Online slots have emerged as a leading way to gamble, based on the classic slot machines you might have played in land-based establishments at some point. The basic slot mechanism hasn’t changed, but you’ll come across a variety of features that could help you unlock bonus rounds or aim for bigger wins.

How to Choose Slots to Play?

Before playing, you’ll need to decide which slot you want to try. This sector has diversified enormously in the last few years, meaning that you can choose from games based on themes ranging from farmyard animals to mythology, fishing and a lot more. Retro-style games with fruits and other classic symbols can still be easily found too.

The key features are sometimes mentioned in the title, as we can see in some examples of current slots. Paddy Power Bonanza Fortune Play Jackpot King includes the Fortune Play mechanism and the Jackpot King prize pool. Tiki Tiki Hold ‘N’ Win has the bonus feature mentioned in its name and King Kong Cash Gone Bananas Rapid Fire Jackpots introduce a different kind of jackpot.

Free Spins

Free spins are arguably the most commonly used and important bonus feature since you can trigger them on the majority of slots. This is a way of getting to play some extra games without adding more funds. The bonus is triggered randomly, usually when three or more of the scatter symbols land anywhere on the reels.

The free spins may then be played in exactly the same way as the main game, or something new may be added. Some slots add a new type of wild symbol or include a prize trail that can be climbed. This means that free spin rounds give players the chance to get bigger wins than normal and might also include unique gameplay elements to make it feel almost like a different game.

A Collector Round

A collector round has become increasingly popular in modern online slots. It’s a feature where certain symbols have cash values on them, which a different symbol can be used to gather. This provides a simple yet aesthetically pleasing way to get instant cash wins.

The feature is particularly popular in fishing slots, as it fits perfectly with the overall theme. Fishin’ Frenzy Even Bigger Fish shows how this works, as a helpful fisherman pops up on the screen to reel in any fish that have a cash amount on top of them. Other games add additional collector symbols for more variety, such as the payer, sniper and necromancer symbols that are used on the more complex bonus round in the Money Train 2 slot set in the Wild West.

Progressive Jackpot

Jackpots have been used on slot machines for many years, giving players the chance to grab the biggest wins if the right symbols fall into position randomly. However, the variety of online slots has allowed creators to add new ways of triggering these prize pots and combining jackpots across numerous linked games.

Jackpot King and Rapid Fire Jackpots are among the options for linked prize pools where the main amount can be triggered by playing any of the games included. This allows the prizes to grow more rapidly, although others have a stand-alone jackpot that simply grows every time someone plays it without winning.

When you choose a slot to play, the first thing you should do is check the features listed in the paytable. This is where you can see what features are available and how you can trigger them. Even if the features seem obvious from the game’s title, it’s worth spending just a moment seeing exactly how they work and understanding what is needed to trigger them.