5 Reel Slots

How to Play and Win 5 Reel Slots

While 5 reel slots are a perfect upgrade of the once-famous 3 reel slots, the functionality between the two is similar in many ways. The only difference will be that the former comes with sophisticated features and better payouts. As a consequence, they are preferred by players who wish to have a more entertaining experience with special symbols, features, more paylines, and better payouts. To play, a player only needs to go through the paytable (the first rule of the thumb) to check every detail before making a real deposit.

The paytable will provide vital information about the slot including the symbols and the value they carry, the bet size (minimum bet per line and maximum bet per line), number of paylines, and the features on the game including how to trigger them. On your next stop on the 5 reel slots, ensure this is the first stop since video slots can be challenging for beginners especially with the jam-packed aspects.

Do you need five matching symbols on a pay line to win? This is where video slots serve it differently. For starters, video slots do not require 5 same-kind symbols to land for a payout to be activated. Instead, players can land on at least three (3) identical symbols on the active pay line to have a payout triggered. However, they will work on the mantra – the more the same-kind symbols land, the bigger the payout. This means that 5 same-kind symbols will signify the biggest payout.

History of 5 Wheel Slots

The video slots’ journey traces back to the late 19th century. While the three-reel slots started in the 18th century, the improved popularity complemented with technological and global advancements led to the development of video slots. A player needed to pull a lever in the past but in 1976, a milestone was marked with the first video slot launched. This slot was referred to as the Fortune Coin and was launched by the Fortune Coin Company in collaboration with The Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. While the video slot was a 4-reel slot with three paylines, it ushered in a new era that would oversee the development of five-wheel slots in the 90s.

What made the five-wheel slots prominent was the use of small video screens that replaced the use of drums on the traditional slots. However, despite going digital, many players were not confident with the results since they would not see the reels spinning. This called for improvement and by the 90s, most improvements had been done with graphics improved that would bring the illusion of reels spinning. They would go on to become popular with many software providers gaining entry into the scene. In 1996, for example, the Reel Em slot was released by WMS Industries Inc. and was unique for featuring a second screen bonus round. This would see another screen displayed whenever one played a bonus game. 

It was still in the mid-90s that the development of online casinos started thanks to the boom of the internet. Various games were emerging on these platforms including 5 reel slots that had computer programming and complexity that allowed different themes, advanced features, multiple paylines, and ultimately, better payouts. Today, over 100 software providers are now in place and hundreds of five reel slots are being released yearly. This has also included the launch of 5-reel jackpot slots that provide gargantuan payouts when the right combinations are hit.

Top software developers in the 5 reel slots world include NetEnt, Microgaming, Pragmatic Play, Play’n Go, BetSoft, WMS, Playtech, NextGen Gaming, Aristocrat Gaming, and Realistic Games.

Common Features

The popularity of online 5 reel slots partly goes down to the advanced and sophisticated features players will come across. While there is a similarity in some of these features as seen on the 3 reel slots, others are exclusively designed for 5 reel slots and slots with higher reels. Below are some of the common features:

• Wild Symbol – The symbol will substitute the other standard symbols to help constitute a winning combination. However, wilds will not substitute bonus symbols and scatters in the majority of the slots. 5 reel slots step a notch higher to provide different wild variants including sticky wilds, stacked wilds, expanding wilds, giant wilds, and multiplier wilds.
• Scatter Symbol – The symbol gives the guarantee of a reward once it lands on the reels. Landing on three of them or more will trigger free spins in most cases.
• Free Spins – Free spins can be activated after landing on specific symbols. However, most online 5 reel slots require a player to land on 3+ scatters to activate them. Activating 20 free spins, for example, allows a player to spin the slot 20 times at no cost. A point to note is that the spin value will be equal to the last bet that triggered the free spins.
• Sticky Symbols – The symbols can either be standard symbols or wilds that ‘stick’ on the reels allowing one or more spins to be taken and increase the odds of forming a winning 5-reel slot machine pay line.
• Cascading Reels – Also called avalanches or rolling reels. Once a winning combination is formed, the symbols disappear and more drop from the top to fill the spaces left. This provides multiple chances of forming winning combinations.
• Megaways – This is a feature that has the reels modified to change the number of symbols appearing after every spin. This goes ahead to offer hundreds or thousands of ways of winning in comparison to the traditional slots.
• Multipliers – The feature might be activated on the pay line to boost the returns a player gets on a slot. Some slots may have multipliers going up to 1000x.
• Bonus Games – Special bonus symbols unlock bonus games that will be played on separate reels and are easy-to-play games generally. One of the popular ones includes the ‘pick-to-win’ game that allows players to choose several items with prizes guaranteed.

Tips for Choosing 5 Wheel Slots

While every slot game is based on luck, some strategies and tips can be used while choosing the best free five wheel slots including to get the best out of them:

1. Look for High RTP slots – The golden rule of slot gambling is playing on slots with a high payout percentage. This means the house edge is lower and a player looks to benefit better. Look for slots with an RTP of 95%+.
2. Enjoy Demo Mode first – Before proceeding to use real money while gambling, try the slot in demo mode where you risk no real money. This is beneficial to understand the slot one is playing better.
3. Max Bet – To win the biggest payouts, you must bet maximum coins on every pay line the slot provides. This increases the chances of forming winning combos on active paylines and increases the chances of grabbing top prizes. 
4. Set a Budget – The best tip with gambling is to set a budget that you intend to use. Once the budget is over, you are advised to stop and don’t look to chase losses.
5. Play Slots with Multiple Paylines – Choose 5 reel slots with multiple paylines. Multiple paylines signify sizeable payouts. Most 5 reel slots have paylines going up to 50. However, some go above hundreds and thousands.

The Benefit of 5 Reel Slots

What makes 5-reel slot games better? Here are the benefits associated with them:

• Extra Reels – With two extra reels from 3 reel slots, players can expect more symbols, more bonus features, more paylines that all point to more chances of winning and better payouts in the long run.
• Entertaining – 5-reel slot games come with added aspects including interesting storylines, diverse themes, captivating graphics and soundtracks, and sophisticated features including cascading reels, megaways, among others.
• Widely popular – Most online slots available at the casinos all fall into the video slots category making them easily accessible and convenient to many.
• Instant play – Most of the 5 reel slots are offered in instant play mode thus players are not tasked with downloading them to play.
• Can be played by all players – Whether one is a beginner or experienced, finding a slot that is designed for them is easy. The same applies to low-stake players and high-stake players.