Slot games are one of the most popular ways to play online with real money. These games, which are modelled after classic slot machines, let you spin the reels and match symbols to win cash. They’re simple to play, with straightforward rules and high winning potential.
One of the other great advantages of slots over traditional casino games is that they sometimes offer bonus features. These provide more excitement and new ways to win as you play. Over time, bonus features in slots have become more common, and they’ve gotten more elaborate and exciting too.
What Are Bonus Features
Bonus features in slots are special symbols or rounds that offer unique benefits or unlock a special mini game. They often have the potential to trigger higher payouts too, which is one of the reasons why they’re so popular. Bonus features can come in a lot of different types, including free spins, wilds, multipliers and even expanding or changing reels.
Each bonus feature will have a specific way it can be unlocked, often requiring you to land bonus symbols or complete something in the game. They make playing slots a lot more exciting, though it’s important to understand how the bonus works before you play. Make sure you read the rules so you know how to trigger the bonus.
The best bonus features are those that are relatively simple to trigger but also offer higher winning potential. Some bonuses have a higher chance of activating than others, but the rare bonuses such as progressive jackpots normally offer higher winning potential.
How Free Spins Work
A free spins bonus round is the classic slot machine bonus feature that’s usually present in online slots too. Like free spins bonuses, these give you a set number of spins to play for free. However, the free spins bonus will often come with increased rewards like a win multiplier.
Typically, unlocking the free spins bonus round is as simple as landing three or more scatter symbols on a single spin. Scatter symbols are unique in that they don’t need to appear on a payline to activate your reward. They can appear anywhere on the reels, and provided there are enough of them, they’ll activate the free spins.
During the free spins, all the wins you land are added up. Once the round ends, your total payout is added up, with any multiplier applied to the total before being paid out.
Wilds and Their Variations
Wild symbols are another common bonus feature in online slots, and one that’s been around since the days of early slot machines. Standard wilds will substitute for other paying symbols, which can give you a higher chance of landing a win. In some cases, wilds also act as scatters, where they’ll trigger a bonus round if you land enough of them on a single spin.
There are different kinds of wilds available too. For example, expanding wilds like the ones seen in Starburst will expand to cover the entire reel when they land. Some games also offer sticky wilds, which stick in place on the reels, or roaming wilds, which move around on each spin. Many slots also have multiplier wilds, they multiply your payout when they’re involved in a win.
Buy Bonus Options
Although the traditional way to unlock bonus features is to land enough bonus symbols, some slots do things differently. The bonus buy options have become more common in modern slots, giving players an option to activate their bonus early. Players pay a set price, which is based on their current bet, to unlock the bonus. For example, you might have to pay 50x your bet to trigger the free spins round.
Aside from outright buying a bonus feature, some games also allow players to double their bet to increase the odds of activating it. This gives players more freedom and control over how they play, and makes it more likely they’ll experience the bonus round without having to spend a lot of money. However, it’s important that players use these responsibly to avoid betting more than their budget allows.
Persistent Multipliers
Multipliers are another key feature that’s become commonplace in the world of online slots. Lots of slot games now offer multiplier bonuses which can double, triple or even multiply a players payout by 10x. Win multipliers can be activated at random, or by achieving a certain goal.
Some slots even offer persistent multipliers, which increase over time. A persistent unlimited win multiplier can potentially lead to some huge wins, although most slots still have a cap on how much can be won from a single spin.
Megaways Bonus Features
The Megaways format was introduced in 2015 and has taken the world of slots and casino gaming by storm. The classic Megaways format, as seen in games like Piggy Riches Megaways introduced an ever-changing number of ways to win, tumble wins and free spins. Developed by Big Time Gaming, these games soon became hugely popular, leading to multiple slot providers launching their own Megaways games under licence.
