What are Mystery Symbols in slots?

Symbols are the lifeblood of slot games. From the very first slot ever produced, the Liberty Bell game at the turn of the 19^th century, designed by Charles Fey and which used to dispense tokens as prizes that players could exchange for items behind the bar, the slot was itself names after the highest value symbol on the reels, the famous Liberty Bell.

When you think about slot symbols though, perhaps the most iconic of all slot symbols are the famous fruit symbols that also gave their name to a popular phrase used to describe slot games. Fruit Machines as they were colloquially known, were called because the symbols on the reels all resembled fruits, such as melon, apples, lemons, limes, oranges, grapes and perhaps the most famous of all cherries.

Soon slot games began to add other symbols to the reels and items such as the Lucky 7 symbol and the Bar symbol also became popular. As did other symbols such as diamond symbols. Games often used combinations of these symbols to award more flexible wins to players, such as being able to combine single, double and treble bars together for a small value win, or using three different colour 7 symbols to offer a lower value win.

However the advent of digital technology combined with the computer chip saw slot games not only develop a greater level of complexity, and a far greater number of potential outcomes for each spin, but also meant that games designers could afford to be more ambitious with their symbol designs and games started to then turn away from the older style symbols listed above and would instead design their own symbols for us on the reels.

That is a process that has continued today with almost every new slot release having its own design of symbols, although some symbols (such as using playing card symbols for the lower value symbols in a game) do tend to appear far more often than is strictly necessary.

Most symbols are standard symbols, that is they serve a simple function in the game by lining up with other symbols of their kind to create wins across the different pay lines or across the reels in any position in Ways to Win slot games.

There are of course some special symbols that are used extensively across slot games too. Wild symbols, which come in many different forms, can be used as standard symbols in many games to help create wins, while the Scatter symbol can offer a cash prize win and is often used as a way to trigger a bonus feature in the slot (such as a Free Spins bonus game), when you land three or more across the reels.

However, on some games, some of the symbols used on the slots move away from the norm and venture towards the more unusual. One such example of this is the Mystery Symbol, which has appeared in a relatively small number of slot games so far. So in this article, we are going to take a look at the different types of Mystery Symbols available in slot games, whether or not Mystery Symbols are beneficial for players and, of course, we are going to start that process by taking a look at exactly what Mystery Symbols are.

What are Mystery Symbols?

Mystery Symbols are best described as symbols that can appear on the reels during a spin, that do not have a predetermined value or symbol on the reels at the start of the spin. Often, they can be identified by the fact that they will have an easily identifiable feature on the symbol, such as a question mark, in place of a standard symbol. They can appear stacked on the reels too, often being able to full an entire reel on a single spin.

What tends to happen with Mystery Symbols is that when the spin you are playing resolves itself across the reels in the game, any Mystery Symbols that you land on the reels will then be randomly prescribed to one of the symbols that are on the reels in the game. Sometimes this can include bonus features such as Wild symbols, sometimes not. Scatter symbols tend not to be available on Mystery Symbols in the vast majority of games (I certainly cannot remember coming across this in the Mystery Symbol slots I have played).

Sometimes when the Mystery Symbols are revealed, they can line up with each other, or with other symbols on the reels to help you land a bigger value win. However, often, especially if you only hit a small number of Mystery Symbols on a spin, you will find that they resolve themselves and you do not land a win.

In some games, one bonus feature may for entire reels to become populated with Mystery Symbols. This usually occurs when players have triggered a bonus feature and means that one or more reels will be entirely comprised of Mystery Symbols. Of course the more reels you have of this type and the nearer they are to the first three reels, tends to be the better for players. This feature is often called the Mystery Reels feature.

There is some slight variance with how Mystery Symbols are used in slot games, but what is outlined above is a good general rule of thumb for understanding how these symbols work at their most basic (and common) level.

Are Mystery Symbols beneficial to the player?

That is a great question and in fact, it is the most important question to ask about Mystery Symbols as the true answer is that unlike some other features on the slot, such as a Free Spins bonus game or the Wild symbol, Mystery Symbols can either be extremely frustrating and useless to a player on one spin, but then be absolutely vital in securing a big value win in another, or indeed at any point in between the two extremes.

