Online Slots Symbols: Complete Guide

New online slots are released every month, bringing innovative features and plenty of action. Although every new launch represents a step forward, more or less all of them have the same type of symbols. That’s why it’s easy for slot lovers to learn all about them.

Today, we’ll talk about the symbols you’ll encounter while playing online slot games. We’ll start with the most basic of them and then move to Wilds, Scatters and bonus symbols. You’ll get to know all about them, how they work, and what kind of perks they bring.

Standard Symbols

Standard Symbols are the most basic type of icons you’ll encounter in online slots. These symbols award payouts when part of a winning combination. Low-value ones are typically represented by playing cards (9, 10, J, Q, K, A) or playing card suits. However, in classic-styled slots, they are usually represented by fruit icons.

Other standard symbols award bigger payouts. In classic and retro slots, sevens, diamonds, bells and BARs are usually higher-paying icons, while in modern releases their design differs from one game to another. That’s because they are designed to match the game’s theme. For example, if you’re playing a game with a Wild West theme, high-paying symbols are could be represented by guns, sheriff badges, cowboy hats, or anything else that would be in accordance with the theme.

In most cases, the only role that standard symbols have is to award cash payouts. Sometimes, only two are enough to trigger the win, while in other cases, you’ll need three, four, or more. A winning combination is typically made from left to right, although certain games, like Starburst, pay both ways. Some slot games don’t feature traditional paylines, and winning combinations are created by landing symbols in adjacent clusters.

Wilds

After standard symbols, Wilds are the most usual type of icons you’ll encounter. In some cases, a game can feature more than one Wild, although it’s rare not to find any at all. Wilds substitute for other symbols, helping players create additional winning combinations. Typically, Wilds replace only standard icons, although they can replace others as well.

Modern slots can feature different types of Wilds, such as expanding Wilds, walking Wild, and multiplier Wilds.

A walking Wild will move one position for every subsequent spin whenever it appears on the grid. It can move in all directions, depending on the game, until it disappears from the reels.

Expanding Wilds can cover a whole reels, while multiplier Wilds, as their name suggests, increase the player’s winnings. In some cases, a Wild can be walking and multiplying at the same time.

There are other types of Wilds as well, although they’re usually part of special features or appear only during the Free Spins round.

Scatters

Scatters are often the best symbols that can appear in a slot game. They can have two functions: award a payout, and activate a special feature when enough of them land on the reels. This particular feature is usually some sort of Free Spins mode. In most cases, you’ll need three of a kind to unlock Free Spins, with the number of awarded spins depending on the number of symbols used to enter the bonus.

Rarely, Scatters activate other types of special features, although it’s likely that bonus symbols will be tasked with doing that.

Bonus Symbols

Bonus symbols are also highly anticipated, as they can activate bonus games and potentially lead to big rewards. They often don’t appear in classic and retro slots, but they are common in modern releases, typically matching the game’s theme.

Bonus symbols don’t provide cash prizes, at least not usually. In some games, they’ll need to land in a row to unlock the bonus feature, while in others is enough to simply land the required number anywhere on the grid. They can even be limited to appearing only on certain reels.