One of the ways some slots differentiate themselves is based on how the pay table structure is designed. Some have more symbols than others, and a player wondered if that had an impact:
I was wondering if anyone keeps track of how many different symbols there are on slot machines? Meaning, are there ones that have a lesser amount, therefore easier to get more matching symbols, thus more wins?
Zach
When we do our Game Spotlight write-ups on Flip The Switch, we often do reference the pay table symbol counts. This is because it can be an indicator of the slot’s overall volatility. Generally, less pay table symbols can be a sign a game is easier to get line hits on, which in part is a signal of lower volatility.
By comparison, games with a lot of pay table symbols, feature symbols, symbols that you need six to trigger a bonus, and so on can all get in the way of each other, making line hits harder to achieve, and increasing a game’s overall volatility by making any sort of win less achievable.
So that is sometimes a helpful area to review if you’re trying to get an idea of how tough a game is. But another aspect to the pay tables can illustrate this further.
Many slot machines leverage classic bars and 7s as pay table symbols. But some offer what’s called a “mixed pay” where others don’t. With a mixed pay, any sort of 7 symbol will pay in a line even if they’re not the exact same 7. Similarly, any sort of bar will pay in a line with mixed pays.
Games like Quick Hit offer mixed pays, so you are more likely to win something, even though mixed pays will pay less than three of the same symbols matching up. But on other games, like the Wicked Wheel series, the presence of two different 7s doesn’t lead to mixed pays – the same color has to line up to be paid.
So pay table information can sometimes help players get a sense of whether a game will be difficult, although that’s one of a number of factors that influence the overall volatility of a machine.
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