Online Slots Features Guide

Meaning of Slot Features

Slot features are what define a slot, designed to make the gameplay experience more entertaining while at the same time contributing to boosting your payout. Almost every online slot has a feature or two, with popular ones like wild symbols, scatters, multipliers, and free spins headlining most online slots.

But important to note is that the slot features differ per the slot type. For example, the traditional fruit slots are known for their simplicity from the limited reels, paylines, and features, where you find nudge, hold, and gamble features in most cases.

But it gets different with video slots that do not only have more reels and paylines but also bonus features. Wild symbols, scatter symbols, and free spins are standard features for video slot machines.

Still, software providers constantly add innovative features like Megaways, cascading reels, and bonus buy to remain competitive while making gameplay exciting to slot lovers.

Why Are Slot Features Important?

We may have briefly touched on the importance of slot features, but here is a recap:

• Player engagement: Slot features are in place to enhance the gameplay experience by making it exciting and entertaining.
• Boosted payouts: The features contribute to boosting your winnings. For example, slots with bonus games and rounds, multipliers, and jackpots may offer an avenue for larger prizes.
• Interaction and control: Some slot features offer an element of control, guaranteeing better interaction. For example, the hold and nudge features allow you to manipulate the reels.
• Gameplay extension: Some features like bonus rounds extend your gameplay, giving you more opportunities to win.

Basic Setup Slot Features

Before diving into the different features you can find while spinning the reels, we look at the basic setup of a slot game. Below are some of the features you can expect across many games:

• Reels: Vertical sections on a slot machine containing symbols and spin once you place a bet
• Rows: Horizontal sections on a slot machine containing symbols
• Paylines: Lines to form same-symbol winning combinations for payouts
• Symbols: Contained in all slots and themed according to game designs, like letters, fruits, characters, or numbers. A combination of same-kind symbols triggers bonus features or payouts
• Bet size: The amount to wager on a slot by adjusting the coin value to bet per payline
• Bet max: Betting on the maximum number of coins per spin
• Spin: The activation button for a spin to start spinning the reels
• Autoplay: Set parameters and spin reels automatically
• Paytable: A section showing game rules and all information on the slot, like special symbols, bet sizes, RTP, volatility, and bonus features
• Random Number Generator (RNG): Algorithm determining the randomness and fairness of every result from a spin.
• Gamble feature: Double your winnings through a game of chance

Payline Systems & Gameplay Features

Paylines are the lines made up of the same-symbol combination, where a payout is awarded based on the value of the symbols. As you will notice, paylines may form vertically, horizontally, diagonally, or even zig-zag, depending on the slot machine. Some slots have their features focused on paylines, and below are those you can expect on the payline systems:

Fixed Paylines

These are non-adjustable paylines, with the slot developer tasked to determine the number of paylines. In such slots, you must bet on all paylines for each spin. Once you play a fixed payline slot, you bet on every possible combination of symbols. For example, the Vikings Go Berzerk from Yggdrasil features 25 fixed paylines, meaning if you made a $100 bet, you would be betting $4 on each payline per spin.

Adjustable Paylines

In contrast to fixed paylines, adjustable paylines are adjustable, as the name suggests. You get to pick the number of active paylines per spin. With this, the fewer paylines you pick, the less amount you bet on a spin, making them perfect for slot players with smaller bankrolls. Big Bass Bonanza from Pragmatic Play is one such slot machine with ten (10) adjustable paylines. Here, you can bet on one line, five lines, etc.

Cluster Pays

The cluster pays feature is such that the winning combinations formed activate in clusters. It debuted on the Aloha slot from NetEnt and differs from the usual left-to-right and vice versa mechanism while forming same-symbol combinations. The thing here is to land symbols adjacent to each other, meeting one of the four corners. Think Candy Crush or Tetris.

Win Both Ways

Usually, the majority of the slots payout from left to right after you complete winning combinations on the reels. However, the slots with the win-both-ways feature will pay out either from left to right or right to left. Starburst from NetEnt is one of the slots to begin playing if you want to enjoy the win-both-ways feature.

