No two slot machine games are exactly alike, whether you are playing online or offline. The beauty of playing online slots is that it is easier to narrow down your choices when you can search for games based on the features built into each one. Few slots have all the possible features, but all the good ones have at least one or two.
Common Slot Machine Features
Most of today’s hottest slots offer free spins, and many also offer retriggers. In most games, players need a certain number of scatter symbols on the reels to win free spins. It is not unusual for free spins to be retriggered when the scatter (or sometimes a special bonus,) symbol appears during those free spins. These are a standard feature on virtually all new slot machines.
Another feature that even some older slots have is gamble. In most cases, players are offered the option every time they win money on a spin. They can choose to keep their winnings or risk them. Winning the gamble feature requires players to correctly guess if a red or black playing card will be dealt. If they guess correctly, it doubles the amount they win. But if they guess incorrectly they lose the money they won on their last spin.
Wild symbols are the backbone of any good slot machine. While some just act as standard wilds that make it easier to form a winning combination, there are also some alternative features that are common today. This includes expanding and transferring, with expanding found more often. It also includes sticky wilds, which is generally used during free spins.
An expanding wild initially takes up one space on the reels. It gets its name from the fact that something in the game will cause it to spread far enough to cover the rest of the reel. Many slots build this feature into their bonus games.
A transferring wild is one that can move between the reels on the game screen. The beauty of this particular feature is that it can help players win multiple times in one turn. Sticky wilds stay in their position on the reels for a certain number of spins. In some slots they are referred to as locked wilds.
Multipliers are also a symbol commonly found in modern slots. They start at a value of two and in rare cases, go all the way up to 100. These are symbols that increase a player’s winnings. Many slots will give players multipliers of increasing value when they achieve winning combinations, though the specific details vary from one game to the next. These symbols are sometimes limited just to bonus rounds, but other slots make them available during regular gameplay.
A Slightly Less Common Feature
Depending on the volatility of a particular slot, some feature cascading reels. While this one of the newer features in the industry, a growing number of games are adopting it because it is beneficial to players. This is a feature where, when winning combinations of symbols are formed, those symbols are removed from the reels. Normally, players would have to pay for another spin in order for a new set of symbols to appear. But cascading reels keep rolling every time a winning combination of symbols is achieved, and players don’t have to pay anything to make this happen. Not only does it increase their chances of winning, it automatically saves them betting money. And while many slots that have it refer to this feature as cascading, others call it avalanche or even tumbling.
Many slots that have this feature often don’t resemble the typical slot, in which there are obvious reels on the game screen. They tend to feature a setup where symbols just fall from the top of the screen and land in an organized way. In these games, when players hit the button, they don’t see spinning reels. All they see is the old symbols go away and the new symbols appear.
Rarely Seen Features
A small handful of slots have one feature or another that defies the industry’s norms. One of the best examples of this is double symbols. In most slots, symbols are a single image. But in rare slots such as Net Ent’s Flowers you will see both single and double symbols. Only the game’s highest paying symbols are doubled. Since winning combinations pay more the more symbols are in them, double symbols work to create a winning combination that leads to a larger win than players are used. This feature creates a sense of anticipation because players never know if the single or double version of a symbol will land on the reels.
Another feature you may see in some slots, but not many, are double reels. Usually reels are slightly separated from each other on the game screen. It is the rare slot that features one reel stacked on top of another one. Anytime a winning combination of symbols is achieved on the lower reel, symbols from the reel above it fall down to the lower reel. This feature adds to the number of pay lines you could potentially win on. Only time will tell if these rarely used features become more common in the future.
What Features Mean To You
As a slots player, you have the freedom to choose games based on their features. With so many slots to choose from, it can be impossible to narrow it down. Being able to sort games by feature is a huge time saver and will help you discover slots you’ll enjoy without wasting time on those that don’t have something to offer that entices you. This is especially helpful if you are not as familiar with slots as many seasoned players are. But even if you are familiar with them, being able to sort slots may also help you discover games you may have missed out on.
