Just to be clear, this is not an exhaustive list of in-game bonuses. Developers sometimes combine certain types into one to make their games unique. However, just to better illustrate the variety, here are the various types that you’ll see:
Free Spins
A free spins bonus is a great way to start playing in a casino because, as it says in the name, it’s free. There are two main ways by which you can obtain them while you’re playing slots:
- Getting Scatter symbols during the base game. Usually, the mechanics say that you need at least three to get the free spins.
- Using the Bonus Buy feature. Here, you’re guaranteed free spins if you pay a lot of money, like 100x of your original bet amount.
This is one of the more common forms of bonuses. So, you can easily find it in various slot titles. In Novomatic’s Book of Ra, at least three scatters are needed to activate the free spins. A big book will appear, and symbols will move through it. The last symbol in this book will determine how long the free spins will last.
Pick & Click
Pick & click is something that’s easy to understand. When presented with the option, simply click the symbol and get the reward. In some cases, the bonus itself is a surprise, but in others, you already know what you’re going to get.
Siren Symphony by True Lab has both. You can select the type of bonus round that you’ll participate in. However, you can also pick and click a treasure chest and get the reward revealed inside.
Bonus Wheel
The bonus wheel has various sections, and where you land will determine what you win. There are many ways to activate it, and the prerequisites are established by the software developer.
An example of a game that has this feature is Wheel of Wonders. Its Ancient Wheel feature is activated when you add a completed row of additional positions. Here, you can win base game features, bet multipliers, and total multipliers.
Jackpots
A jackpot is a large cash prize that you can get when playing a slot game. This can be a fixed amount or based on your wager. There are two common ways by which you can land a jackpot:
- Landing certain symbols on a certain payline
- Activating a bonus round
There may also be more than one type of jackpot in the game, usually categorized based on the payout. An example of a game with this bonus feature is Mega Moolah by Games Global, which has four jackpots: Mega, Major, Minor, and Mini.
Multipliers
Multipliers can increase the amount that you can get based on the multiplier value. Depending on the game, there are many conditions by which you can increase the multiplier for the game:
- Get free spins. Receiving free spins usually entails access to the bonus round, where a multiplier may apply to all your wins.
- Land more than one winning payline or a tumble win. In other slot games, your multiplier will continue to increase for every winning payline or tumble that you get.
- Get it as a reward. If you unlock a bonus mode, multipliers may be one of your potential prizes.
Practically every slot game has this feature, but one of the more unique ones is Songkran Splash by PG Soft. Here, winning symbols on reels 3 to 5 will increase the multiplier by 1 for the reel. Then, the total value of the multipliers is summed and added to your win amount. Then, by the end of the round, the multiplier will go back to 1x.
