers\u2019 only job is to – you guessed it – multiply your winnings. You\u2019ll generally experience multipliers in the region of 2x – 10x but figures in the hundreds or even thousands are a possibility in certain games. It\u2019s well worth hunting these special slots down, regardless of your personal skill level.<\/p>\n\n This seemingly complex term actually has a straightforward definition. Volatility is how frequently a slot pays out in winnings. Note that volatility is linked to a slot machine\u2019s overall risk factor and is often described alongside related terms like Return to Player or RTP (how much a slot pays out, defined below).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n An easy definition that has been muddied by efforts to make games more exciting and varied for players. In brief, it describes the total number of ways that a slot can be won but we need to get a little more specific than that, given the number of variants out there. Games advertised as having so many ways to win are known as \u2018All Ways\u2019 slots.<\/p>\n\n A notable feature of this type of game is that it doesn\u2019t matter where a symbol lands on the reel, at least as far as putting together winning combinations is concerned. This means that traditional paylines are dispensed with – or, put another way, that they\u2019re all wagered on at once.<\/p>\n\n In this form of the game, players bet on 243 winning combinations, with reels of 3x3x3x3x3 (=243) symbols.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n 720 Ways games aren\u2019t very common at online casinos. Much like the above, the sum of the symbols on the reels equals 720 (3x4x5x4x3).<\/p>\n\n This is another five-reel (4x4x4x4x4) slot.<\/p>\n\n A gamble feature or gamble button is a clickable option in some slots that activates when a payline is won. As the name suggests, by clicking, you\u2019ll be gambling your winnings on a (usually) 50\/50 chance of doubling your haul. Unfortunately, if you lose, everything you\u2019ve just won is taken away.<\/p>\n\n We\u2019ve touched on paylines already (see: Ways to Win) but a slot with fixed paylines means that you\u2019ll be wagering on all of them at once with a single bet. This means that matching symbols count towards a winning combination wherever they land on a reel. Variable or adjustable paylines can be set by the player.<\/p>\n\n One thing that many new slots players may not be aware of is that winning combinations have to start on the first reel. In games supporting adjacent ways, they do not. This means that matching symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4 are just as valid as those on 1, 2, and 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Cascading reels usually take the form of blocks that fall into the play area – before disappearing and being replaced in their entirety when the Spin button is pressed again. The lure of cascading reels is that they can produce more \u2018spins\u2019 per button press than in standard games. Playtech\u2019s Cascading Cave is a prime example of this type of game.<\/p>\n\n The \u2018cluster pays\u2019 feature allows players to find wins according to two rules, specifically, that matching symbols must appear next to each other and one of the four corners must be engaged, too. This can mean that winning combinations look more like Tetris pieces than straight or diagonal lines.<\/p>\n\n A mystery symbol adds a bit of excitement to slots gameplay by keeping its value and imagery a secret until the player involves it in a winning payline. If it triggers adjacent paylines when revealed, mystery symbols can produce a much larger winning combination from a single spin.<\/p>\n\n Similar to adjacent ways, the Win Both Ways feature means that winning paylines now work from right to left as well as the standard left to right. The obvious value in Win Both Ways games is that it effectively doubles the number of paylines in play at any given time.<\/p>\n\n Megaways slots have six reels with a changeable number of symbols on each one. With the number of possible symbols standing between two and seven, players get to play with a maximum of 100,000 paylines. Megaways can now be found in many different slots, such as Buffalo Blitz Megaways from Playtech.<\/p>\n\n This feature of modern slots simply describes the potential for more reels or rows to be added to the gameboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Slots typically have 1×1-sized symbols – a square. However, in games with expanding symbols, the width and height of symbols may change during gameplay.<\/p>\n\n Colossal reels create two games in one by splitting the gameboard in half. This may appear as a standard 5×3 slot plus a 5×12 main game that offers the highest chance of winning.<\/p>\n\nBasic Features<\/h2>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paylines<\/h3>\n\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wilds<\/h3>\n\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scatters\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Free Spins\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bonus Rounds\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Multipliers\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Volatility<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ways to Win<\/h3>\n\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 243 Ways to Win<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 720 Ways to Win<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1024 Ways to Win<\/h3>\n\n
Special Game Features<\/h2>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gamble Feature<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fixed\/Variable Paylines<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adjacent Ways<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cascading Reels<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cluster Pays<\/h3>\n\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mystery Symbols<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Win Both Ways<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Megaways\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Expanding Reels<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Expanding Symbols<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Colossal Reels<\/h3>\n\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RTP<\/h3>\n\n