One of the most common slot game features is multiplier symbols, which boost a single winning spin if you land on one. These games are particularly popular at the best online casino sites in South Africa, Europe, and the States. If a slot does have multiplier features, you can almost guarantee you will land on one, but landing on one doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily win.
Below, we’ll look at how multiplier symbols can combine to boost a single winning slot spin and why it’s not always guaranteed.
What Combining Multiplier Symbols Can Look Like on Slots
Multiplier symbols are easy to see. You’ll see everything from a simple 2x or 5x symbol to bombs, coins, or special symbols designed around the game’s theme. They usually all increase the value of a winning combination. Some slot games also let multiple multiplier symbols land in the same spin rather than limiting you to one.
Pragmatic Play’s Gates of Olympus Super Scatter is a good example. Multiplier symbols worth up to 500x can land during the base game and free spins. When more than one appears on a winning spin, their values add together and apply to the total win.
Sweet Bonanza works similarly. That said, its original version uses multiplier symbols during free spins. The candy bomb multipliers range from 2x to 100x, and multiple symbols can combine during a tumbling sequence.
You’ll also see multipliers build up throughout bonus rounds.
How Multiplier Symbols Can Boost a Single Winning Slot Spin
As an example, if you’ve landed a winning combination worth $2, and two multiplier symbols appear during that spin:
- First multiplier: 2x
- Second multiplier: 5x
- Combined multiplier: 7x
- Total payout: $2 × 7 = $14
And that example is assuming you’re playing a slot that adds the values together. It doesn’t mean you’re multiplying 2x by 5x to get 10x. Some games use different mechanics, so you should always check how the specific slot applies its multipliers.
With cascading reels, winning symbols disappear to reveal new symbols, potentially creating another winning combination without placing another wager. More multiplier symbols can then appear.
In games that collect multipliers throughout the tumbling sequence, those multipliers can be combined before they’re applied to the total win from the sequence.
Some slots also use progressive multipliers during free spins, which is where a running multiplier increases as qualifying symbols appear. Instead of resetting after each spin, the multiplier can carry over and boost subsequent wins.
Remember that not all multiplier symbols work this way.
Do More Slot Multipliers Mean More Wins?
More multipliers can mean a bigger payout, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re more likely to win.
A multiplier doesn’t automatically create a winning combination. In most slots, you still need the required matching symbols or another qualifying result before the multiplier can increase anything.
So, you could land a 20x multiplier and win absolutely nothing if the game’s rules require a paying combination and you don’t have one.
That’s also why you shouldn’t confuse multipliers with return to player (RTP). RTP is the expected percentage of money wagered that a game returns over many spins. Multipliers are already built into the game’s mathematical model.
And just because you’ve played 20 spins without a multiplier doesn’t mean the next one will give you five of them. Each outcome follows the game’s established probability model, regardless of how long you’ve been playing.
