When playing online slot games, you may see that certain symbols trigger bonus features or perform different actions. One of these symbols is the wild and what we will be looking in-depth here.
The Wild is one of the common symbols in a slot machine, and at it’s most basic it can be used in substitution for any other symbol, creating a winning combination on one or more paylines.
However, there is not just one type of wilds in your gameplay. Casino developers have introduced lots of different types of wild icons and combinations.
We take a look at the most popular wild slot features, how they work, and where you might find them.
Stacked Wilds and Wild Reels
Stacked wilds and wild reels are two different things but related close enough to give you almost the same effect.
Stacked wilds are present when the symbols appear on top of one another, forming an entire section of wilds on a reel. They can cover a whole reel if they are stacked 3 symbols high or more, or they cover part of the reel.
A wild reel, on the other hand, is when a whole reel turns wild and generally stays wild for one or more spins. In both cases, you are hoping for a stack of symbols on one or more of the other reels in the game.
These symbols can considerably enhance winning chances in slot games as that’s a minimum of 3 wilds symbols within 15 symbols (when talking about a 5×3 reel video slot machine).
In some games, stacked wilds can also stack horizontally across the reels, as well as vertically across a single reel. And of course, it’s beneficial to players as you will have additional chances of hitting a winning combination across several reels when they land.
They are often the most liked symbols as they initiate the players to earn higher payouts and rewards.
The best slot game with wild reels
There are lots of games we could put on this list, from new slot releases to old classics, because it’s one of the easiest ways to the humble wild more exciting.
But we choose the Tombstone slot because not only does it have wilds that come stacked 3 high, but if they don’t fully land on the reel they will ‘nudge’ to always cover the reel – so it also counts as a wild reel slot game.
Plus, just to add a little extra zing, for every nudge, the wild will get increase its multiplier from 1x up to 3x. It also happens to have sticky wilds in the free spin bonus game, which takes us nicely to the next feature.
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Sticky Wilds
Sticky wilds are like standard wilds, but they remain on the screen during the next spin or succeeding spins. They will hold their position on the screen and tend to have their own settings depending upon the specific game you are playing.
As they remain on the screen throughout multiple spins, these wilds can quickly stack up during sticky wild play – allowing players to achieve big wins. They are a common feature of bonus rounds but are rarely seen in regular play.
The best slot with sticky wilds:
We can’t mention sticky wild slots without mentioning the iconic Dead or Alive game by NetEnt.
But for our money, we think you should go straight and read our Dead or Alive 2 slot review to find out why the sequel is better than the original.
In short, you get to play the first game (9 payline, big paytables, sticky wilds in the free spins), but you get to choose from a further 2 bonus features when you hit 3 scatters.
It’s a no brainer.
Expanding Wilds
This variant of wild is very similar to a wild reel, and maybe they should be in the same category as the wild reel. As we said, there are a lot of overlaps, especially with a symbol that essentially does the same thing – replaces another symbol to create a win.
An Expanding Wilds symbol substitutes for any other standard symbol on the reels, whilst expanding across the length of a reel, making every symbol on that particular reel a wild symbol in the process.
With these expanding wilds available throughout the gameplay, the number of winning combinations dramatically increases making for a much more exciting game.
The best slot with expanding wilds:
We are going to put down the Guns n Roses slot here because the expanding wild comes as standard in the base game.
And considering this is a post about the wild symbol, no other mobile phone slot game has as many different types of wild symbols, so it’s a good game to learn all about the wilds.
Of course, we can’t mention expanding wild slots without giving the Starburst slot review a little nudge, because it’s probably more famous than Guns n Roses… but we prefer to rock out to some awesome rock n roll. What can we say?
Overlay Wilds
These wilds stack up in a particular shape and replace varied icons, normally appearing at the end of a spin. They cannot be placed on top of a regular wild but can be used to create shapes rather than a line of wilds.
These wilds can also easily help players activate the exciting bonus features offered in online slot games and is a little more difficult to pin down.
Sometimes they come as a cross, in an l-shape, or in a cluster of wilds. It’s a versatile wild slot feature.
The best slot with overlay wilds:
A little known slot game by Yggdrasil is the Incinerator game, which on each successive wins, could win you a whole different set of wild patterns to show up on screen and give you multiple wins over 20 paylines.
But for a simpler game that helps give you an idea of how overlay wilds can work, we would probably tell you to read the Go Bananas phone slot review.
With a low minimum bet of 0.20 a spin, you only have one feature: any of the 5 monkeys can show up and give you Overlay Wilds. They can come in the pattern of an X, they can cover the whole reel, they can give you 3 wild symbols in a row, and more.
Wilds with multipliers
We can’t have slots with wild symbols list without mentioning the most obvious and the most classic thing that game providers have done with this symbol.
Which is to just add a multiplier. Sometimes these wilds can add each other (so two wilds with a 3x multiplier, would give you a x6 multiplier) or they can multiply each other (so two wilds with a 3x multiplier would give you a x9 multiplier).
Mostly though, you just get a multiplier when you use the wild to create a win. It’s not complicated and can be found across hundreds of mobile casino games.
The best slot with wild multipliers
As we said, there are hundreds of games online to pick from. You could probably choose a video slot at random and you have a 50/50 chance of finding a multiplier on the wild symbol whether in the base game or in the bonus games.
But we like to showcase games that maybe you haven’t played, or that give you the easiest way to understanding the feature.
So, in this case, we are going to give the original Thunderstruck Microgaming game two thumbs up. It’s a little old fashioned, the graphics are a little dated, but the paytable is sound, the mechanics are fun, and you get a 2x multiplier on the wild at all time.
Walking Wild symbols
Of all the wilds features, this has to be one of our favourites which is why we saved it till last.
A walking wild is when the wild symbol will then ‘walk’ from one spot of the reel to another spot until it eventually falls off from the side of the reels or the bottom of the rows.
Mostly, if a walking wild slot is really good, you get free re-spins of the reels for as long as the wilds are walking around. So not only do you get wilds roaming around, but you get free spins.
The best walking wild slot games
We can’t mention walking wilds without talking about NetEnt’s Jack and the Beanstalk slot, which has walking wilds in the base game, and even stacked walking wilds in the free spin bonus.
But if you are reading this looking for UK casino slot games, you probably won’t see it advertised anywhere because the UK Gambling commission frowns on games that look like they may target children.
So don’t worry. NetEnt has made an exact copy that is a little darker, but just as much fun, in their Halloween Jack slot machine.
Choose one, or the other, we promise you’ll love walking wilds as much as we do by the end of it.
Summary
Wild symbols are the most sought symbol while playing the online slots as they can substitute the majority of other game symbols on the reel. They are potentially the most helpful symbols around and are highly valued by all – especially the avid slot players at Lucky Mobile Slots.
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