To the uninitiated, online slots can feel like a confusing world. A long way from the fruit machines you used to play down the local pub, modern slots are much more extravagant games. At the same time, they can offer much bigger jackpots, as well as the chance to scoop big wins from innovative bonus features and combination pays.

Understanding the symbols, features and paylines of online slots can enhance your playing experience, as well as improve your chances of making good decisions on your way to landing a big win. Knowing the common types of symbols and their roles, along with common ways of triggering bonus features can give you fresh insight into what’s going on when you spin the reels in the hope of landing a win.

Expert slot reviews are one of the best ways to explore all the features of different games, and to decide the right games for you. Ultimately, each slot game is different. But at its core, there are some features of the slot format that will crop up again and again.

Symbols, Reels and Paylines

Lining up symbols in matching combinations is the name of the game in slots. There tend to be a number of regular paying symbols – combinations of usually three or more of these in adjacent positions across the reels will pay out a win, which is calculated by multiplying your stake according to the value of the combination.

There are usually different paylines in play – these are the directions on the reels that will pay out when you land matching symbols in adjacent spaces. Sometimes these are fixed paylines, and only combinations landing on one of these lines will pay a win. In other cases, paylines are adjustable, or win all ways – i.e. paying out on any combination in any direction. This is down to the specifics of the game itself, but it’s worth knowing before you start spinning so you can gauge when you’ve landed a win.

Every slot has a paytable which explains the paylines, as well as the symbol values. It’s always advisable to have a quick scan of the paytable first, to get a firm idea of the different combination values and how much the game pays for matching symbols. This will also note the values and functions of the special symbols, of which there are usually at least two or three in most modern slot games.

The most common is the wild symbol, a symbol that substitutes for any other in the game to help form winning combinations. Scatter symbols are the next most common, which usually need to land three or more times to trigger a free spins feature or other bonus round. You’ll also commonly find separate bonus or jackpot symbols, which will launch the features and the bonus rounds – you’ll want to find these in order to kick yourself into the higher paying quarters of most slots games, where the big money jackpots are to be found.

Special Structures and Features

Aside from the core structures you’ll find across most slot games, developers are now increasingly innovative in their game designs, to deliver an enhanced playing experience and help their games stand out from the crowd.

Expanding symbols are increasingly common, where a single symbol can expand to cover the entire height of a real. Similarly, stacked symbols are in play in some games, which bring a vertical stack of symbols on top of each other onto the reels, giving you more chances to match these symbols in combination with positions on other reels.

Features like tumbling reels or cascading reels are another more commonly seen sight. When these are in play, winning combinations vacate their reel positions, allowing symbols to tumble from above into new positions on the reels. This can have the effect of creating successive wins from a single combination, effectively multiplying the amount you can win from any single spin.

Other features such as multipliers and mystery boxes are also commonplace. In the case of multipliers, it’s a feature that allows you to multiply anything you win, usually incrementally as the game progresses, to deliver the possibility of larger wins. Mystery boxes tend to be symbols that explode to reveal some other symbol or prize, effectively an added bonus feature to further enhance your game.

Practice Makes Perfect

If this all sounds a bit confusing, don’t be alarmed. While fun and straightforward in essence, slots have come on leaps and bounds since basic fruit machines, and it can take some time to get the hang of everything. If you want to learn the ropes without risking your money up front, demo games are the perfect way to get a feel for how it all works.

There’s very little skill in slots, and it tends to be a case of crossing your fingers with every spin. But at least with some experience of demo games under your belt, you’ll have a better understanding of the kind of features that are common across slot games, and on your way to mastering the symbols, features and paylines in online slots.