A Guide to Wild Symbols in Slots: Wild Slot Rules and Features
As you play casino slots online, you’re sure to come across wild slot symbols.
These special icons are used in most popular casino games, but what are wild slot symbols all about and how useful are they once you start playing? In this definitive guide, we’ll be letting you see exactly how they work.
Introduction to Wild Symbols in Slots
The wild symbol is commonly referred to as a type of joker. When playing some card games, the Joker can be used to replace other cards or is classed as the most powerful card in games such as euchre and war. It’s not typically used in competitive poker, but some people use it when playing games at home, and jokers are also widely used in video poker.
In slots, the symbol for wild images began life as a way of replacing other symbols to make a winning line, in the same way, that jokers work in certain card games. If you have four identical images of lemons together with a wild on an active payline, this combination would pay out as though there were five lemons on the screen. It’s important to bear in mind that wilds only replace paying symbols, meaning that they can’t be used to replace bonus symbols such as the scatters.
Types of Wild Symbols in Slots
This function of replacing other symbols remains the most important aspect of wilds in many slot games, but numerous developers have added extra functions that make the wild even more useful. For example, you may get a special payout if you see a full winning line with five or six of these images in it. Other enhancements have led to the following types of wilds being made available in different slots.
- Sticky or Locked Wilds
These wild slot symbols stay in place for a certain number of spins, such as during a free spins round, while the other symbols on the reels spin around. This means the chances of a win are boosted while the wild sticks to the screen. - Stacked Wilds
These wilds land on top of each other to give you more chance of completing a winning combination or may grow in size vertically. If they fill an entire reel, you may see them combine into a mega-sized wild symbol. - Expanding Wilds
This version of the wild in slots can grow vertically or horizontally to fill more spaces on the reels. This feature helps to increase the chances of winning by meaning that you need fewer instances of a paying symbol to create a win, and it may also be used in some cases for unlocking the game’s biggest prizes. - Walking Wilds
These special symbols move during the game. For example, they may move one reel to the right on every spin until they fall off the screen
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Benefits of Wild Symbols in Gameplay
Wild symbols help players try to get more wins, by creating the opportunity to turn what would have been a non-winning spin into a win. This feature is often more prominent in bonus rounds such as free spins, where the change of getting wilds may increase or extra features such as multipliers might be added to them.
Strategies for Maximizing Wins with Wild Symbols
The first step is to consider which of the different types of wilds we’ve looked at here are of most interest to you. After that, you can start to search for slots that contain the wilds you want to see. Most games have at least one basic wild symbol, although some extremely simple games such as 3-reel retro slots don’t use any at all.
You need to bear in mind that slots are games of chance with a completely random outcome every time you play. This means that there’s no strategy you can use to guarantee that you’ll get more wilds on the screen during any game. These icons can appear at any time and are totally unpredictable, so you can’t rely on one turning up exactly when you need it.
Finding Slot Games with Exciting Wild Symbol Features
One of the best ways to look for wild symbols slots to try is to check some reviews for the best online slots. The top sites like PartyCasino, 888casino, and PokerStars Casino all have extensive slot collections with a diverse range of these games from different developers. The more slots a casino has, the better your chance of finding one that suits you. This JackpotCity Casino review confirms that they have over 430 slots, so there are a lot of options for you to look at if you go there.
In some cases, the casinos add filters to their lobby so that you can narrow down your search by the type of feature you want to play, meaning that you can search for wild slot titles, free spins rounds, and other elements. You might also see some online casinos with a small information tab where you can find read brief details of the game you’re interested in before entering to play it.
Before playing wild symbols slots with real money, you could decide to look for a demo version of the slot you’re interested in. On those casinos that offer demo play, you can play a few spins with no risk, to get a feel for how valuable the wild symbols are and how often they appear. The PlayAmo Casino is a good example, with their option of playing for fun letting you try any game you like the look of.
Otherwise, the game’s paytable is where you can find out everything you need to know about the gameplay. This is where you’ll see a list of the different symbols and how they each work, so you’ll find out how many wild symbols are used and whether they’re present in the base game or only in bonus rounds.
Wild Symbols and Volatility Relationship
While there’s no direct link between wild slot symbols and the volatility of the game featuring them, it’s one of the factors to take into account when working out if it’s the type of game you want to play. A highly volatile slot will typically pay out big wins infrequently, while a lower volatility game will pay out more regularly, but the wins may be smaller.
If a slot has several wild symbols that can lead to big wins or special bonus rounds with jackpots, this game is likely going to be at the higher end of the volatility scale. Some lower volatility slots have a wild symbol as their only bonus feature.
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Play NowSlot Wild Symbols FAQ
Can wild symbols substitute for any other symbol in a winning combination?
Wild symbols in slots are used to replace any paying symbol to complete a win. However, they can’t replace any bonus symbols like scatter.
Are there different types of wild symbols?
Yes, as well as the basic type of symbol for wild features, you may also come across others such as stacked wilds, sticky wilds, expanding wilds, and more. The way they work is explained in each slot’s paytable or rules section.
What is the difference between classic wild symbols and other types of wild symbols?
A classic wild slot symbol only replaces other symbols to create a win, if possible. On the other hand, the different types of wilds now available add varying types of functionality that can increase the number of wilds on the reels or make them more useful over several spins.
Can wild symbols create their own winning combinations?
Wins can be made using only wilds in certain slots, and the game’s paytable will tell you how many wild symbols are needed for this and what the combination is worth.
Do wild symbols always have the same substitution value?
When substituting for another symbol to complete a win, the wild is worth the same value as the symbol it replaces. The exception is in those cases where the wild comes with a multiplier to boost the value of any win it takes part in.
Can wild symbols appear on any reel in a slot game?
The reels where wild symbols appear vary from one game to the next. You’ll need to check the rules or the paytable to understand which reels are used for wilds on any particular slot.
Can multiple wild symbols appear on the same payline?
This depends on the rules of each slot. In some games, stacked wilds are designed to land on top of each other to give you potentially valuable combinations of wilds on the same reel.
Are there specific strategies for maximizing wins with wild symbols?
The random nature of slots means that you can’t use any sort of strategy based on when wild symbols may show up. Therefore, the best idea is to choose a game that has the types of wilds you’re interested in seeing.
Do wild symbols have any additional features or effects in slot games?
Some wild symbols simply carry out the basic function of completing winning combinations. However, others may have extra features such as staying on the screen for further spins, expanding across the reels and so on.