Casino customers may love an amazing welcome bonus, but they also love a bonus round. No game is better for a bonus round at the casino than slots.
The primary incentive for including bonus rounds in slot machines is to attract players and encourage them to spend more. Additionally, these bonus rounds add excitement to otherwise mundane gameplay, as many slot machines, especially low volatility slots, can have repetitive gameplay. Bonus rounds benefit customer retention levels.
But as fun as bonus rounds may be, they do have a purpose: to increase winning potential. Bonus rounds are usually awarded to customers when a combination of symbols is matched. Although how bonus rounds are triggered can differ on the slot.
From 3 pot bonus rounds to progressive multipliers, here are the 5 most popular slot bonus rounds, according to us here at Fruity Slots, in no particular order!
1: Free Spins
Free spins are a fundamental part of no-wagering bonuses in casinos, but they are also common bonus rounds in slots. To activate free spins in slot machines, players usually have to activate all paylines. Players do this by landing the correct scatter or bonus symbols, triggering the opportunity for more free fun.
Often, free spins rounds will display the same symbols as the normal game, and will give you a set number of chances to win more. Alternatively, sometimes players will be taken to a new screen during free spin rounds.
Free spins are popular in slot bonus rounds because they have simple mechanics, but double the fun. The popularity of free spins rounds never dwindles because they let players spin without using their bankroll, so the opportunities to win increase. If that wasn’t enough, free spins bonus rounds do tend to have added features in them, like sticky wilds or progressive multipliers. But more about those later!
If you want to know where you can score some free spins bonus rounds, look no further than these slots.
2: Progressive Multipliers
One of the most popular bonus rounds you’ll find in slot machines is progressive multipliers. Progressive multipliers are a bonus that increases by a specific amount with each spin. These slots are particularly popular in online casinos and offer high winning potential with each spin, because one spin can trigger the next level of the multiplier.
The biggest reason that these slots are popular is that they offer opportunities for massive payouts. Even if players have to play for a while to get them (hence the term progressive), the gameplay feels worth it, because the chances of obtaining a larger reward keep players invested in the game.
Examples of some slots with progressive multiplier rounds are listed below.
3: 3 Pot Bonus
You’ve heard of potluck, but have you heard of 3-pot bonus rounds?
You may be scratching your head thinking, ‘what are you talking about’, so allow us to enlighten you.
These rounds are called a 3-pot bonus or pick a pot. This bonus is triggered by landing three bonus symbols, and one of them is usually the pot of gold symbol. Once you’ve done this, you will enter the bonus round, where you will be presented with three style pots.
Each one corresponds to a different bonus, and from there, players can win rewards such as free spins, multipliers, and sometimes, cash, depending on the game. Three pot rounds are popular because they make players feel like they have autonomy in their game, as they get to pick which pot they want.
Additionally, these features can be aesthetically pleasing for gamers as they have detailed symbols and animations in the bonus round once the player decides which pot they want.
Wanting to try your luck at finding your pot of fortune? Check out these slots with 3 pot rounds for pot-ential big wins.
4: DoubleMax And DuoMax
Less well-known than the other bonus rounds on this list, but they are very powerful! These game mechanics are unique multipliers implemented into slot games and into their bonus rounds. DoubleMax is a prominent feature in Yggdrasil slot games, but they are common in other games.
In summary, DoubleMax multipliers activate when players land consecutive wins, and the wins continuously increase the multiplier. Meanwhile, DuoMax multipliers are very similar to DoubleMaxes, but involve two multiplier paths for players that unlock with consecutive wins.
However, these do vary per game, so proceed with caution when playing.
We here at Fruity Slots have plenty of Doubke and DuoMax slots on offer. Take a peek!
5: X Mechanics
Again, another slot mechanic that has become popular in the world of bonus rounds. XMechanics by Nolimit City have become popular in slot games and were designed primarily to make gameplay more exciting and dynamic.
Many of the XMechanics are featured in the base games and are triggered in bonus rounds.
Popular X Mechanics in bonus rounds include:
- X Hole – is essentially a black hole on the slot reels. It appears and sucks up the visible symbols and regurgitates them to then produce random combinations. Winning combinations are kept and multiplied, and non-winning ones are shuffled and spit out. Essentially, wins can be added onto existing wins. They can be triggered during bonuses as well.
- X God – Feel like someone’s watching? It might be X God. This feature is triggered randomly to payout the maximum win possible in the slot. X God can become present in a bonus round, which means players don’t even need to work to receive the max payout – they just need to be lucky!
- X Bomb – Another visual mechanic, X Bomb is what you think – a computerised bomb that can ‘explode’ onto the reels in the slot. Also in this mechanic, there is the X Bomb Wild, which replaces all of the symbols – other than the bonus ones. Removing the old symbols allows new symbols to drop, which can impact the bonus rounds. As the explosion increases the bonus multiplier, this mechanic is popular in bonus rounds because it can increase winning amounts in them.
Since we have listed Nolimit City as the producer of these games, we don’t feel it is necessary to list all of their slots. Check out our most recent reviews below of some of their titles, and visit our providers page to find the rest of them!
Bonus Rounds: Summarised
Bonus rounds are a huge incentive in slots.
Whether players are there for the money or the new gameplay, bonus rounds always have something for every player.
The type of bonus rounds in a slot game will vary depending on its mechanics, but most games will feature at least some variation of the five bonus types we’ve discussed.