Slot Symbols & Features Part 1: Symbols, Multipliers, and Winning Ways

Playing video slots seems pretty easy on its face. After all, there is little more to do than push the 'spin' button, right? Actually, there is a lot more to it. When you get down with the details, you discover that a lot of thought goes into designing slots to make them as entertaining as possible.

This post is the first in a 3-part series intended to introduce all the most common video slot features to our readers. Whether you are brand-new to video slots or are a seasoned veteran, this series contains plenty of helpful information. Hopefully you will learn some things about slots you have never known before. All being well, your newly acquired knowledge will make your video slot play that much better.

Scatter and Wild Symbols

Every video slot game has its symbols. In terms of standard game-play, there are both base symbols and higher-paying symbols. Your base symbols are typically playing card symbols from either 9 or 10 through Ace. Higher-paying symbols are usually tied to the theme of the game. These could be animals, pieces of fruit, or whatever else suits the game in which they are found.

Scatter and Wild symbols are extra symbols that go above and beyond the standard symbols. They have specific functions based on game design. We will start by talking about the Scatter symbol.

The Scatter symbol is a standalone symbol that is not used to create winning combinations. Rather, it generally performs the function of triggering bonus play. For example, you might have a video slot that offers a free spins bonus game. In order to trigger that game, you have to land at least three Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels during a standard spin.

Quite a few games pay separate wins on Scatter symbols whenever they appear. You might get paid for every Scatter you land or, alternatively, you might have to land a minimum of two Scatters in order to get paid for them. There is also the possibility that scatter symbols will only appear on certain reels. If all of this seems quite random, you now know why the symbols are known as 'Scatter' symbols.

The Wild symbol is a lot like a wild card in poker. A Wild symbol's main function is to help build winning combinations. In that sense, the Wild can substitute for any other symbol necessary to complete a combination. The only thing they cannot substitute for is the Scatter symbol.

You might be playing a game that includes the classic cherry symbol. If you had two cherries and a wild on the same pay line, originating from the far-left position, that wild would help complete the combination. You would win on that pay line.

Having said that, there are five different kinds of Wild symbols. The basic Wild is the one just described. The four others are:

• Sticky - A Sticky Wild is one that appears on the reels and stays in place for a designated number of spins. It might be just the next spin; it might be the next five spins.

• Shifting - A Shifting Wild is a lot like a Sticky Wild except it does not stay on the reel on which it lands. It shifts to the same position on another reel - usually the adjacent reel - and then remains in place for a number of designated spins.

• Stacked - Stacked Wilds are wilds that appear in successive positions on the same reel. You might have a stack of 10 Wild symbols that follow one after another as the reel spins. Having 10 Wild symbols in a row increases the chances that the symbol you eventually land on that reel is a Wild.

• Expanding - An Expanding Wild lands as just a single symbol but then, after all the reels have stopped, expands to populate positions on other reels. This generally means expanding to adjacent reels, although that is not a requirement.

Implementing all sorts of Wild symbols gives game designers the ability to truly enhance game-play. The judicious use of different kinds of wilds also adds an element of the unknown. Of course, wilds also increase your chances of winning on a particular spin. And there's nothing wrong with that!

Multipliers

A Multiplier is a feature that multiplies the amount you win on a particular spin. Let us say you have the opportunity to play a free spins bonus game on your favourite slot. Let's also say the bonus game starts with a 3X multiplier. The multiplier triples your wins during bonus play.

If a normal winning combination would produce a win of €100, a 3X multiplier increases it to €300. Multipliers can be as low as 2X and as high as thousands of times your wager. It really just depends on what game designers want to do.

There's also a Multiplier Trail feature in which the player can increase the Multiplier number along the way. Sometimes Multiplier Trail features can pay as high as 15X the bet, as is the case in the new Absolootly Mad slot.

Winning Ways

The last thing this post will tackle is the Winning Ways concept. To understand how Winning Ways work, we must first understand traditional pay lines. Games that offer winning ways do not offer pay lines; Winning Ways are a substitute thereof.

In a traditional pay lines scenario, you must land at least three like symbols on consecutive reels in order to win. This generally means that the first of your three symbols must land on the first reel at far left. The second and third symbols would appear on adjacent reels on the same pay line.

A Winning Way dispenses with normal pay lines. Instead, winning is a matter of landing three like symbols on any adjacent reels regardless of position. You could have one symbol on the first position on reel 1, the next symbol appears on position 3 of the second reel, and your third symbol appears on position 2 of the third reel.

A lot of games that utilise winning ways also do not require the winning combinations to originate at either the left or right. In other words, any three like symbols landing on consecutive reels produces a win. The best part about it is that you have access to every winning way with every spin. You do not have to place your bet based on a certain number of pay lines.

Just to give you an example of how this works, consider a 5-reel game with four positions per reel. When you count up all the possible ways you could get three like symbols on consecutive reels, you end up with 1024 Winning Ways. Placing your bet means betting on all 1024 ways.

Next Up: Reels and Re-Spins

Hopefully you now understand scatter and wild symbols, multipliers, and winning ways a bit better. Our next post will talk about some of the finer details of reels and re-spins. In the meantime, go and enjoy your favourite video slots.