While everybody enjoys playing slots, we all know that our best shot at success is landing a bonus round. A slot machine bonus round is more likely to deliver multipliers, enhanced features to cough up larger prizes, and mechanics that generally enhance the overall gaming experience you can have alongside your winning potential. Understanding slot machine bonus rounds to maximise your chances of winning via extra features is an intrinsic part of playing online. With that said, let’s look at slot bonus rounds today.
What Are Slot Machine Bonus Rounds?
A typical slot machine bonus round differs from the base game in that you won’t need to place additional bets. You’re effectively getting a shot to play for free with the potential to win real money. Some bonus rounds may feature mechanics similar to those of the base game, while others offer something wholly different.
Slot bonuses seldom appear in so-called classic slots or fruit machines. However, they are the bread and butter of video slots. In most cases, you’ll trigger bonus rounds by landing three or more slot scatter symbols on the reels, lining up bonus icons in specific combos, or appearing at random.
Types of Slot Machine Bonus Rounds
While free spin bonuses are the most common bonus rounds that you’ll come across, they aren’t the only features in play. Here’s a brief look at six of the most common slot machine bonus rounds and how each works:
- Free Spins: Classic free spin slot bonuses allow you to spin the reels for free. In many cases, they’ll offer multipliers, different reel sets or other added perks, such as specialised wild symbols.
- Pick and Win Rounds: Pick and win features allow you to choose from several images, icons or symbols to win cash prizes or multipliers.
- Multipliers: Multipliers in free spin bonuses are the most common form, but they can appear in base games, too. They’ll magnify whatever you win by a specific figure, and in some cases, you can add several multipliers together for an epic win.
- Special Wilds: Wild symbols typically substitute for any other standard paying symbols. Sometimes, bonus rounds may feature specialised wilds, including stacked wilds, multiplier wilds, expanding wilds and others.
- Gamble Feature: A gamble feature isn’t a bonus round per se. Instead, it is a feature you can trigger following a win. You can choose to gamble any recent winnings in a game of chance where you can double or quadruple your slot winnings or lose them.
- Re-Spins: Re-spins work in the same way as free spins, except they take place in the base game and are more limited in terms of the number you’ll receive. They may (or may not) come with additional features.
- Progressive Jackpots in Bonus Rounds: While some slots feature randomly triggered progressive jackpots, some games dish out prizes via bonus rounds. In these rounds, you can spin fortune wheels, match up symbols or line up combos to win the biggest cash prizes in the online slot world.
Strategies to Maximise Bonus Rounds
Now you have an idea of how slot bonuses work; it’s time to touch on how to maximise them to result in big wins. First up, we recommend understanding how volatility and RTP work, and these will help you identify the best games to play. Be sure to check our Go Spin blogs on RTP and volatility for more information.
Next, choose slots featuring a plentiful array of bonus rounds. The more bonus mechanics there are, especially if you trigger them randomly, the more likely you’ll be to trigger larger wins. Managing your bankroll is important, too. You can sustain your bankroll and prolong gameplay until you hit a bonus round by choosing low-variance games and keeping your wagers light. Utilising casino bonuses to extend your playtime is another option you should consider.
How to Identify High-Value Bonus Rounds
Another great way to ensure you play a slot machine bonus round that is worth your time is to take advantage of all the materials you have at your disposal. For instance, you can check slot reviews for descriptions of bonus features. You can also explore the software providers behind games, as many of them feature similar mechanics across their titles. Look for games with high multipliers, re-triggerable free spin mechanics and bonuses that don’t require you to pay additional funds to activate.
Common Myths About Slot Bonus Rounds
Let’s touch on one final thing – ignoring myths. As with many aspects of the online casino world, there are all sorts of myths associated with slot bonus rounds. Firstly, there is the myth that triggering bonus rounds guarantees wins – it doesn’t. It’s entirely possible to trigger a free spin bonus and win nothing. The only thing that is true is that you won’t lose a cent playing bonus rounds.
Secondly, there is a long-standing rumour that casinos control the triggering of bonus rounds. We can also debunk this. The sheer number of employees needed to do this would see casinos taking a major financial hit. If you think they can manipulate algorithms to trigger bonuses, you’re wrong again. Understanding RNGs and RNG fairness will showcase that the software providers behind the games control those mechanics – not the casino.
Final Thoughts
While we always encourage you to play responsibly at Go Spin’s recommended online casinos, we also want to suggest you shop around for the best bonuses. Use our recommended advice to find the best-paying slot bonuses and games that feature the kinds of mechanics you want to play. Explore top slot games for free, discover what they can offer, compare and contrast, and then make your play when joining one of Go Spin’s top-rated online casino reviews sites today.
FAQ
Do all slot games have bonus rounds?
No. Most classic slots and fruit machines do not offer bonus rounds. Older video slots may have one or two (free spins or pick-and-win mechanics), but modern video slots often have several features, including buy-a-bonus modes.
Which bonus is best for winning big?
Go Spin’s experts recommend choosing free spin bonuses with multipliers. Of course, progressive jackpot bonuses offer the best prizes, but the odds of landing a big win via them is less than a decent win in a classic free spin feature.
Can I play bonus rounds in slot demos?
Absolutely. All elements (save for, perhaps, progressive jackpot triggers) are active in slot demos. These represent a great way to test drive slots and their bonus mechanics and see what they are about before playing a game.
Can I retrigger bonus rounds while playing?
In some cases, yes. Retriggerable features are more common in free spin bonuses. In some games, you won’t necessarily retrigger the round, but you can add additional free spins and multipliers to your tally instead.
Am I more likely to trigger bonus rounds with higher stakes?
Not really. Some games may adjust the frequency of hitting bonus rounds if you bet more, but that’s not common practice. Most fair games operate on fixed probabilities, triggering bonus rounds at random, regardless of the amount you bet when playing.
