Slot Features 101
Slots might start as a simple game, but developers have become more innovative in presenting slots. You can now find slots with multiple features and unique mechanisms that might be hard to navigate, especially as a beginner.
So, what do you need to know before jumping into slot? Here’s a beginner-friendly guide that can also be helpful to advanced players.
Slot Game Formats
When you browse and compare a bunch of slots, their layouts might be the first difference you spot. Here are slot formats that are most commonly used in the current casino landscape.
3-Reel Slots
3-reel slots are the classic design. In modern days, there are still many classic retro slots coming with three reels.
As there are only a few reels involved, you’ll likely have less chance to create winning combinations and can only play with a few active paylines. On the plus side, they’re easy to understand and offer a slower pace, which is perfect for beginners.
5-Reel Slots
5-Reel slots are the slightly more advanced version of a 3-reel slot. They have five reels, giving players more chances to win, and often offer more paylines. Some also allow the reels to pay both ways.
Cluster Pays
Commonly, slots only give a payout when three or more matching symbols land on the payline. Cluster pays work a bit differently. Instead of using paylines, the slots will give a payout when several of the same symbols form a cluster. They also often come with a cascading feature that gives more winning potential to players.
Megaways
Megaways slots can be highly variable, as their layout can transform throughout the gameplay. One of the biggest offers that a Megaways slot has is its massive number of paylines. As more symbols become active on the reels, you can play with up to 117,649 paylines.
Volatility and RTP
Volatility and RTP are arguably two of the most important things to know from a slot. They’ll tell a lot about what you can expect from the slot of your choosing.
RTP
RTP is short for Return to Player. They’re usually displayed to players in a percentage, which reflects the slot’s potential return in the long run. For example, if a slot is offering a 96% RTP, you have the potential to get 96% of your total stake as payouts. That’s why playing slots with a higher RTP is always better, as that means your winning potential will be bigger.
However, an RTP is only a theoretical return. Which means, it can’t guarantee that you’ll get $96 for every $100 you wager on a 96% RTP slot. This is because the developer came up with the RTP percentage through millions of test spins. One playing session, especially a short one, won’t be able to reflect the exact RTP.
Volatility
Volatility reflects the risk level of the game. You’ll commonly find low, medium, and high volatility slots. There are also slots with extreme volatility, which is riskier than a high volatility slot.
Volatility will inform the payout pattern of the game. To explain it more in detail, here’s what you can expect from each volatility pattern:
- Low volatility: Give frequent small wins, but big payouts are rare.
- Medium volatility: Give a mix of small wins and big wins evenly.
- High volatility: Produce big wins, but would rarely give small wins.
Choosing a slot based on the volatility is crucial to players, as higher volatility slots are riskier. They rarely produce wins, so you won’t get credit boosts mid-game. However, many players like high volatility slots as they’re more thrilling and feel more rewarding. If you’re a beginner, playing a low volatility slot will be safer, as it’ll give you small, frequent wins that help protect your bankroll.
Reel Features
Slots now come with various features that can contribute to players’ potential winning chances. They can be highly innovative and unique, but here are some of the common ones that you’ll find in many slots:
- Wilds: A special symbol that can substitute for other symbols in forming successful combinations.
- Expanding Wilds: Wild symbols that can grow bigger, filling multiple columns simultaneously.
- Random Wilds: Wild symbols can land on the reels randomly.
- Scatters: A special symbol that can trigger a bonus feature.
- Multiplier: Multiplies wins by a specific value.
- Cascading reels: Winning symbols get taken off the reels, allowing the symbols above them to fill the empty spots. This feature gives players a way to win more in one spin.
In-Game Bonus Features
Besides the features you’ll find on the reels, you’ll get bigger bonus features in a slot game. They often help players win big and can be highly innovative, depending on the game. However, some features stand out as players’ favorites.
Free Spins
A Free Spins game might be the most popular bonus game among slots. Like its name, a Free Spins game allows players to spin for free and still win the payout created while the feature is active. Some games also include other features, such as multipliers and special Wilds for a better winning chance.
Bonus Buy
An in-game bonus feature can be hard to trigger. Bonus Buy is a feature allowing players to instantly activate a bonus game of their choosing in exchange for a fixed amount of wager.
Hold and Win features
Hold and Win is a popular jackpot game where the symbols in play are money symbols. Money symbols are coins or other specific symbols with unique values, and among them are the slot’s offered jackpot prizes.
The feature usually provides a few Respins that will reset whenever a new symbol lands and locks on the reels. The reels will then keep spinning until no new symbol sticks or if the player has filled the entire reel with symbols. The latter means players will win the biggest jackpot prize. Meanwhile, if the game stops before the entire reels are filled, players will win the total value of all the money symbols, including jackpot prizes if any.
Wheel Spins
Wheel spins are usually a bonus game where you spin a wheel to win a prize. It can be a multiplier to your set wager or an entry to other bonus games.
Final Spin
Slots may look simple at first, but once you understand formats, volatility, RTP, and bonus features, the experience becomes much more enjoyable—and a lot more strategic. Knowing what each feature does helps you choose games that match your play style, bankroll, and risk level.
Ready to put this knowledge into action? Explore our games and find the titles that fit you best, whether you’re after classic spins, big bonuses, or high-volatility thrills. 🎰
