For decades, slot machines were simple mechanical devices. In the early days, they had three spinning reels and a lever that you pulled to line up matching symbols on three basic paylines.
Today, playing the slots is a sophisticated gaming experience that captivates players on multiple sensory levels. The evolution of the online casino means that today’s slots enthusiasts can look forward to innovative features that increase excitement, enhance gameplay and offer diverse opportunities for winning.
It’s not complicated to play a slot machine but you can further maximize your gameplay by becoming acquainted with the various features that are found on each machine. Each slot machine offers its own list of features so find the ones that offer the features that suit your personal individual gaming preferences and interests.
Check out today’s top slot features in the Grande Vegas slots lobby.
Wilds and Scatters
Wild symbols and scatters are well-known to slot aficionados. They are a staple in today’s slots gameplay, thanks to the online casinos’ efforts to make slots a more interactive casino experience.
Wilds are symbols that substitute for other images so that more winning combinations can be created.
Over the years, Wilds have evolved. Many of today’s slots feature different types of Wild symbols including:
- Expanding Wilds – Wilds that stretch to cover an entire reel so you have chances to complete paylines and win payout prizes.
- Sliding Wilds --any random symbol can change to a wild after the spin. Following a payout, specified reels slide over one position, leaving space for a different reel to move to one of the empty positions so that new wins can be created.
- Multiplier Sticky Wild – holds in position after the spin to as you receive an extra, free respin.
- Sticky Wilds – Wilds that stick to the reels through subsequent spins, giving you more chances to complete winning combinations.
- Stacked Wilds – occur whenever two or more Wild symbols join together and then cover entire reels. You can get up to five stacked wilds at once which creates a Wild Reel where all positions are wild. This allows you to more easily complete winning combinations.
- Striking Wild – can activate randomly, transforming a regular reel into a Wild Reel. Typically, two or three reels are transformed simultaneously.
Scatter symbols are symbols that provide an extra element of surprise. You create a scatter combination when matching symbols appear in any pattern on the reels, not only on the same payline. In addition, scatter combinations often trigger bonus rounds.
If you find a game with a locking scatter, you’ll be lucky! Locking scatters lock into place when two matching symbols lock on the reels. This gives you the opportunity to increase your number up to five and your wins increase proportionally to the triggering bet.
Reels Features
The slots machines of the last two decades have been offering a wider selection of special reel features which keep the action moving even faster. Most of these features can be found on five-reel slot machines but, more and more, the newer 3-reel slots offer these added features as well. Some of the newest and most interactive of these features include:
- Oversized symbols – large images that occupy multiple symbol positions, sometimes as typical 2x2 graphic images and sometimes as large symbols that occupy extra space on the reels to activate additional winning payouts.
- Exploding Symbols – Symbols that explode when a winning combination occurs during a spin. After the exploding symbols explode, they disappear, allowing more symbols to drop down into their place and create additional winning paylines.
Extra Features
Some other features that have proved popular among slots enthusiasts include:
- Mystery Symbols – symbols whose values aren’t predetermined. They don’t appear on the paytable but they do show up on the screen, usually as a “?”. If a Mystery Symbol, shows up on your spin, it can take the form of any of any other game symbol including a Wild, a bonus symbol, a scatter, etc. In some games, Mystery Symbols can stack on the reels as Stacked Mystery Symbols.
- Rolling Reels/Cascading Reels – where the winning symbols are removed from the reels after a payline is completed. They disappear by exploding or flashing or simply disappearing. After the symbol disappears, new symbols roll/cascade down to fill the empty places on the reels so you can achieve new wins within the same spin, without adding any additional wagers. When a multiplier trail accompanies the Rolling Reels, the multiplier increases in increments, thereby boosting payouts.
- Morphing Symbols -- Before the reels start spinning in a game with Morphing Symbols, you choose the symbol that you want to morph. Then, whenever that symbol appears on the reels, it expands to cover the entire reel, giving you more chances to complete paylines.
And More……
Features that enhance the gameplay of a slot machine:
- Buy Bonus – a chance to buy additional free spins and other bonuses.
- Ways to Win – Instead of winning combinations being created on paylines, combinations are completed on the gameboard, giving you hundreds – sometimes thousands of ways to create winning combinations on each spin.
- Free Spins – Opportunities to spin the reels for free and collect the resulting winning payouts. Different machines offer different numbers of free spins. Some slot machines feature Respins in which, if the triggering combination pops up on a free spin, you receive even more free spins.
- Multiplier – multiplies your payout by a pre-determined multiplier value.
- Pick-a-Bonus -- triggered by a regular game spin. You can then choose your preferred bonus game from multiple choices.
- Jackpot – a pre-determined result of a spin triggers the jackpot prize. Some jackpot games have one big jackpot and other games feature multiple jackpots ranging from smaller ones to massive jackpots.
Each slot machine has its own mix of features. Check the games lobby of the online casino to find a game whose gameplay suits your personal game preferences and playing style.
