Slots
Understanding the games
Slot themes are varied but are typically associated with things like wealth, luck, folklore or legends or sci-fi adventures. Some of the world’s favourite brands license the themes of popular films, TV shows or games such as Gladiator, Big Bang Theory or Farmville.
Most popular slot games make use of paylines – others use a concept called ‘ways’ - to form winning combinations but they all keep the focus on the symbols. The object is simple, to get as many of the same symbol on the same line to win. Certain symbol combinations trigger various features in the game with more the complex games often including built-in feature games, bonus rounds and different prize levels.
Todays’ slot games are increasingly complex, as developers seek to create new games that are each more exciting and engaging than the last. One of the key changes in recent years is the addition of new symbols that have different functions such as wilds, scatters, multipliers and bonus games or features
Whilst they may sound a little off-putting at first, wilds and scatters can actually be hugely beneficial to your game, as long as you know what to do with them! So, let’s have a look at what these symbols mean;
‘Wilds’ is a common term which is used across many different games, so the chances are you’ve heard or seen it mentioned before. You’ll have heard or seen the term ‘wild card’ (thinks Jokers in a deck of cards) which is used to mean a card which can be substituted for any other card the player might want it to be in order to make a win. The meaning in slots is just the same; Wild symbols are used to give players the chance to create a winning line, by substituting their wild symbol for whatever symbol they happen to be missing. So, wild symbols in a game are highly beneficial for players.
Another popular type of symbol is the ‘Scatter’ symbol and this one goes far beyond the basic fruit, bar and card symbols that make up the rest of the game.
Scatter symbols are unique in that they don’t necessarily need to appear on the winning line in order for you to benefit. In fact, it doesn’t matter where you see a scatter symbol appear on the screen. If you see it - you could win!
With scatter symbols, the prizes aren’t simply coins. Scatter symbols are regularly used to signal the start of an interactive bonus round, where you might be able to unlock a bounty of free spins as well as cash prizes. You could even be in with a chance of securing a progressive jackpot! To see a return on your bet, you’ll often need a certain number of scatter symbols to appear at once.
A popular feature on many games, ‘multipliers’ offer you the chance to quickly increase your wins by two, three or even over ten times their actual value. These symbols, like scatter and wild symbols, and appear at random on the reels to intensify the excitement of the game, even for players who have put down a relatively small bet.
Most often they’re found in bonus and free spin rounds but do occasionally appear in the base game too. In some cases, scatter and wild symbols can also act as multipliers at the same time, increasing your winnings even further.
Offered in almost every games, bonus rounds are additional rounds or features of the game that you can unlock, giving you an opportunity to increase your winnings from that round, and of course make the game that bit more exciting.
Bonus rounds can take various forms, such as free spins, mini-games and gambling/risk options, to name a few. They are usually triggered by the appearance of bonus symbols (which could be scatter symbols) and as with combinations of winning symbols, are set to appear to players completely at random, unless unlocked by achieving certain game-specific goals.
