Slot symbols: wilds, scatters and multipliers explained

Not all slot symbols are equal. Most pay according to how many land on a line, but three families change the rules: wilds, scatters and bonus symbols, joined by multipliers. They decide whether a win gets completed, whether a run of free spins starts, and whether an amount suddenly scales up.

On slot machines in dice form, the fruit and sevens of old have become dice faces, but the mechanics are the same. For this guide, we went through the rules of eight games in the Crazy Dice catalogue, as their help screens describe them: they differ more than you might think.

Regular or special symbols: what is the difference?

Paying symbols form the base. Each has a value in the paytable and pays from a set number in a row, usually three, from left to right on an active line. The amount depends on the stake on that line: for the same total stake, a 20-line game puts more money on each line than a 100-line game.

Special symbols do not follow that logic. The wild fills in, the scatter pays or triggers without a line, the bonus symbol opens a separate feature. A game can have one, two or three of them, and nothing obliges two studios to give them the same powers.

Not every dice slot runs on classic reels, either. Air Dice's grid games, such as Pure or Infinity Dice, set out four 3 × 3 grids with five lines each, 20 lines in all: symbols are read grid by grid, on the same line principle.

That is why the paytable is always the first stop. It shows each symbol's value at the stake you have chosen and, above all, the exceptions: which reels a symbol can land on, what it does not replace, and what its win is calculated on.

Wild symbols in slots stand in, but not for everything

The wild is a joker: it takes the place of a missing symbol to finish a combination. On 20 Super Dice, the joker stands in for every symbol except the scatter, and it has a value of its own too: three, four or five jokers on a line pay out in their own right.

The most common restriction concerns the scatter itself. The wild almost never replaces it, because the scatter follows its own payout rule. Dice of Magic and Lucky Cloverland Dice apply the same exception: their joker fills in for everything except the crystal ball in one case and the scatter in the other.

The second restriction is about position. The wizard in Dice of Magic only appears on reels 2 to 5, never on the first, so a line cannot start with a joker. The pot of gold in Lucky Cloverland Dice is limited to reels 2, 3 and 4. Details like these affect how often combinations get completed.

Stacked, sticky or player-placed wilds

Many games go beyond a simple joker. A stacked wild fills several positions on the same reel: the dynamite in Boom Bang can stack up to six high and cover an entire column, hitting every line that runs through that reel in one go.

Some games keep stacking for their bonus. In Tiko Spicy Chef's bonus round, wilds arrive stacked six high, which greatly increases the number of lines they can complete on each spin. The same symbol carries different weight depending on the phase of play.

A sticky wild stays put for several spins in a row. In Lucky Wilds Toro Dice, a number shows how many spins it has left, and during the free spins these jokers build up until they fill a good part of the grid; other wilds in the game cover a whole column straight away. Dice of Mystery takes the idea further: a column of three dice wilds appears at random, and you choose where to place it.

The scatter symbol in slots pays wherever it lands

The scatter ignores lines. It counts as soon as enough copies are visible, whatever their position. Depending on the game, it pays straight away, triggers a feature, or does both.

What it is calculated on changes everything. On 20 Super Dice, the scatter win is worked out on the total stake rather than the line stake, and is added to the line wins from the same spin. On Lucky Cloverland Dice, five scatters pay 250 times the stake, the game's biggest payout, and three are enough to start 7 Free Games.

A slot machine scatter symbol can be limited to certain reels too. The crystal ball in Dice of Magic only lands on the first three. When a game sets a limit like this, the help screen says so: exactly what to check before calling a game ‘stingy’ with bonuses.

Bonus symbols: the key to hidden features

A bonus symbol rarely has a value of its own: its job is to unlock something. In Tiko Spicy Chef, the Chef Tiko symbol only comes into play once an insect settles on a joker, and that encounter is what sets off the base game's special effects.

The rules between special symbols also vary from game to game. In Dice of Mystery, the dice wilds from the placeable column replace every other die, Bonus dice included, which runs against the usual rule where the joker leaves special symbols alone.

Some bonuses turn an ordinary symbol into a joker. When the Free Games start in Lucky Cloverland Dice, one symbol is drawn at random and gains the power of an extra wild: it then stands in for every symbol except the scatter, for the whole run.

Three routes into free spins

The classic route runs through scatters: three or more trigger a fixed number of free spins, often with the chance to extend them if new scatters land during the run. That is how the 7 Free Games in Lucky Cloverland Dice work.

Other games let a wheel decide. In Lucky Wilds Toro Dice, three scatters open the Toro wheel, which offers, for example, 7, 10 or 16 free spins paired with a multiplier between ×1 and ×5. You get five throws to accept a result, the last one being kept automatically. Fewer spins with a bigger multiplier concentrate the outcome on a handful of draws.

The third route needs no scatter at all. Tiko Spicy Chef fills a gauge with every win: four winning combinations in a row start the free spins. And some games sell direct access to the bonus, as in Lucky Wilds Toro Dice, where the free spins cost 28 times the stake. Games with that option are gathered on our page of dice slots with a buyable bonus.

Slot multipliers: a win on a different scale

A multiplier does not create a win, it enlarges one that already exists. It can apply to a single combination, to a whole run of free spins, or come out of a wheel. In Lucky Wilds Toro Dice, the wheel's multiplier counts on every win in the run: at ×3, a €4 win during the run becomes €12.

Bonus wheels are the other big source of multipliers. The Treasure Wheel in Dice of Mystery hands out points, multipliers of up to ×1,000 or access to the Book of Mystery, and the wheel in Mega Spinner also applies a points multiplier.

One point is often misunderstood: the return figure displayed already includes all of these features. Wilds, scatters and multipliers do not add to the RTP, they only decide how it is spread out, with wins that come more often or in bigger bursts.

Eight games under the microscope: what repeats, what changes

A side-by-side study of the rules of our eight games first shows what barely moves. In the three titles whose help screen spells it out, 20 Super Dice, Dice of Magic and Lucky Cloverland Dice, the joker leaves the scatter alone. And half the games stack their wild, at least during the bonus: Boom Bang, Tiko Spicy Chef, Dice of Magic and Lucky Cloverland Dice.

The rest varies widely. Only two games restrict their joker to certain reels, one makes it sticky and one lets the player place it. Multipliers feature in just three titles, Lucky Wilds Toro Dice, Dice of Mystery and Mega Spinner, while the scatter in 20 Super Dice pays out directly instead of opening a bonus.

For free spins, four games offer a route other than scatters: the gauge in Tiko Spicy Chef, the mystery trigger in Dice of Magic, the wheel in Mega Spinner and the bonus buy in Lucky Wilds Toro Dice. The scatter is still the most common way in, but no longer the only one.

Five questions to put to the help screen

Before you spin, the help screen answers the essentials in a few seconds. These five points are enough to understand how a game spreads its wins.

• Which reels can the wild and the scatter land on?
• Does the wild replace the scatter or the bonus symbols, or neither?
• Does the scatter pay on the total stake or on the line stake?
• How do the free spins start: scatters, a wheel, a gauge or a purchase?
• Does the multiplier apply to one win, a run or a total?

With those answers in hand, choosing a game becomes a matter of taste rather than chance. And when a run ends well, you can collect your winnings without waiting: the payout lands in your bank account within minutes.

Every game in this guide is available at Crazy Dice, the online casino for dice lovers, with its full rules in each title's help screen.

Slot symbols: frequently asked questions