All Ways Pay

All ways pay slots go beyond the traditional winning lines, where you must form winning combinations on specific paylines. Instead, the feature allows you to create winning combinations anywhere within the reels, provided you land enough symbols on the reels, usually 8+.

243 Ways to Win

This game format allows you to create winning combinations across 243 different lines. You need to have at least three same-kind symbols adjacent to each other on each of the five reels in the slot (3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 243 ways to win). The Immortal Romance slot from Microgaming is one such slot with 243 ways to win.

720 Ways to Win

The format operates the same way the 243 ways to win format operates by providing more opportunities for forming winning combinations, and this time, 720 ways to win. Slot games with such a feature have a slightly different reel structure that is a diamond-like shape, with the largest area falling in the center. The setup is 3 x 4 x 5 x 4 x 3, bringing up 720 ways to win when you match symbols on adjacent reels.

1,024 Ways to Win

The 1024 ways to win feature is available on slots with five reels and four rows (4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 = 1,024), which is unlike the 243 ways to win feature on slots with a 5×3 layout. You can form winning combinations by matching at least three symbols left to right on the reels. The Crown of Egypt slot from IGT is one popular game offering 1,024 ways to win.

Classic Slot Bonus Features

Classic slots are all about simplicity in their gameplay. Thus, the features you expect are basic compared to those available in their modern slots counterparts. Below is the list of the best slot features you can activate on traditional slots:

Wilds

Almost every slot has a wild symbol. These symbols substitute all other symbols, except scatters and jackpot symbols, in most cases, to help form winning combinations. Creating a combination through wild symbols can also activate other features, explaining why you will find more wild symbol variations depending on the slot game. They include:

• Sticky wilds: The symbols remain in place for the next spin.
• Shifting wilds: A bit similar to sticky wilds, but shifting wilds shift a position in any direction instead of remaining in one place.
• Expanding wilds: Expand on the reel, making every symbol a wild symbol.
• Multiplier wilds: Multiply payouts from the wins made via the wild symbol.
• Stacked wilds: Fill the entire reel when they drop, stacked on each other to help complete winning combinations.
• Transferring wilds: Replicate themselves across other reels leading to big returns.
• Walking wilds: Appear at the end of a reel and move along after every spin until it disappears.
• Random wilds: Appear randomly on the reels.

Scatters

Like wilds, scatters are other common symbols in almost all slot games. These symbols help trigger bonus rounds like bonus games and free spins. A quick look at the pay table will highlight the number of scatter symbols you need to activate the feature. In most cases, you will need at least three scatters landing anywhere on the reels to activate the bonus rounds. Such symbols perform their role indifferently to where they appear on the reels – you usually don’t have to match them on paylines, thus the name scatters.

Multiplier Symbols

The feature operates as its name suggests. Once activated, these symbols multiply your payout by the predetermined value to boost your prizes. They start from x2, doubling your payouts, and can reach the thousands range. You can find multiplier symbols during the base game, free spins round, bonus games, or other bonus rounds. Important to note that multipliers do not only work to multiply your wins but can multiply your line bets or total bets.

Free Spins

Like multipliers, free spins are what their name suggests. These are incentives triggered via scatters or bonus symbols, which usually allow you to spin the slots for free but expect real-money payouts. You can also retrigger them for free in some slot games, where for example, you get more free spins added whenever scatters appear during the free spins round. You can also activate other features like multipliers during free spins.

Bonus Rounds

A bonus round adds a different dimension to the game by increasing your chances of grabbing a payout without depleting your bankroll. They are of two types: free spins and bonus games. You can trigger different bonus rounds by landing scatters or other special symbols. There is something to look forward to during bonus rounds, with prizes improving as you climb the levels.

On the flip side, you can have them as bonus games or mini-games where you can claim different level bonuses. These mini-games may include rolling dice, spinning a bonus wheel, mini-slot, pick a bonus, jackpot bonus, and more unique features.

