Slot Machine Symbols Explained: History, Types, Winning Tips

They have evolved from simple, classic designs—like cherries and bells—to intricate, animated visuals in modern video slots. Re-spins will continue until no more special symbols fall into the reels, and once this happens, your total win will be calculated by adding up the value of each of the special symbols. Here you’ll be looking out for a special symbol, usually themed around the game you’re playing.
In this guide, I’ll break down the different types of slot machine symbols you’re likely to encounter and explain what each of them means. Checking what a game’s wild actually does is one of the most useful things to know before you play. Cherries, bars, sevens, crowns and Liberty Bells still anchor countless games and not just classic slots, and plenty of players seek them out on purpose. For all the wild themes and licensed tie-ins crowding the lobby these days, the old slot machine symbols just won’t quit.
Playing card ranks from 10 through the ace filled the reels, and plenty of modern slot games still lean on those exact values for their lower-paying slot machine symbols. Understanding what the slot machine symbols mean is the best way to read a game before you ever press spin. Advanced animations allow slot machine symbols to interact dynamically, adding excitement to gameplay.

• Unlike regular symbols, scatters don’t need to appear on a specific payline to be effective, they only need to land in the required quantity anywhere on the screen.
• The slot paytable explanation reveals that payouts often follow a logarithmic scale — two matching symbols might pay 2x your bet, three pay 5x, four pay 20x, and five pay 100x.
• Some slot games have these special symbols in the base game, but more frequently, they’re a feature that can be found within the bonus round.
• Re-spins will continue until no more special symbols fall into the reels, and once this happens, your total win will be calculated by adding up the value of each of the special symbols.
• Nowadays, all kinds of slot machine symbols are used – the only limit is the developer’s imagination!
• You’ll find a giant range of themes at online slots, supported by slot machine symbols matching the theme perfectly.

Lucky 7 symbols typically rank among the highest-paying icons in classic slots, second only to jackpot symbols. The simple rectangular design makes BARs instantly recognizable, cementing their status as essential slot machine characters. Single BARs typically pay the least, double tweedbet casino BARs offer mid-range rewards, and triple BARs deliver premium payouts.

Technology and Slot Machine Symbols

Understanding the slot machine symbols is essential if you’re serious about playing these games. If this is your first time hearing about all the different slot machine symbols, it’s a good idea to start with small bets. You might be tempted to start spinning the reels now that you know the ins and outs of the slot machine symbols. These symbols are designed to add variety and excitement by offering a more engaging way to win beyond traditional paylines. Bonus symbols are a common feature of more modern slot machines, including quick hit slots.

Why Slot Machine Symbols Matter

If this happens, its value is maximized since it will have to cross the entire screen before it disappears. If it shifts to a different position where it doesn’t leave the screen, it will stand in for any other symbol you need in the space where it ends up. If that should be the case, that shifting wild is done, but hopefully you’ll get another soon. It means that when the wild shifts, there is a good chance it will simply shift off the screen.

Slot Machine Symbols FAQs

But there are slots which feature scatter wild symbols. If you get these on two or three reels at a time, you are in a great position to potentially get some serious payouts. Multi-space wild symbols such as expanding wilds and colossal wilds are sometimes sticky, and may hold through multiple spins. These wild symbols take up more space than a single symbol spot. Each of these stacked wild symbols will behave just like a regular wild in that they can substitute for any other symbols in the game. But other times, the overlay may be imperfect, so that part of the formation is off the edge of the screen and not affecting the paylines.

• The point of the Wild symbol is that it can substitute for other standard symbols when it appears on the game grid.
• If that should be the case, that shifting wild is done, but hopefully you’ll get another soon.
• Understanding what the slot machine symbols mean is the best way to read a game before you ever press spin.
• Basic symbols, often represented by classic card and fruit designs, are typically categorized into low-paying and high-paying types.
• If you get these on two or three reels at a time, you are in a great position to potentially get some serious payouts.
• But there is a really good chance you’ll see it on the last reel.

What are the classic slot machine symbols?

An icon is the small image and title that represents the whole machine, and a surprising amount of design work goes into each one. If slot machine symbols are the gameplay, icons act as the storefront. Figuring out what a game’s wild actually does is an important part of learning how to win at slots, or at least knowing what you’re chasing. This concept kept the machines legal and the players coming back.

In the image below, you’ll see a welcome sight from ‘A Night with Cleo.’ In this game the Ankh Keyhole is the game’s lone scatter symbol. You’ll usually need a minimum of two or three scatter symbols to reap the benefits. Like bonus symbols, scatter symbols sometimes deliver a nice payout, or they could trigger a bonus game mode.

Sometimes, an overlay wild will be perfectly positioned to be entirely visible on the screen, giving you the maximum possible advantage. The most commonly cited example is the NetEnt Guns N’ Roses game, which has an overlay wild with a cross shape. The overlay will actually consist of an entire formation of wild symbols in a particular shape. But there are several types of wild symbols which take up more than one space when they appear. We have now talked about different types of wild symbols which appear by themselves.