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Slots are a type of casino game that has become increasingly popular in both land-based and online casinos. While the classic slots featured only three reels, today’s games have evolved and come with many different features. From bonus rounds to free spins, slots now offer more variety than ever before.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some of the different types of slot features and explain how they work. We’ll also provide tips for maximizing your wins while playing slots. So, if you’re looking to up your game, read on!
What are Slot Features?
The term “slot features” refers to the different kinds of bonus rounds, special symbols, and other elements that make up a slot game. These features are designed to enhance the gaming experience by increasing your chances of winning or providing an exciting change of pace. Some popular features include free spins, multipliers, wilds, scatters, and bonus rounds. Most players are familiar with these features, but let’s take a closer look at how they work.
The Most Common Slot Features
Wild Symbols
Wild symbols are a great way to increase your chances of winning. These symbols can substitute for any other symbol on the reels, helping you create winning combinations more easily. Some slots also feature expanding wilds, which cover entire reels and give you even more chances to win big!
Free Spins
Free slots are the most popular slot types nowadays, and therefore the combination of free slots with free spins is highly sought after. Free spins give you extra spins on the reels without having to make an additional bet.
Some slots also offer special features during the free spins round, such as extra wilds or multipliers. Moreover, many traditional slot games offer free spins as a type of bonus feature, and due to the huge success of the feature, some developers have gone as far as to create whole slots solely based on free spins.
Scatter Symbols
Scatter symbols are another type of special symbol found in many slot games. These symbols don’t need to appear in consecutive order on the reels; when you land three or more scatters anywhere on the reels, you’ll unlock a bonus round or free spins.
Multipliers
Multipliers can increase your wins exponentially! They can multiply your winnings up to five times or even more, depending on the slot. Some slots also feature progressive multipliers, which increase as you continue playing.
Bonus Rounds
Bonus rounds are a great way to increase your winnings and have more fun while playing slots. These bonus rounds can range from pick-and-choose games, where you select from a variety of items to reveal prizes, to more interactive games with multiple levels.
Jackpots
Jackpots are one of the most exciting features found in slots. Many jackpots are progressive, meaning that they increase each time someone plays the game without being won. When you hit the jackpot, you may be rewarded with thousands of coins or even a life-changing sum of money!
Autoplay
Autoplay is a convenient feature if you want to watch the reels spin without actively engaging. To use autoplay, click the button to start and then again when you’re ready for it to stop. Autoplay is one of the most popular slot features because it’s easy to use. You can also autoplay the online slot game for a set number of games, stop if you get a big win or lose too much, and make bonus rounds.
Scatters
The scatter symbol is aptly named because it can perform its function anywhere on the screen. Other symbols, such as regular icons, need to be in a payline or adjacent reels to create a win. In contrast, scatters only need to appear anywhere on the board. Usually, three or more scatters will unlock free spins or another bonus round feature. Sometimes you may also receive a payout from just having to scatter symbols show up as a bonus.
All-Ways Payline
Traditional paylines limit players to matching symbols in predefined ways, usually 25 or fewer amongst 5×3 slots. All-ways paylines get rid of that issue by letting users create matches anywhere on the reels – as long as the similar symbols are adjacent to each other.
Both-way paylines are often taken to new levels by software providers who introduce larger reels. 5×3 reel slots with a both-ways and all-ways mechanic can achieve up to 720 paylines in their game. Megaways slots also offer an incredible number of paylines, reaching up to 117,649 because of their unusual reel structure.
Cluster Reels
The cluster reel concept combines puzzle game matching and slot symbol matching mechanics. Every symbol you match in a cluster pay slot vanishes, making way for more symbols to fill the space.
The main draw of cluster reel slots is the mini-re-spin feature that players can take advantage of in both the base game and free spins mode. With enough consecutive matches, players could potentially win a large payout.
To make slots more enticing, software providers add impressive features to the cluster reel mechanic- like awarding a bonus mode after making a set number of matches in a row. Another example is increasing the progressive multiplier for every consecutive match made.
Conclusion
These are just some of the many different types of features found in slots. With so much variety and potential for big wins, it’s no wonder why slots are so popular. Now that you know more about how slot features work, why not give it a try? Good luck!