Gamble

The gamble feature is more like a bonus game, where some classic slots provide the option to double your winnings through the feature. But this feature has an element of chance, allowing you to double your payout or lose everything. However, some slot machine games with gamble features are generous enough to allow you to gamble a percentage of your winnings instead of risking it all.

Nudge and Hold

These two features go hand in hand, with most slots having a nudge feature and the hold feature. The nudge feature is popular among the fruit machines, allowing you to change the outcome of a spin by moving the reel up or down by a position to form winning combinations.

On the other hand, the hold feature activates after a spin and holds a reel in place as the others spin. You can use the hold feature to hold a symbol that can trigger a win or lock the highest-paying symbols and try to activate a respin to land more of these symbols to land jackpot prizes.

Pay Table

While playing slots, you will find that each machine has a paytable you should go through before spinning reels. The table gives all information on how the slot machine works, including the symbols and their value, special features, bet limits, and sometimes, information on the return to player (RTP) percentage, volatility, and hit frequency.

With such information, it becomes easy for the slot player to decide on the one they can play.

Modern Slot Gameplay Features

The slots industry remains competitive while at the same time evolving. Today, you will come across several modern slot machines with innovative and revolutionary features you can try. They include:

Bonus Buy

Also referred to as Feature Buy. Bonus buy allows you to activate a bonus round at a premium. Instead of unlocking by landing symbols or completing in-game tasks, you will buy the bonus at a price, sometimes at 50x-150x your stake. The slot feature debuted in 2017 on the White Rabbit slot from Big Time Gaming and has been a success since then.

Progressive Jackpot

Progressive jackpots are synonymous with the ultimate payout potential at online gambling platforms. For one, they are different from the regular slot machine prizes, with the progressive jackpot system allowing casinos to link their slots to have a huge pot payout that rises by a percentage of the total bets placed on all linked slots. Once there is a lucky winner, the prize resets and rises as more players bet on the linked games. Microgaming is behind Mega Moolah, one of the well-known progressive jackpot slots, with a payout regularly crossing the $20M mark. Other popular progressive jackpot networks include Jackpot King by Blueprint Gaming and Age of the Gods by Playtech.

Below are some linked games under each network:

• Mega Moolah: Mega Moolah ISIS, Absolootly Mad, Atlantean Treasures, Mega Moolah Summertime, and Mega Moolah 5-Reel Drive.
• Jackpot King: Ted Jackpot King, Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways Jackpot King, Eye of Horus Jackpot King, The Goonies Jackpot King, and 7’s Deluxe Jackpot King.
• Age of the Gods: Goddess of Wisdom, King of Olympus, Furious 4, Prince of Olympus, Fire Blaze, and Fate Sisters.

Hold and Win

The Hold and Win feature brings out a lock-and-win functionality to the game. It premiered with the Money Train slot from Relax Gaming, and more providers like Pragmatic Play, Booming Games, Playson, iSoftBet, and Booongo are presently adapting the feature in their slot collection.

You can activate it by landing bonus symbols on the reels to land three respins. The symbols will remain on the reels, while new ones appear and become sticky, resetting the respins. It does not stop there, with one of four fixed jackpots activating after landing bonus symbols. Filling the whole screen during the bonus game awards the grand pot.

Chilli Heat from Pragmatic Play and Buffalo: Hold and Win from Booming Games are video slots with the hold and win feature found in multiple casinos.

Pick Me Bonus

Pick Me Bonus or Pick’em Bonus is one of the exciting features available in modern slots. You can trigger this slot feature by landing at least three bonus symbols. Once activated, you are taken to a second screen to choose 8-12 objects with prizes ranging from cash, multipliers, and free spins. The Slotfather, a slot from BetSoft, features the Pick’em Bonus, allowing you to collect up to 500 credits instantly.

Expanding Symbols

Expanding symbols are other exciting slot features in online gambling sites. Before the free spins rounds, you will have a random expanding symbol designated to expand and cover the reel.

