Complete Breakdown of Slot Symbols

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Written by Boris Atanasov
Boris Atanasov
With more than 4+ years of experience in the iGaming industry, Boris Atanasov writes exciting content about slots, video poker, roulette and blackjack.
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Software suppliers release new slots with improved features every month, offering fresh entertainment to reel spinners around the world. Although slots continue to evolve, most still use broadly the same types of symbols.

This consistency helps players quickly familiarize themselves with new releases, provided they understand how the different types of slot symbols work. Symbols generally fall into two main groups.

Standard symbols award high-value or low-value payouts when matching symbols land on active paylines. Special symbols, such as wilds and scatters, can help players form more winning combinations or unlock rewarding bonus features.

This article describes all the types of symbols you will find in slots, explains how they work, and discusses how they can benefit players.

Standard High-Value and Low-Value Slot Symbols

1Low-Value Symbols

These are the most basic symbols you will encounter in slots. Payouts are awarded when identical symbols align on a winning payline. Most modern slots use playing-card symbols such as A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9 for their low-value combinations. Sometimes the four card suits (spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts) are used instead.

In classic slots with three reels, low-value symbols are typically represented by fruits such as plums, lemons, oranges, cherries, melons, and grapes. Low-value combinations occur more frequently because these symbols outnumber the high-value ones on the reels.

2High-value symbols

Slots also feature symbols with much higher winning potential. In retro three-reel games, the top-paying icons are represented by classic symbols such as the bar, lucky seven, diamond, and bell. The high-value symbols in modern video slots vary from one game to another, depending on the theme.

When you spin the reels of a slot with an Egyptian theme, for example, you can collect top payouts from symbols depicting pyramids, scarabs, scepters, snakes, deities, and ancient artifacts. Video slot developers often give the low-paying card symbols a bespoke touch so that they complement the game’s theme.

3Winning combinations

The sole purpose of standard symbols is to award payouts when they form winning combinations on the paylines. In most games, you need at least three matching icons to win, although some slots pay for as few as two matches on a payline.

The direction in which identical symbols align is also important. Winning combinations usually must run from left to right on the payline. For example, imagine scarab symbols landing on the third, fourth, and fifth reels. You will not receive a payout if different symbols occupy the first and second reels.

However, some video slots, such as Starburst, The Invisible Man, and Good Girl, Bad Girl, pay in both directions. This can make the gameplay more engaging.

4Reels and Paylines

Regardless of their value, standard symbols behave differently in slots with “cascading” reels. This feature resembles retro games such as Tetris. When a winning combination appears on a payline, the matching symbols explode and disappear from the reels. New symbols then fall into place and may create another winning combination. This mechanic appears in Betsoft’s Sugar Pop and Invaders from Planet Moolah by WMS.

The “collapsing” reels mechanic works similarly. If identical symbols create a match on a payline, they disappear and the icons above them drop into position. This feature is known as “Free Fall” in NetEnt slots.

Some games include dynamic multipliers that progressively increase payouts with each subsequent winning combination. In others, a string of consecutive wins unlocks bonus events such as free spins.

There are also slots that lack paylines altogether. In these games, the standard-paying symbols behave like scatters, meaning they must appear on adjacent reels to yield a payout. The patterns they form and their exact positions on the reels are irrelevant in this case.

Wild Symbols – Types and Purpose

Wilds are slot players’ best friends because they can replace all standard symbols and create more winning combinations. The only icons they cannot substitute are the scatters and the bonus symbols. You may not find wilds in every game, but if you play modern slots there is a good chance you will encounter these special symbols.

Let’s use Divine Fortune by NetEnt to demonstrate how wilds work. This mythology-themed game uses Pegasus as the substitution symbol. Suppose you have two Q icons on the first and third reels on payline 1.

If Pegasus lands on the second reel on line 1, the game will award a payout that corresponds to a Three of a Kind combination. This is a shifting wild, which moves down one position on the reels after wins (if any) are awarded for a given spin, potentially creating additional winning combinations.

Depending on the slot, wilds may appear both in the base game and during special features like free spins. Some wilds are used solely for substitution, while others award higher payouts for combinations of three or more symbols. Wilds can also trigger bonus events in certain slots, although scatters and bonus symbols are normally used for this purpose.

Because software developers are constantly looking for ways to improve slots, there are many different types of wild symbols players can benefit from. Below is a rundown of the most common types you will encounter.

Walking wilds
blank Expanding wilds
blank Stacked wilds
blank Sticky wilds
blank Random wilds
blank Replicating wilds

Walking wilds

Walking wilds operate on the same principle as the substitution symbols in NetEnt’s Divine Fortune discussed earlier. When they land on the reels, they move one position with each subsequent spin.

Depending on the slot you are playing, the wild might move left, right, upward, or downward until it eventually disappears from the screen. The reels respin at no cost each time the wild moves by one position. Examples include NetEnt slots like The Invisible Man, Divine Fortune, and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Expanding wilds

Expanding wilds are extremely powerful because they stretch to cover the entire reel on which they land. This can create multiple winning combinations, especially in five-reel slots with numerous paylines. These wilds usually expand only when they are part of a winning line.

