If you want to relax, nothing comes close to the good old pokies that Australians love so much. If you’re new to the format, you’ll be pleased to find that it’s almost impossible for a game like this to come without bonuses and extra features these days, all of which are designed to keep the experience fun and reward the player at the same time.
Below, we’ll go over some of the key points to remember about bonus rounds and features in real money pokies such as the ones on CasinoAUS and cover some common industry terms.
Multipliers
As the name implies, multipliers will multiply your winnings by the number that’s stated next to the X. If it says 2X, they will be multiplied by 2, and so on. You may encounter these at various points in the game, including during free spins.
Wilds
Wilds have nothing to do with the jungle in this case, although they can indeed make things wild! In essence, it’s a term that describes a special symbol that can take the form of another symbol and thus help you form a winning combination. Since these are often one of the quickest ways to a massive payout, it’s what players love to see.
Expanding wilds
Much of the same rules apply to these as regular wilds, with the addition of having the ability to fill an entire reel. It’s like having wilds on steroids – forming a winning combination with expanding wilds is extremely easy with them. Although it’s possible to encounter this feature during regular gameplay, most often you will see it during free spins rounds.
Scatters
One of the key characteristics of scatters is that they don’t necessarily have to appear together on a payline. In fact, you may encounter them anywhere on the reels. On some occasions, the number of them that appear on the screen will determine how many credits the player receives. They can also be used as a trigger that initiates a bonus round – the more you match, the more rounds you’ll get to play. Most commonly, scatters serve the function of rewarding the player with instant prizes.
Gamble
After hitting a winning combination, the game may offer you the option of starting a double-or-nothing round. Typically, this involves some form of cards. As the name implies, a winning outcome will double your winnings, but should you lose, the winnings for that round will be gone. Of course, there is some variation to this. For example, the minigame could have you guess the suit of the card, thus giving you a 1 in 4 chance of quadrupling your winnings.
Bonus symbols
Bonus symbols will help you win more. You can think of them as scatters. Whenever you encounter one of these, a triggerable bonus is attached to it. These let you play a fun minigame with gameplay that differs from the core experience of the slots, often with lucrative rewards at the end.
Free spins
To reward their most loyal customers or get new customers through the doors, casinos will often give free spins to the players. Otherwise known as promotional free spins, the gist of it is that you will play the rounds without risking any of your own funds, yet still get to keep any winnings that may come your way. Of course, there is always the possibility to unlock free spins if you get lucky during one of the rounds in-game.
All-ways payline
Typically, among 5×3 slots, paylines tend to be limited to 25. However, all-ways payline slots throw the concept out of the window completely by letting you form a winning combination anywhere on the reels. In other words, as long as two matching symbols are anywhere near each other, the game will pair them up to form a winning combination. There are certain slots that take this concept to the extreme by letting you have up to 720 paylines.
Twin reels
Twin reels is a unique mechanic that certain slots games employ. The basic idea is to randomly pick two reels that will display the exact same symbols at the end of a spin. As you can see, this comes with an explosive potential to unlock massive winnings due to giving you matching symbols that are close to one another. To make things even crazier, these can be wild symbols! With these, the chances of forming a winning combination are sky-high.
Cluster reels
This mechanic combines elements of slot symbol matching and puzzle game matching. Upon matching the symbols, they will disappear, thus making the way for additional symbols to populate the empty space. In turn, this allows you to create additional opportunities for an increase in winnings in the current round. As if this wasn’t amazing enough as is, oftentimes you will see these cluster reels giving the player an extra bonus mode when certain criteria are met.
Prize wheels
Design-wise, prize wheels resemble a bonus event during which the player gets to spin a wheel that unlocks lucrative rewards. Albeit somewhat traditional in nature, there is nothing more exciting than watching the wheel stop in one of the highest paying areas, sometimes gifting you a massive jackpot along the way.
Pick Me Bonus
When the bonus round is initiated, the player will be given a multitude of symbols to choose from. Usually, you have to keep clicking on them until you land on a “bad apple” that ends the round. In some variations of this bonus round, you may also be asked to pick a certain amount of symbols in one go. A typical prize may be unlocking several free spins that are credited to the ongoing session, but the game can also throw in a multiplier or expanding wilds.
Click Me Bonus
When you get to the relevant screen, you will be given a choice of 3 symbols, with each of them hiding a prize underneath. Since you don’t have a way to tell what awaits underneath each, it will be a surprise!
Modern pokie machines are bound to take you on an adventure, whether it be in a physical or digital form.
Conclusion
It is our hope that understanding industry terms such as these will make your transition into the game of pokies smoother and more intuitive. Until next time!
