What Are Slots Features?
Slot features are where most of the creative, interactive fun of the game is focused. As one of the top software developers said, “Bonus features are what it’s all about.” instant win game providers know this, which is why they are constantly introducing innovative features to make the gaming experience fun and entertaining.
On this page, you will read about some of the best slot features taking over the online casino industry. Also included is a review of features that changed how slots are played online. To understand all these features, you will need to understand the fundamentals of slots described below.
Basics of a Slot Game
A slot machine is made up of reels, paylines, and symbols. Reels are the drums that spin. They are responsible for holding the symbols in place and spinning them once you tap the spin button. The number of reels varies depending on the online slot game you are playing. Classic online slots have 3-5 reels. Modern slots can have 3-6 reels or even more.
Paylines, on the other hand, are lines running across, diagonally, and vertically on the screen. It is here where winning symbols are aligned to award you with wins. Like reels, different slots have different numbers of paylines. Classic online slots used to have one payline. However, with technological advancements, instant win game providers can now include thousands of unique ways of winning.
Lastly, we have symbols. These are responsible for determining the theme of an online slot game. They are images and animations included in the game to give it the theme a software provider seeks to achieve.
For example, an Egyptian theme slot will have symbols depicting Egyptian culture. A movie-themed slot will have images picked from a film or TV show. There are thousands of online slot themes to pick from. This variety allows anyone to find a game they wish to play online on gambling platforms like Vulkan Vegas Casino Online.
Slot Features
Each of the three described features of an online slot plays a crucial role in determining features in online slot games. Below are some of the most common features you will encounter while playing slots.
Scatter Symbols
These are responsible for triggering in-game bonus rounds in online slots. The most common bonus round they activate is the free spins round. As the name suggests, they appear scattered anywhere along an active payline to play their role.
Wild Symbols
Wild symbols in slots play the same role as “joker in poker.” They will substitute for all the other symbols in the slot – besides the scatter symbols – to form the best possible winning combination. Of course, this substitution has to happen on symbols that appear along an active payline.
The wild symbol can take any form in an online slot. There are also different types of wild symbols in a game, ranging from regular wilds, shifting wilds, sticky wilds, expanding wilds, multiplier wilds, overlay wilds, and much more.
Cascading Reels
They are sometimes referred to as avalanche reels. As the name suggests, these reels will “cascade” when a win is formed, causing an “avalanche” of symbols on the screen. In the process of cascading, they will create a void, which has to be filled with other symbols.
If the symbols filling the void result in more winnings, the process repeats itself until no more wins are formed. The first game to ever include cascading reels was NetEnt’s Gonzo’s Quest. Since then, a hundred others have been developed with slight modifications to the original avalanche feature.
Ways to Win Feature
Originally, there was only one way to win in slots – land matching symbols along the single payline. However, it is quickly becoming popular to come across online slots that feature ways to win instead of paylines.
Ways to win, as the name suggests, refers to ways you can form win combinations where symbols simply lay adjacent to each other instead of paylines.
Originally, software developers such as Microgaming and NetEnt developed 243 and 1024 unique ways of winning. However, Big Time Gaming took ways of winning to a new level by developing Megaways slots. These include a remarkable 117,695 unique ways of winning.
Bonus Buy Feature
Sometimes, you don’t have the time to wait to activate the bonus game. You have the gut feeling you will be winning big. And you trust your gut feeling. You also have a hefty budget and would like to quickly get into the bonus round.
With the bonus buy feature, this is now possible. Activate your preferred bonus round by manually “purchasing” it through the bonus buy feature. Once active, you will play the bonus round like in the regular round.
Note, however, that you are not guaranteed wins once the game is active. You may spend huge sums of money only to win a few coins. Ensure you stake wisely.