Rapid advancements in digital technology have contributed to the world of online gambling growing into a worldwide phenomenon. There’s now every kind of card, table, and slot game available for avid players to enjoy from the comfort of their own homes.
While the classics like poker, blackjack, and roulette remain popular, slot machines have proven particularly attractive to online gamblers. They come in a myriad of styles, with colorful graphics, and beautifully rendered themes that easily grab attention. Slots are also among the most versatile online casino games to play since they usually come with a wide variety of features too. Here’s a look at some of the most popular ones and what makes them so appealing to players.
Free Spins
One of the biggest thrills of online slot games is free spins. This feature is so popular that it’s often one that’s provided to players as a gift for signing up or just for playing a particular slot game. Given the way slots work, it’s easy to see why it’s so appealing.
Slots work by players constantly betting every time the various slots ‘spin’, hoping they will land in a favorable manner that leads to the player winning money. Of course, not every spin results in a winning combination, so that means most spins may cost the player to play, with no payout attached to them.
However, free spins mean exactly what they sound like — the chance to spin without paying for it. That gives players the chance to win with nothing to lose if the spin doesn’t land favorably. For obvious reasons, this is a feature that often attracts players to slots.
Scatter Symbols
Scatter symbols make for another intriguing feature of online slots that players love. Slot machines work with Random Number Generator technology to give every player a fair chance to win. Scatter symbols augment a player’s chances of winning by providing different ways to win by integrating certain special symbols that work to the advantage of the player. Simply put, when a scatter symbol appears, it creates added ways for a player to win.
Increasing their appeal is the fact that they can appear out of sequence. While ordinary symbols must line up in a certain manner to trigger wins, scatter symbols can appear anywhere on the reels and usually still trigger wins. Not only does this make for more ways to win, they can transform a spin from a losing one into a very lucrative one instead.
Wilds
In the context of online slots, and physical slot games for that matter, wilds operate in a similar manner to jokers in cards. They refer to special symbols that, if landed on in a reel, may take the place of another symbol, thus giving the player a better chance of a winning combination.
The fact that they aid the player’s chances of winning naturally makes wilds a popular feature in online slot games. The variety of different wilds available in online slot machines have gained them a reputation for being more exciting than land-based casinos, and contribute to why online casinos are quickly becoming more popular than physical casinos.
Bet Values
Just as physical slot machines generally have buttons marked with options like “Bet2X” or “Max Bet”, online slots also have these features. This simply refers to how much a player wishes to bet on a single spin.
For example, if the minimum bet on the slot is $0.50, using the Bet2X option automatically bets $1 on a spin. Alternatively, if the maximum a player can bet is, $5, hitting the “Max Bet” button automatically bets this amount per spin. This is a highly attractive and popular feature among players since it streamlines the betting process and provides the option of a higher payout.
Progressive Jackpots
Casinos and jackpots have become synonymous with each other. This is likely why another popular feature of online slots is progressive jackpots. With this feature, small amounts of a player’s bets go toward a jackpot that continuously grows bigger with each contribution.
That means every player has a shot at winning the entire jackpot, which can grow substantially over time.
The allure of one massive win makes for a tantalizing feature. Since every player has a fair shot at winning it, it’s also a feature that draws many players to the slots that offer it.
Cascading and Tumbling Features
According to Swagger, there are many reasons why people love playing bubble shooter games so much. The good news is that players who love those games, will adore cascading or tumbling features on online slots since they work the same way.
These features refer to special symbols that may appear on a winning spin. Their appeal is that they explode or disappear, leaving empty spaces on the reel for other symbols to cascade or tumble into. As a result, one winning spin may easily turn into another if the player gets lucky with the cascade.
