A Look at How Video Slots Work

At Queenplay, we have hundreds of video slots for you to enjoy. These games dominate the gaming industry with their flashy lights, creative designs and selection of bonus mechanics. Here, we break down how video slots work and look at why they’ve become the most popular gambling games both at land casinos and on the internet.

An Introduction to Slots

Online video slots are the most popular form of games in the industry. Nowadays, you can access slots via smartphone, tablets and desktops with high resolution graphics that are easy on the eye.

Let’s start off with a little bit of slot history.

Slot History

There is a chance that you are already familiar with the first video slot, the Liberty Bell. Developed by Charles Fay in 1887-1891, the first slot machine played out on 3 reels with 1 row and 1 payline. Nowadays, we’ve moved on from classic slot machines to video slots. Whilst you can still play classic slots online, video slots are the most popular ones at Queenplay and other gaming sites.

The first video slots were released in the 1980s but the real change was in 1996 when WMS Industries Inc released a “Reel ‘Em” second screen bonus round. The inclusion of the bonus round was the first step towards developing video slots, as it broke away from the traditional set of reels. Today, video slots are known for having many bonus features included in them.

Comparing Classic and Video Slots

Classic slots are games which are based off of the old-style slot machines that can still be found in land-based casinos and gaming arcades. They have a lever and typically have 3 reels with 1 row and 1 payline. You can also find classic slots with 3 reels and 3 rows, which naturally offer more paylines. However, they tend not to have bonus rounds or additional perks.

Video slots, on the other hand, are an improved version of classic slots. They are created with better technology and have more innovative qualities. Typically, you will find that video slots include more reels, rows, paylines and come with a wider range of themes. The gameplay is more diverse as well, with special bonus features, such as free spins, and a lot more symbols. The development of special symbols also comes in to play, as do more game mechanics, such as cluster pays. But more on that later.

How Video Slots Work

Video slots work just the same way as classic slots do. You have got your basic reels which are set up vertically and rows which determine how many symbols can be seen at any time on a static reel. After this is established, you have several paylines, which determines how many ways you can form a winning combination. Obviously, the more paylines there are, the better.

The most common format for a slot game to play out on is a 5x3 grid. Typically, these games offer between 10 and 25 paylines with winning combinations being formed from left to right – starting from the first reel. The good news is that video slots offer a lot more paylines and bonus features than classic slots.

Video slots use a random number generator to ensure that all games are fair. This ensures that the games do not follow any sort of pattern but spin completely at random.

Why Play Video Slots

If you haven’t been swayed by the simple statistic that this is the most played and popular form of gambling online, perhaps we can elaborate a little further on why video slots are the way to go. These games offer a lot of fun and added perks compared with classic slots.

In addition to having more paylines and an overall better presentation, each and every video slot has its own features.

Special Symbols

You will often find several special symbols in a video slot and one of the most common is the wild symbol. The wild is an icon which can land on the reels at any given time and substitute for all standard symbols. That means it gives you a helping hand in trying to form a winning combination. Wilds are known to have high payouts as well, whilst boosting your chances of winning.

The wild is complemented by the scatter symbol, which also typically has a big payout. Scatter symbols take their name from the fact that they will award a payout when they land scattered across the reels, not only when they land along a payline. Furthermore, very often the scatter will also trigger a separate bonus feature.

Bonus Features

Indeed, special symbols are not the only benefit you can take advantage of whilst playing video slots. They also include bonus features. These bonus features can be hugely varied, but the most standard one is a free spins round.

The free spins bonus round will typically see you receive a number of spins that you do not need to pay for. Often, the free spins round comes with a few additional bonuses. Here are just a few features that may be found in a free spins round:

• Cascading Wins: After every win, the winning symbols will disappear from the reels and make way for new symbols to drop into the empty positions. This can lead to additional payouts and potentially form new winning formations.
• Multipliers: It is very common for video slots to include multipliers. This can be through activating special bonus features or simply by attaching multipliers to certain symbols. A multiplier does what the name suggests, it multipliers your winnings.
• Sticky Symbols: A popular video slot bonus feature is sticky symbols, which sees valuable symbols – such as wilds – stay in their position for a number of spins. This will ensure that you have the symbol present on your screen whilst you continue spinning for more wins.

These are only three examples from a whole range of bonus features. As you explore the collection of video slots on offer at Queenplay, you will quickly realise that there are far more.

Placing the right bet

One thing which you’re certainly going to want to keep an eye on is the betting range a slot offers. This will determine how much you are allowed to wager for each game. Typically, video slots tend to offer a bet range between €/£0.10 and €/£100 per spin.

Return To Player

You’re also going to want to keep an eye out for terms like RTP and volatility. RTP stands for Return To Player, which is a percentage of how much money a machine will payout over time. You can also calculate the house edge through RTP.

If a slot has an RTP of 96%, it means the house edge is 4%. It means that for every €100 bet on a game, €96 of it will be returned to players. However, you have to remember that the RTP is calculated over a vast number of spins and there is no guarantee of winning anything. However, it also means that some players will win more than 100% of what they bet, which is what makes the games exciting.

High and Low Volatility

There are low volatility slots, high volatility ones, and games that fall somewhere in the middle. Often, lower paying symbols are the ones with low volatility. They will frequently award payouts, but the payouts will not be very large.

High volatility slots, on the other hand, have the potential to be far more profitable – especially when it comes to landing big winners or jackpots – but they are also riskier. High volatility slots are the ones that can burn through your bankroll without you landing a single win. They come with greater risk but also greater reward. It just depends on your luck that day.

Closing Remarks

Video slots are the way to gamble in 2021. At Queenplay, we have an abundance of games to choose from on our casino games page. The majority of slots available at our casino, and at most casinos, are video slots. These games include state of the art graphics, many unique features and innovative gameplay mechanics that make them engaging and rewarding from the very first spin.