The mechanics of a slot machine are incredibly interesting, there are three main parts of a slot machine, the reels, the paylines and the bonus symbols – visit mega reel.
Reels
The reels in a slot game are one of the most important aspects, they are the main things that players will see and interact with. In the past, slot reels were mechanical, physical components of a game but today they are simply digitally rendered. Every single slot game will come with reels. The average number of reels in modern slots is five but this can vary, classic slots only have three reels. The main aim of a slot game is to spin the reels and try to land on a winning combination, without slot reels there would be no game. As modern online slots Canada are not physically there, they need a small piece of coding known as the RNG to ensure that the outcome of every spin the player makes is completely random.
Paylines
A payline is essentially a combination of symbols that players need to get in order to win. These paylines are also known as betting lines or winning lines, every slot game will have at least one payline.
- Paylines are the aspect of slot games that have changed the most. Modern technology has enabled slot games to offer an insane amount of paylines. The earliest slot machines only had a single payline, however most modern slots have at least a dozen. There are even some slot games which offer thousands of possible paylines!
- The classic paylines could only be triggered horizontally, however this is not the case in modern slots. Today’s slots have paylines which can be triggered in a number of different directions such as straight, diagonal and even zig zags.
- It is important that players are aware of which paylines are active when they are playing. Some paylines are only active when a player bets a certain amount whilst others are always available to be triggered, these sorts of paylines are known as fixed paylines.
Wilds and Scatters
There are many symbols that players will find on the reels of a slot game. Whilst many of these will lead to winning combinations, there are some symbols which have special jobs. Wilds and scatters are two such symbols.
- Wild symbols are often the most misunderstood symbols that players encounter. They essentially substitute other symbols on the reels to form a winning payline. As the name suggests, these symbols can appear at complete random. There are a variety of different types of wilds which players will encounter including sticky wilds, expanding wilds and stacked wilds.
- Scatter symbols will have different functions depending on which slot you are using. Sometimes they will award players free spins whilst other slot games will have scatters which take players to a bonus game.
Final Thoughts
Reels, paylines and bonus symbols are three of the most important mechanics of a slot machine. Better understanding these mechanics can help put players in a better position to win.