There are some key factors to understand with Mystery Symbols and that is it is not only the number of Mystery Symbols that land on the reels that is key. It is also where they land on the reels and the other symbols on the reels surrounding them that also play a key role in defining their value, once of course that value has been determined in the game.

What does that mean? Well for example, one of the biggest frustrations for a player when using a Mystery Symbol is when they land a significant number of Mystery Symbols on the second, third, fourth and/or fifth reels but do not land any on the first. Now if that first reel is stacked with one symbol, lets for argument's sake say a Bar symbol, but then the Mystery Symbol reveals itself to be a Cherry symbol, despite landing Mystery Symbols across almost all reels, the value of the win is nil to the player on most slot games (those that are not Any Adjacent Pays or Win Both Ways games).

However, at the other end of the scale, if you land just a couple of Mystery symbols on the second reel but then you have a run of Bar symbols across the first, third and fourth and/or fifth reels, and the Mystery Symbols turn into Bar symbols, then you will have landed a very nice win even though you have landed just a couple of Mystery Symbols.

There are some circumstances which are the most beneficial for players when it comes to Mystery Symbols in most games of this type:

• Landing Mystery Symbols stacked on the first three reels at least (more if possible) - If you do this, then the fact that all Mystery Symbols will covert to the same symbol means you are guaranteed a win across all the pay lines or ways that you have these symbols on.
• Seeing Mystery Symbols convert into Wild symbols - As Wild symbols can be used with any of the standard symbols in the vast majority of games they are in, any time you land Mystery Symbols, especially on the first three reels, and they turn into Wilds, that can be very beneficial for players and the more of the Mystery Symbols you land in this case, the better.
• Seeing Mystery Symbols trigger another game bonus feature - In some games, Mystery Symbols can be used to trigger another bonus feature in the slot, even progressive jackpot bonus games.

It should be noted here that the Mystery Symbols bonus does tend to be somewhat variable in its usefulness and effectiveness for players. Most often, when the Mystery Symbols resolve themselves, they will either trigger no win, or only a small value win and the big value wins, or bonus game triggers outlined above, are generally rare. However, when they occur, they can result in some massive wins for players.

What games offer a chance to experience play with Mystery Symbols?

The games outlined below have some kind of Mystery Symbol feature included within the game. Of course, how they are used may well differ from game to game and in each case, we have tried to give a brief description of how the feature is used in that particular game.

• Halloween - This is game that uses one of its rare features, the Wandering Reels feature, along with Mystery Symbols (which can be jumbo sized) within the base game and also during the Free Spins bonus round. The position of the Wandering Reels, combined with the value of the mystery symbols on the reels, allied with the other symbols on the remaining reels will determine how valuable a win you can land in the game.
• Wicked Tales Dark Red - Essentially, this slot uses the same set up as used in the Halloween slot outlined above with Wandering Reels and the chance for Mystery Jumbo Symbols to appear within that block.
• Fortunium Gold Mega Moolah - This game features both Mystery Symbols and Mystery Reels (as part of the Free Spins bonus) and together with a shot at the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot prize, it is arguably the wisest choice to see this bonus in action. Mystery Symbols appear throughout the base game and then depending on whether you land three, four or five Scatters to trigger the Free Spins bonus, you will also have one, two or three Mystery Reels in play during your Free Spins round. That's not all though as the Mystery Reels can at any point offer you a shot at the famous Mega Moolah progressive jackpot bonus wheel, where you will spin to win one of the four progressive jackpot prizes available on the slot, Mini, Minor, Major or the instant millionaire guaranteed, Mega jackpot prize.
• Wheel of Wishes: Wowpot - While there are no Mystery Symbols in the standard game, if you trigger a Power Spin, or elect to play in Power Mode, then you will see Mystery Reels in use on the first and fifth reels on each Power Spin in the game. These reels will then combine with any symbols on the Jumbo Blocked middle three reels to possibly create wins across all five positions on the reels.