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What are Hyperspins in online slots?


If you have been following some of the latest releases by slots giant Microgaming, then you will have noticed a number of recent releases have featured something called "Hyperspins" as part of its game design. It is a rather grandiose sounding feature, but what does it actually mean for the player and how is it incorporated into the game?

In this article, we will answer both of those questions in as much detail as we can, we will also explore the positive and negative aspects of having the Hyperspins feature available to players and of course, we will also bring you a list of gaming titles which offer the feature which allows you to try it out for yourself.

Remember, you can always find a demo version of a game to trial the Hyperspins feature before you actually play for real cash and if you are a little wary of the feature after reading about it in this article, then this may well be a good option for you (although you should also remember, that Hyperspins is entirely optional; you can choose to ignore the feature completely and play your game as a standard slot if you so prefer!).

What are Hyperspins?

Although the name may bring up images of reels perhaps expanding into an infinite number of symbols and ways to win, or spinning at the speed of light, the Hyperspins feature on a slot is actually something a little more mundane than that.

In essence, the feature allows players to play a spin as per normal and then once the spin has been resolves, a player can then look at how the reels lie and decide, if they so wish, to spin just one of the reels again, perhaps to try and complete a winning line, or maybe to try and add another Scatter or Wild symbol to those already on the reels.

Now of course, the chances of a player winning on a Hyperspin can be increased markedly depending on how the symbols on the other reels are displayed. Indeed it is even possible to play a Hyperspin on a fourth or fifth reel which will guarantee you a win, and where the Hyperspin is an attempt to increase the value of a win.

Now all this sounds very exciting for the player but there is a crucial aspect to the feature and that is that depending on which reel you want to spin, and depending on the symbols that are displayed and the order in which they are displayed on other reels, the cost for spinning just one reel and using the Hyperspins feature can vary considerably, from just a very small amount, to a much more expensive spin if there is potential for player to land a large win, or trigger a major bonus feature, when they play their Hyperspin.

To understand this a little more, let's take a quick look at how the Hyperspins feature is incorporated into a slot game.

How does the Hyperspins system work in a typical game?

The Hyperspins feature is available once a player has played one spin of the slot game. After that, the feature is usually available on every spin, or Hyperspin, that you play after that.

On a standard spin, the game will play out your bet and the reels will display their symbols. The Hyperspins feature then kicks in and the first thing that it does is calculate your chances of winning should you decide to spin any one of the five reels. Once the calculations have been performed (which takes fractions of a second), the amount to spin any of the reels is displayed underneath the reel usually in a small box.

The key thing to note here is how the values of each potential Hyperspin of a reel is worked out and it is all based on the players likelihood of winning, or triggering a key bonus feature.

If the triggering spin has been a pretty poor one and the player only has a slight chance of triggering a relatively low value win, then you will find that the value for a Hyperspin on each of the reels may be small.

However, if a situation arises where a player could win a larger prize, particularly if one or two reels could be respun, then the cost of spinning these key reels using Hyperspins will be much higher than if the player wanted to spin one of the reels which has landed in a more advantageous position.

For example, if a player has a high value symbol landed on the first, second and fourth reels, plus a Wild symbol on the fifth, it is abundantly clear that the third reel is the key one here to unlocking a big value win. As such, the Hyperspins feature would ramp up the cost of spinning the third reel in the game. It is then up to the player to decide whether they want to use the feature to try and trigger that potential win, or if the extra cost of playing that reel in Hyperspins is not worth it.

Similarly, if you have landed two Scatter symbols on a spin and need a third to trigger a Free Spins bonus game, then the three reels that do not have a Scatter landed (assuming it is a 5-reel game of course), would have a much higher price to spin than the two that do have Scatters landed on them.

Finally, if you land a win on a spin, then you can still use the Hyperspins option to try and increase the value of another spin that will guarantee a win. However, the cost of the Hyperspin will be more than the current win value you are guaranteed to get. So, for example, if you have landed three Ace symbols on the first three reels to trigger a €1.00 win, and you decide to use a Hyperspin option on the fourth reel, then the cost of that spin will be more than €1.00, but it will be less than the prize you would win for four Ace symbols on a pay line (unless of course, you have a fifth Ace symbol waiting in position on the fifth reel, in which case the amount would be smaller than a five-symbol win but still much higher than your guaranteed win amount).

What are the positives and negatives when using Hyperspins?

It is pretty apparent that the main positive for players using the Hyperspins feature is that they will get a chance to turn either a non-winning spin into a winning spin, a non-trigger of a bonus game into a spin that does trigger the bonus, or a winning spin into a larger value winning spin by using the Hyperspins feature. The feature cuts down the variables available for the slot by holding the remaining reels in position for the spin, which of course is beneficial to the player.

However, the downside of the feature is that Hyperspins can prove to be very expensive and especially if you do not land the symbol you want when using a Hyperspins feature. There is no guarantee that the Hyperspins option will pay out for you, and you could spend a lot of money using the feature, with little or no reward, if the symbol you need does not land.

The key thing for players to understand with Hyperspins is when to use it, when not to use it, and when you do use it, when to stop using it so that it doesn't cost you a huge amount of money chasing a bigger value prize, or bonus game trigger.

What games can I play that offer me a chance to play Hyperspins?

The good news is that Microgaming have a number of games that offer you the chance to play the Hyperspins bonus and some of those games are outlined below:

Hyperspins has the potential to be a very lucrative bonus feature on a slot, but it is a bonus that needs to be used judiciously in order to get the best out of it, and to stop it costing you a lot more than you originally intended to spend. Used well, it is a fantastic enhancement to a wide selection of already excellent slot games from Microgaming.

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Next article: What are Mystery Symbols in slots?

16/10/2020