The highlight is that the feature does not have the adjacent reel requirement. During the bonus round with the expanding symbols, you will have multiple three-of-a-kinds should you land 3+ on any three reels.

Split Symbols

Split symbols are other features in modern games, including those from game developers like Yggdrasil, IGT, and Playtech. These symbols allow you to improve your winnings by doubling up as two symbols in a single reel space. They may appear as regular symbols or sometimes as wild symbols or scatters. Archer from Playtech is one of the online slot machines to play and trigger split symbols.

Reel Features

With some features tailored for paylines, other software developers design their features to modify the mechanical reels, and here are some of these features:

Megaways

Pioneered by Big Time Gaming under the Bonanza Megaways slot, the Megaways feature is one of the special features. While 1,024 ways to win may sound enticing, Megaways slots provide even more ways, mostly up to 117,649. The mechanic sees the reels modified randomly and changes the number of symbols appearing on a given spin, giving you more ways of winning.

But while the majority of Megaways slots offer up to 117,679 ways to win, others have 15,625 and 248,832 ways to win. Today, many gaming studios, including Red Tiger Gaming and NetEnt, are adapting the Megaways mechanic in their slots.

Megaclusters

Slots with Megaclusters feature are different from Megaways slots, but it is yet another slot feature pioneered by Big Time Gaming in 2020 on the game Star Clusters. These slots will not feature paylines or adjacent wins but will have their payouts based on a cluster of five-of-a-kind symbols touching vertically or horizontally.

One aspect is that these clusters can appear anywhere, not necessarily in consecutive columns or starting from the first reel. As you will notice, these slots usually operate the same way as those with a cluster pay feature, with the difference striking after the payout.

After a winning cluster, every symbol involved will disappear and will have four smaller symbols replacing them. These smaller symbols may also form new clusters, and the process continues until no new clusters appear. Other slots with the Megaclusters feature include Kluster Krystals Megaclusters from Relax Gaming and Cyberslot Megaclusters from Big Time Gaming.

Infinity Reels

Infinity Reels is another bonus feature you will find in some slot machines. The feature is a product of ReelPlay, whose idea is to gain a free re-spin and expand the game area with an extra reel every time you win. The game starts normally, mostly with three reels, and you can keep increasing the number of reels… to infinity!

The first slot from ReelPlay to debut the Infinity Reels feature was El Dorado Infinity Reels. Many providers like Relax Gaming, Boomerang, and Game Lab have since adapted the feature. NetEnt also has the InfiniReels concept in its game Gods of Gold InfiniReels, operating in the same way as Infinity Reels.

Cascading Reels

The feature is known by multiple names, including tumbling reels, avalanche, collapsing reels, rolling reels, chain reactions, and symbol drops. It is a bonus feature becoming common in most slot machines and reminiscent of classic games like Tetris and Candy Crush.

The feature activates after the reels spin and a winning combination is formed. The symbols involved disappear, with a new set of symbols replacing them, allowing you to make more wins. This goes on until no more winning combinations are possible.

Expanding Reels

As the name suggests, expanding reels is a bonus feature designed to expand the layout of a slot machine. By now, we know that any expansion on a slot creates room to further your wins. This is what the expanding reels feature does. The game may look like a standard three-reel slot but will stretch to house more rows and symbols. Some games activate the feature after collecting special symbols to land the bonus rounds, with others activating it after a winning combination. In contrast, other games offer a buy option to unlock and expand the reels. Wins of Fortune from Quickspin and The Jazz Club from Playtech are among the top slot games with expanding reels.

Rotating Reels

The rotating reels feature is uncommon, but you will likely find it in some bonus rounds. It is a feature you can expect as an incentive in a free spin round. While the feature is active, you will play the game normally and claim payouts as usual. But the display will rotate 90 degrees to receive a second payout. You will have another 90-degree rotation and a fourth one, each providing potential wins. Then the game resets for your next spin. In simpler terms, the feature will have you receive prizes for the same paylines in all four directions. We found this feature available in the Gods of Giza slot by Genesis Gaming.

