At the centre of every slot machine are its reels, which are decorated with various symbols. The entire game is based around those symbols and whether a matching combination of them will land on a payline.

But there’s more to the symbols in online Slots than just matching combinations, so let’s take a closer look at what makes various symbols so important within these games.

Basic symbols

Before we get into some of the additional symbols, it’s still important to look at the basic ones. These are the building blocks of the entire slot game, taking up most of the positions on the reels.

Different games will use different symbols as their basic ones, depending on the exact theme of the game. But, in many games, they are represented by fruits or a combination of 10, J, Q, K and A based on playing cards.

Which matching combinations are worth more will be listed on the game’s paytable, setting out which symbols players are looking to see land.

In some games, basic symbols may even come in the form of pictures that extend over multiple spaces on the reels. These are often found in Slots that feature cluster mechanics, rather than traditional paylines, where symbols only need to appear adjacent to each other in the right number to count as a combination.

Wilds

Basic symbols are complimented by the addition of wild symbols, which can act as substitutes within matching combinations. These allow combinations to form even when one or two of the required symbols are missing, as long as wilds take up those places on the reels instead.

Wilds can come in a few different forms, including things like expanding wilds (which stretch to cover an entire reel), stacked wilds (which appear in stacks) or shifting wilds (which move across the reels). These offer something different compared to the most classic slot machine gameplay.

Scatters

Exactly what scatters do varies between different slot games. However, what is consistent about these symbols is the fact that they don’t need to land on a payline to go into effect. Instead, a certain number of scatter symbols need to appear on the reels to activate.

In some cases, scatters offer an additional spin of the reels or initiate a connected minigame. Other times, they instead act as multipliers to increase the value of any matching combinations that land on the game’s paylines.

Multipliers

On that subject, there are also symbols that act purely as multipliers. These are usually presented as an x with a number such as two, three or five to show the multiplying factor.

If a multiplier lands on the reels, then any matching combinations on the paylines will be multiplied, increasing their payout.

—

Slot games simply don’t exist without the symbols that make up the core of their gameplay. Over the years, the various symbols on the reels have changed and expanded from the basics to incorporate wilds, scatters and multipliers, as well as others. We could even see new varieties of symbols appear on the reels in future.