Slot machine players can get vastly different ideas of what “free spins” entails. On the gaming side, some view “free spins” as the bonus round within a slot (where a user gets to spin the reels without paying for the spin) and others view it as a promotional email from an online casino that states “50 free spins on Starburst.” While both are valid representations, a key point lies in the fact that players confuse free spins offered via promotions with those that occur naturally within a slot. Players could be confused as to what they truly receive when a screen displays “free spins.”
So, what are free spins in online slots?
In simple terms, free spins are a type of bonus round whereby players obtain a chance to spin the reels without having to individually fund each spin; however, users must continue spinning at a predetermined bet size. It is the developers’ decision regarding which bet size is used when triggering the feature. An in-game free spins feature is an integral element of the slot’s own mathematical model, i.e., pay table. An in-game free spins feature is an inherent part of the game’s mathematics and is included by the game development team as an intrinsic component of the game’s design.
How do in-game free spins get triggered?
There are numerous ways in which a slot machine’s free spins feature may be activated. one method commonly employed is when a player lands 3 or more scatter symbols, anywhere on the reels, regardless of whether the scatter symbols appear in sequential order on an active pay line. Scatters serve as the primary bonus symbol in virtually all modern slot machines. There is no uniformity among slot machines as to how many scatter symbols are necessary to activate the free spin feature.
However, 3 is generally the default number of scatter symbols required to initiate the free spin feature, with 4 or 5 activating either more free spins, or a more robust variant of the free spin feature. Not all slot machines utilize scatter symbols to initiate their free spins feature. Some slot machines employ unique bonus symbols that differ from scatter symbols and require specific sequences, or combinations, to activate the free spin feature. Additionally, there are fewer slot machines that eliminate the usage of visible symbol triggers altogether and incorporate random triggers that determine whether a player will enter the free spin feature.
When employing random triggers, the free spin feature can potentially trigger on any spin; regardless of what symbols appear on the reels. This type of triggering occurs when a random number generator operates in conjunction with the slot machine’s engine and determines when to trigger the free spin feature. Generally speaking, when using random triggers, players may experience surprise when entering the free spin feature due to the absence of any visual cues. As soon as a player enters the free spin feature, most slot machines enable retriggers. In essence, retriggers provide additional free spins for players who collect additional scatter symbols/bonus symbols during the free spin round. The utilization of retriggers extends the length of the free spin round and can greatly enhance players’ overall payouts since they receive a secondary helping of a round that is designed to accumulate value.
What happens after entering the free spin round?
At this juncture, free spins cease to be merely a single mechanism and become an entire design segment. The primary reason for this transformation is due to the vast array of options available to designers within the free spin round. Designers typically focus most of their creativity within this area. Multipliers are likely one of the most prevalent additions made to free spin rounds. They apply multipliers ranging from 2x, 3x, and/or increasingly escalate during subsequent spins. Stacked wilds/persistent wilds/sticky wilds represent another staple within free spin rounds.
These types of wilds remain locked in place throughout the remainder of the free spin round, providing a basis upon which players can compound their win potential with each successive spin. Certain games expand this concept with wilds that spread across an entire reel, or colossal icons/colossal symbols that occupy Two or more adjacent positions across the grid. Some titles implement cascading reels/tumbling reels mechanisms that cause winning symbols to disappear and new symbols fall into place above them. This creates chains of consecutive wins without requiring players to manually hit the spin button again. Many free spin rounds combine this mechanism with increasing multipliers that rise with each tumble/cascade.
The hold ‘n’ spin mechanism found in Big Time Gaming and Golden Century style games works slightly differently. These games lock designated symbols in place and provide players with a limited number of respin opportunities to fill the remaining empty spaces. Most games built utilizing this format build toward a progressive jackpot/credit total as opposed to accumulating a straightforward multiplier-based payout. None of these elements exist universally.