Colossal Reels

Colossal reels are other bonus features you will find in modern video slots. Made by WMS (William Interactive), a part of Scientific Games, it features two sets of reels on one game screen. One is a small set of reels on the left playable over three rows, and the other is a five-reel set on the right with 12 rows. With this, you can spin reels across 100 paylines, providing an avenue for impressive wins. Looking for top slots with colossal reels? Try Epic Monopoly II from WMS!

Synced Reels

In some slot machines, synced reels are referred to as twin reels or linked reels. The feature is a brainchild of NetEnt and is another feature designed to create high payout opportunities. Synced reels activate as the symbols rotate, where at least two reels synchronize on each spin. You will notice the adjacent reels linking, displaying similar symbols in the same positions, increasing the chances of hitting winning combinations.

Yggdrasil Gaming has also implemented this feature on many of their games, although they brand it as Gigablox.

How to Pick the Best Slots with Features

The online gambling world currently features thousands of online slots with all kinds of features. With such a portfolio, finding the best slot game becomes challenging. However, we provide you with the parameters you can use to find your best fruit machines or modern video slots with features:

Check the Pay Table

As highlighted, the pay table provides every piece of information you need on the slot. The information ranges from the symbols and their value, features and how to activate them, bet limits, max payout, and information like RTP and volatility. Thus, if you have a limited budget, the pay table would help you to identify the best low-volatility slots.

Play Free Games

Try the slots in demo mode before using your real money. This allows you to understand the slot basics and get the experience of triggering special features as you would while playing for real money prizes. The only downside is that you cannot claim a payout while playing games in demo mode.

Choose the Provider

While you can find in-house developed slots, casinos source most from game providers. And for their competitive nature, some providers have distinguishing features that prompt you to choose their slots. For example, Big Time Gaming is known for Megaways, Megaclusters, and bonus buy features, with Microgaming and Playtech known for their popular progressive jackpots.

Consider your Budget

All slots will have different bet sizes tailored for all types of players (high-stake and small-stake). The rule of thumb is to play slots with favorable bet sizes according to your budget. This will extend gameplay sessions, allowing you to activate features and land more slot wins.

Read Online Reviews

We at Gamble USA have detailed reviews on the best real money slots online, where we focus on different aspects, including slot features. Our reviews are unbiased and give a clear picture of what the slot is like. We also check the ratings and recommend the best slots to play. Why not spare a few minutes to read our reviews for a more informed gaming experience?

Here are some favorites:

• Vegas Megaways
• Dead or Alive 2
• 300 Shields Extreme
• Cash Wizard
• Wheel of Fortune Triple Spin Extreme
• Ted Slot
• Wonder Woman Gold
• Gates of Olympus
• Book of Dead
• Mercy of the Gods
• Fishin Frenzy

5 Best Online Slots with Features

With multiple machines available online, what are the best slots to settle for at your favorite operator? We provide you with a list of our best five online slots with impressive features:

#1 Avalon II

Avalon 2 is a slot from Microgaming featuring five (5) reels while offering 243 ways to win. Besides the captivating storyline based on Arthurian legend and the high-quality graphics, the slot is jam-packed with bonus features to make the gaming experience more exciting.

The slot welcomes you to a host of randomly triggered modifiers (Merlin feature and Lady of the Lake feature), guaranteeing instant cash prizes with multipliers and expanding wilds to add on the returns.

Once you activate the Grail Bonus after landing at least three Grail scatter symbols, you trigger eight potential features, including free spins with extras, battle bonuses, dice bonuses, pick-me bonuses, and spin-the-wheel features. And with a max payout of 16,200x your stake, Avalon 2 is worth your time!

#2 Jumanji

NetEnt is one of the highly-rated developers for high RTP slots and slots with impressive features. Jumanji is one such slot from them with an impressive feature collection. The 5-reel, 36 payline slot has four randomly triggered features on its base game, letting you enjoy up to nine (9) wilds, wild reels, re-spins, and symbol shuffles.

