Slots are fairly simple games. They evolved from the classic fruit machines that players loved in the 20th century, where you inserted a coin, pulled the lever and watched out for winning combinations. Online slots work on the same basis – you deposit funds, press spin and hope for the best. This means that anyone can play slots like Irish Eyes Slot, even those who haven’t got much clue about slots.
If you want to maximise your chances of winning and understand what’s going on when you play slots, then look no further than this article. Today we explain what is the wild symbol in slots and its function.
Wildcard
The wild symbol can be described as a kind of a wildcard in slots games. It isn’t uncommon to be stuck in losing streaks, where spin after spin you watch the symbols settle and no winning combinations are present. Perhaps you just missed one by 1 symbol that happened to land out of place. Wilds fix this issue by substituting for any winning symbol except the scatter (which is the key to bonus rounds and is just as valuable). Wilds can fill in the missing parts in a payline that already has 2 or more winning symbols, thus linking up some combos and granting you wins.
There are multiple types of wild used in slot games, which we outline below.
Comes in all shapes and sizes
- A regular wild occupies a single space anywhere on the reels.
- An expanding wild expands to cover an entire reel, which can yield some decent wins!
- Sticky wilds, once they land, remain in their place for multiple spins, which can link up some nice consecutive winning combos.
- Shifting wilds are similar to sticky ones in a way that they stay on the reels for a few consecutive spins. The difference between the two though is that shifting wilds change their positions from spin to spin. They can either shift to link up combos or miss them, but what is for certain is that shifting wilds are better than no wilds!
- Stacked wilds stack on top of each other within a single reel. This type of wild is similar to expanding wilds, but stacked wilds do not necessarily fill in an entire reel.
How to find out if the game features wilds?
Today, more slots offer the wild symbol than don’t. Nevertheless, you should always check before you spend money on a slot. To do that, go to the information tab in the game and look up the paytable, where you will see all the symbols in the game as well as their worth. If the game features a wild symbol, you will find it outlined there.