Why sessions feel dead until the bonus hits
Here lies an explanation for a phenomenon experienced by nearly every regular slot player: 40-50 spins (or greater) of minimal returns coupled with a single bonus round that yields more in aggregate than did an entire base game session. This is not merely bad luck piling up in succession. Rather, it represents an inherent aspect of how these games are constructed. Developers have intentionally siphoned off large amounts of a slot’s RTP into short-lived bonus rounds; thereby shifting expected value from frequently occurring small base-game wins into less-frequently occurring but larger bonus-round payouts.
If we were to remove the free spins feature from a slot machine’s RTP calculation and only examine base-game RTP, we would often see that a true slot machine’s base game RTP is noticeably lower than its listed total RTP; sometimes by as much as several percent. This disparity exists because such large portions of a slot machine’s total rtp are concentrated within bonus rounds that approximately 1/3rd of players in any given session will never encounter. This represents a clear tradeoff: free spins impact a game’s overall RTP in such a manner that rewards patience and tolerance for lengthy stretches devoid of wins (i.e., bonus rounds), while penalizing players who evaluate a game solely based on its performance within the first 50-75 spins and never reach the bonus round.
Feature frequency – how often does a player encounter a bonus round?
A general rule-of-thumb estimates that feature frequencies lie in the vicinity of once every 100-300 spins, depending upon the game and its scatter requirements. High volatility titles developed exclusively for bonus-buy purposes often exhibit feature frequencies substantially greater than this average; essentially creating games that rely entirely on their bonus rounds to create appeal for players during periods characterized by sparse base-game activity.
Promotional casino offers – completely different animal
Moving forward to promotional casino offers provides an entirely different environment. Promotional casino offers serve as a marketing vehicle for casinos wishing to encourage registration, deposits, etc.; and are provided in exchange for allowing players to test their games for free. Such promotional offers include no deposit free spins and deposit match free spins. Both types of offers have absolutely nothing to do with any mechanics discussed previously. For example, no deposit free spins may provide 20 spins valued at $0.20 per spin on a specific slot machine simply for registering for an account; whereas deposit match free spins may provide 100 free spins as a bonus for making a deposit; often tied directly to a percentage-match on that deposit. Essentially, the value associated with promotional casino offers resides primarily in their fine-print details. Thusly, a brief and practical checklist can help far more than reading paragraphs detailing promotional offers prior to accepting them. Prior to accepting any promotional offer from a casino, it is beneficial to verify five items:
- wagering requirements – how many times you must wager-through any winnings prior to withdrawing.
- win caps – any limitations placed upon withdrawals from free spins regardless of how much you have won.
- which games contribute towards satisfying wagering requirements – many offers limit this to only a select number of games.
- Expiration dates – how long you have prior to expiration of any bonuses/free-spins generated from promotional offers along with any associated winnings.
- Minimum bet size – does the promotional offer stipulate that you must play at a minimum bet size that may be less than what you normally play.
Practical application of Understanding both sides
With an Understanding of both aspects (the in-game feature and promotional offer) comes an ability to apply practical knowledge when sitting down to play slots. If you are playing slots for their own free-spin features then it is reasonable to expect extended spans of normal-base-game play interrupted by intermittent bonus rounds that contain disproportionately large shares of a game’s actual value. Evaluating a title too early – before you have encountered the feature even once – provides insight into very little relative to determining if it is suitable for your personal preferences and bankroll. If you are examining a promotional casino offer’s free-spins offer then the number of spins is relevant; however, it is far less important than wagering requirements and win caps embedded beneath it; therefore, a lesser-promotional offer with fair terms will provide more value than a flashy promotional offer engineered to appear enticing in an email subject line.
Either way… Free-spins represent one of the more intriguing components of slot game design due to their ability to contribute significantly to elements that make slots exciting and unpredictable into single short periods of play.
If you consistently play the same subset of titles, then it would be helpful to observe how your favorite titles behave during their respective free-spins rounds versus simply focusing on how large the ultimate-win-screen reads. Two games can display identical maximum-potential-winnings values (e.g., 5,000x your bet) yet feel incredibly-different-to-play due to one employing a slow-build-up-multiplier system where payoff depends heavily on how far into the round you manage to survive; while the other employs sticky-wilds whose payoff can occur quickly-even-after-an-unlucky-sequence-of-spins-in-the-free-spins-round.