Sometimes a single wild symbol can take over several reels, creating impressive winning combinations in the process. Players usually receive a free respin after an expanding wild lands on the reels. Examples include NetEnt’s Starburst and Hall of Gods, as well as 1429 Uncharted Seas by Thunderkick.

Stacked wilds

Stacked wilds are similar to expanding wilds because they can also cover entire reels. The difference is that the wilds stack on top of one another instead of merging into a single large symbol.

In some slots, wilds can stack on any reel, while in others, stacking occurs only on specific reels. These details are listed in the slot’s paytable, which we recommend checking before you play. Examples of titles featuring stacked wilds include Kiss by WMS and IGT’s Wolf Run and Western Belles.

Sticky wilds

Sticky wilds, also known as “frozen” or “locked” wilds, are special symbols that remain in position when they land on a reel. The symbol stays on the reel for the next respin or for the entire duration of a bonus event such as free spins. Some sticky wilds also act as expanding wilds and can occupy entire reels.

In NetEnt’s Dead or Alive 2, sticky wilds carry a 2x multiplier for wins generated during free spins. The symbols can also retrigger additional bonus spins when they appear during the feature.

Other slots with sticky wilds include Betsoft’s Mamma Mia, NetEnt’s Lucky Angler and Finn and the Swirly Spin, and Tower Quest by Play’n GO.

Random wilds

Random wilds appear when substitution symbols are randomly added to the reels. This usually happens during bonus events such as free spins. The symbols behave differently depending on the slot you are playing.

Random wilds may carry multipliers that further increase the wins they help create. In some games, one or more reel positions turn wild to award additional prizes. In others, entire reels can become wild during a free round.

Depending on the game, random wilds can appear on any spin. This adds an element of surprise and makes the gameplay more engaging. However, their appearance does not guarantee a winning combination.

You will find this feature in slots such as Microgaming’s Immortal Romance, Moon Princess by Play’n GO, and Vikings Go Wild by Yggdrasil.

Replicating wilds

Replicating wilds, also known as transferring wilds, are substitution symbols that duplicate themselves and appear in several positions on the reels. One example is Grim Muerto by Play’n GO, where one reel is randomly selected at the start of a spin. If a wild symbol lands on the highlighted reel, it duplicates to cover all positions on that reel.

These wilds behave differently depending on which software studio developed the slot. They can appear during bonus features, in the base game, or in both. Such symbols are often found in slots with high volatility, where larger prizes occur less frequently.

Transferring wilds can be found in many games developed by WMS Gaming, including Fire Queen, Spartacus: Gladiator of Rome, and Bruce Lee Dragon’s Tale. These slots are unique because they use multiple sets of reels.

Scatter Symbols and How They Benefit the Slot Player

1Scattered Payouts

The scatter symbols discussed earlier are valuable to slot players for two main reasons. First, these special icons can pay without aligning on a winning payline.

You win when the required number of scatters appears anywhere on the reels. When they pay, scatters award some of the highest prizes in the paytable. Scatter wins are usually multiplied by the player’s total bet.

2Bonus events

However, scatters in some slots do not necessarily deliver standard payouts. Instead, their role is to trigger bonus events such as free spins, respins, and side games where you can win additional cash prizes.

You must land a certain number of scatters on a single spin to trigger the bonus event. Some game developers make this more difficult by requiring the scatters to appear on specific reels to unlock the special features.

Most often, you need a minimum of three scatters to activate a bonus feature, although landing four or more can improve the rewards in certain games.

3Example

One example is Hall of Gods by NetEnt, where you receive 10 free spins with 3 scatters, 15 free spins with 4 scatters, and a maximum of 20 free spins with 5 scatters. These special symbols can usually retrigger additional free spins when enough of them land during the feature. Developers often attach multipliers to scatters for even larger prizes.

Bonus Symbols and Paytables in Slots

Bonus Symbols in Slots

Get to Know the Paytable and Winning Symbols before You Play

Bonus symbols are among the most anticipated icons in video slots. Like scatters, bonus symbols activate bonus events such as free spins or side games with guaranteed cash prizes. They are absent from retro three-reel slots but are common in modern games.

We examine the different types of bonus games in the next article in our slot guide. For now, it is enough to say that these extra features can be lucrative and entertaining. Designed to match each slot’s theme, bonus games add excitement to a betting session.

Bonus symbols differ from scatters because they normally do not award regular payouts. Their sole purpose is to trigger the slot’s bonus features. Unlike standard icons, bonus symbols cannot be substituted by wilds. In some slots, the bonus symbols must appear simultaneously on specific reels to activate a feature.

You usually need at least three such symbols to unlock bonus features. For example, in NetEnt’s Fairytale Legends: Hansel & Gretel, three treasure-chest icons must land on the first, third, and fifth reels to trigger one of three bonus features.

In other games, such as Play’n GO’s Rich Wilde and the Pearls of India, players collect bonus symbols during regular spins and need at least 25 icons to trigger the side game. In Tower Quest by the same provider, three wizard bonus symbols must land in any reel positions to activate the side game.

The behavior of bonus symbols is game-specific and depends on the developer behind each slot. This brings us to the next section, where we discuss the importance of paytables.

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