Wild Symbols: Slot Machines’ Secret Sauce

You know that one friend who always seems to save the day? In slots, that’s the wild symbol. Like a cheat code, it steps in to complete winning combos when other symbols fall short.

If you’ve ever wondered what wilds do and how they affect your gameplay, it’s your lucky day, as I’m here to walk you through the entire concept and even show you the best slots and top casinos where you can enjoy them.

How often have you come one symbol short of a big win and wished there was a way to save the round? Well, there is. It’s called the wild symbol, and it comes in like a hero to fill in for almost any regular symbol and complete a winning combo.

One bar short of a line win? The wild’s got you. Need a third lemon to hit that payout? The wild’s on it. The only thing these miracle workers won’t do is replace bonus or scatter symbols. This means they won’t help you trigger free spins or any other bonus rounds but will gladly work together with regular pay symbols.

Not all wilds are created equal. Some show up, do their job, and leave, while others stick around. Here’s a lineup of wild symbols you’ll likely encounter on your slot journey.

In one corner, we’ve got wilds, the team players who replace symbols to create wins. In the other are scatters, your keys to free spins and bonus rounds. You usually need just three or four to get the party started. Unlike wilds, they don’t need to land on a set payline to work their magic.

Multipliers don’t help you create winning combinations like wilds do, but they do multiply your wins by a set value. It could be as little as 2x or as high as 1,000x in some slots. Together, these three symbols are your VIP passes to free spins and jackpot-tier payouts.

The slots world is full of myths, and wilds are not spared. Some will tell you that these symbols are designed to tease you by appearing just after a losing spin, but that’s false. Slots use random number generators (RNGs) to ensure that wilds appear randomly.

You will also hear people say that more wilds equal a guaranteed win. Not exactly. Wilds still need to land on the right paylines with other regular symbols to generate a payout.

Now that you know all about these slot superheroes and the top slots they appear in, it’s time to present the best casinos where you can play and win big. Once again, I’ve done the hard work and curated a list of highly rated sites.