A board game also features in the slot triggered after landing 3+ Jumanji board scatters on the reels. Here, you will roll dice to move around to win prizes, more rolls, or five (5) bonus features, with four (4) giving free spins and the other giving you access to the Mystery feature. Under the mystery feature are four (4) more bonus features, including cash prizes and extra rolls.

#3 Immortal Romance

Welcome to the world of love in the Immortal Romance slot from Microgaming. It is a high-variance slot with top-notch graphics and haunting soundtracks in line with its vampire theme.

Like the others, Immortal Romance is home to several slot features. The 5-reel slot offers 243 ways to win and features wild reels in the base game, free spins based on every character, multipliers, wild transformations, and cascading reels.

You will also notice that an Immortal Romance spin-off is one of the games in the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot network, allowing you to grab one of the four jackpots.

️#4 Vikings Go Berzerk

You can expect a slot based on the Norse mythology theme from the name. The 5-reel, 25-payline slot from Yggdrasil is another slot machine with several bonus features.

Instant prizes are on board, with your only task being to watch the treasure chests landing on the fourth reel. Adding to it is the Golden treasure chest. Once it appears on the fifth reel, you can activate prizes, including up to 21 free spins, a rage boost to every Viking, a prize of up to 400x your bet, and entry to the Ragnarok free spins feature.

At least three scatters activate the free spins feature or the entry via the Golden treasure chest. Here, you will have several modifiers to boost your winnings further. They include free spins, sticky wild, and extra chests.

#5 Jammin’ Jars

Closing our list is Jammin’ Jars, an 8-reel slot from Push Gaming adopting the cluster pays mechanic. Despite its simple look and feel, it is one of the games loaded with slot features and has an impressive payout of around 20,000x your stake.

With the slot, you will have the Rainbow feature randomly activated, with giant fruit symbols landing to give you a win. In addition, you can trigger the wilds with multipliers increasing by x1 for consecutive wins.

Finally, the slot features a free games feature activated after you land at least three wilds on the same spin. Six (6) free spins are available with multipliers during the feature.

Most Popular Gaming Vendors for Their Slot Features

Gaming vendors are essential when considering the best slot with features. Every vendor has highlights, but some get more ratings for their unique features. They include:

Big Time Gaming

Big Time Gaming, or BTG, is one of the popular providers preferred for its exciting high-quality slot games. The provider is known for its Megaways engine, which has become a success in the slot industry, with many other providers adopting the random reel modifier mechanic in their slots.

Besides Megaways, BTG is also the brain behind the bonus buy and Megaclusters features. While the success of the latter feature is not measurable to that of Megaways, it is yet another innovative feature in the gaming world. White Rabbit Megaways and Queen of Riches Megaways are among the top BTG megaways slots.

NetEnt

Following up closely is NetEnt, a reputable and award-winning provider operating legally in the US.

Besides the high-quality visuals and the high RTP slots associated with the vendor, NetEnt is also synonymous with jam-packed features on its products. The provider has been on an upward trajectory since its inception in 1996 and is famous for debuting features like InfiniReels, cluster pays, win-both-ways, and synced reels.

NetEnt is also known for top slots with a Megaways feature and progressive jackpots with potentially life-changing wins.

Nolimit City

While Nolimit City is not a vendor with loads of gaming options, it is one of the vendors known for some unique features on its slots.

Founded in 2014, Nolimit City has been keen to impress. Besides its highly volatile slots in eye-catching graphics and impressive returns like the San Quentin game with 150,000x your stake, the vendor is famous for its unique features.

They include XNudge, XWays, XBomb, and XSplit. You can find them on games like Punk Rocker, El Paso Gunfight XNudge, and Dragon Tribe.

Insight: What’s funny is that all these top iGaming vendors are now owned by Evolution Gaming and are (or will soon be) available at real money US gambling sites.