Twenty-line slots are (perhaps after twenty-five and thirty-line slots) amongst the most common slot games you can find online. For years, developers such as NetEnt and Playtech specifically focused on the 20-line slot machine, while many of their counterparts explored what they could do with five or ten more lines.
Fast forward to the modern-day, and there has been no fallback in the popularity level of twenty-line slots. They have continued to remain popular with players at online casinos worldwide, and almost every slot developer – from the goliaths of the industry to the fledgeling providers – regularly churn out new ones. One of the main reasons for this is that the format “just works”. Let us find out what that means below.
The key thing about 20 ways to win slots is that they are something of a goldilocks game. There are not too many paylines, so you are bet will never be extortionate. There are not too few, so you will not struggle to land winning combos on the reels. Yes, you guessed it – there are just enough paylines to promote top wins at a reasonable stake. Moreover, the wagering ranges in these games will often suffice for low rollers and high rollers alike.
Slots with twenty paylines contain a mixture of horizontal, diagonal, and crisscrossing paylines, and the number available means that it is rare that you will get three or more identical symbols on three adjacent reels and not win. This naturally means that many twenty-line slots are medium to low variance on the volatility scale by default. It takes deliberate interference and tweaking from a software provider to make them highly volatile.
On top of this, many older twenty-line slots have adjustable paylines. This allows you to wager with fewer than that. You may be able to play with batches of five lines (5, 10, 15, 20) or have full control over those lines. This allows players to customise their playing appearance for tailor-made bets that work with their budget.