What Are The New Slots Features Available in 2014

August 21, 2014

It's 2014, and that means that online slots have had nearly 20 years to slowly evolve into what we have available now. The key features of an online slot and the bonus rounds that they offer have always been big selling points, and those particular bonus features have been one of the main things that have evolved the most since the basic structure of games tends to stay the same. We're going to show you some features that are on the cutting edge now in 2014 to give you an idea of where the industry has come to and where it might end up in the future.

The 243-ways format is being used a lot in new releases these days, and it provides a good bit more action than traditional payline formats. Microgaming in particular is known for using this format a lot, and so it's fitting that they have come up with a special feature that relies on this all-ways structure. In some of their newest games, their free spins bonus round has an extra row of symbols added to the reels, but the game remains all-ways. This means that you go from having 243 ways to win to having 1,024 ways to win which is an interesting change.

Re-spin features have been used a lot by Net Entertainment, and they have a new variation of this feature that they have used in recent new releases of their own. A random reel or row is selected before you start your spin, and if a wild symbol shows up on that horizontal or vertical line, you get a re-spin with that symbol held static. You can get even more wilds to get several re-spins one after another, and this is an exciting way to add value to a game.

Another popular feature NetEnt and BetSoft have been using is based on multipliers and winning streaks. Suppose there are four levels of multipliers: 1x, 2x, 3x and 5x. You start out at the 1x level, and after a winning combination, the next spin is bumped up to the 2x level. Get another win in a row, and you get bumped up again, etc. If you have a spin with no wins, you get dropped back down to the 1x level to start the series over. This provides bigger wins with winning streaks than you would normally get, and it's a pretty cool way to give bonus payouts since they're relatively easy to hit.

Top of Page