There is something about games like the Gates of Olympus slot demo that keeps players coming back. Slots like this one have lots of features that increase a player’s odds of winning. While slots introduced many types of features, the five best features make slot players come back for more.
1. Wild Symbol
The wild symbol is the equivalent of the Joker. It is a replacement for a missing symbol that would have otherwise completed a winning line. In most slot machines, however, a wild symbol cannot function as a replacement for the scatter and the bonus symbol.
Here are the most common wilds:
- Normal – replaces a symbol to make a winning line; acts as a substitute.
- Walking – the wild walks one step either to the left or right for every spin until it disappears from the grid.
- Expanding – the wild covers the entire reel where it landed.
Some wild symbols offer a payout if you land them on a payline. Some don’t. There is also another wild called “sticky,” and it stays on the grid for a few spins.
2. Scatter Symbol
The scatter usually triggers the free spins round. In most slots, you must land at least three scatter symbols anywhere on the grid on one spin to trigger the free spins bonus round. Typically, you would get between 10 and 15 free spins — it all depends on the casino game.
Like the wild symbol, the scatter may or may not offer a payout. If it does, it usually is less than the payout of the Wild.
3. Jackpot Prizes
Jackpot prizes are what you need if you are looking forward to winning a lot of money. Old slots usually only have one jackpot, but modern ones have four.
These are:
- Mini;
- Minor;
- Major;
These are all jackpot prizes but with varying prize values. In most slots, the jackpots get randomly triggered. However, there are also many slots where you must meet a condition to trigger the jackpot. The jackpot round is the hardest thing to win in a slot machine. Despite that, many people are lucky enough to bag the jackpot prize.
4. Bonus Rounds
The bonus round is either free spins or something else. The free spins bonus gets triggered by the scatter, but the bonus round is triggered by another symbol called the bonus symbol.
Different slot machines offer different types of bonus rounds. The most common one is a Pick Me bonus. In this case, the layer will see several symbols that hide a prize. Usually, the player has to pick three of these. Whatever is behind that symbol is the prize.
In these rounds, you can win:
- Coins;
- Free spins;
Some slot machines use the scatter as their bonus round symbol, while others have a separate one. It is rare, however, for a slot to have both.
Some slots feature a mini-game during a bonus round. It is not unusual to find a spin-the-wheel type of round. The good news about this type of bonus round is that nobody loses. Once you trigger the bonus round, you have a guarantee to win a prize.
Some slots use an increasing multiplier during a bonus round, which they incorporate in the free spins round. In this round, the game will keep increasing the multiplier in every spin until you hit the maximum allowed multiplier.
5. Avalanche Feature
The avalanche feature is also sometimes called the cascade feature. In it, all winning symbols will disappear and be replaced with new ones. If there is another winning combo, the process starts over again until no more winning line is available.
The main benefit of this feature is that you can win many times on a single spin, which means you only invest in one spin, and the slot can give you a lot of wins.
Most of the time, you would find an avalanche or cascade feature in a cluster-based slot. It is a kind of slot that does not use the typical pay lines to determine a win. Instead, the wins are based on symbols clustered together, like wins in Candy Crush.
In addition, most avalanche features make the unused symbols at the top of the winning symbols drop. Then, the new symbols get added to the top, not where the winning symbols disappear. Some slots offer a multiplier per available success, which means more money for you.
Slot machines have been with us for a long time, and yet these games never cease to amaze us. With better computing technology also comes better games. In this regard, we can expect slot machines to be here for us to stay. In addition, we can also expect that game developers will come up with better features in the future.