On mechanical reel slots, there is a physical limitation on how many symbols can fit on a reel. (Less obvious is the concept of a weighted reel, meaning some reel stops are more likely to occur than others, but that’s another topic for another article… like this one.)
A similar limitation doesn’t exist on video reel slots, so does it work similarly?
On an old school slot with reels, each reel has x number of symbols and blanks, half the stops are symbols and half are blanks. On the newer multi reel video slots, is there a set pattern like an old reel, or does each space have the ability to be any symbol? Does that make sense?
Andrew H.
It’s definitely more complex, and different video reel slots can have different features.
First off, the basic construct isn’t much different – there’s some sort of reel strip of some height that exists for each reel. But some slots can randomly select between reel sets. Other slots have the concept of a mystery symbol that can be added to the reels randomly at the start of a spin.
So there’s definitely more dynamic things going on that allow for some of the variations we see on slots nowadays. But the basic idea is still there that some symbols are more prevalent than others, there’s a finite amount of combinations (that’s how a payback percentage can be established that guarantees a win for the casino over time), and so on.
And it can sometimes get interesting even within the concept of skinning. When Aristocrat Gaming was working on their NFL slots, it took time to walk regulators through the concept of players being able to pick a skin based on their favorite team.
Even though everything else was the same – pay table structure and so on – the fact that a single symbol could have 32 variations, depending on which theme was active, was pretty navel and took time to navigate. And that’s not even functionality that changes how the reel strips work, just how they look.
But ultimately, longer reel strips are possible. Mystery symbols are possible. A single bet level having multiple reel strips is possible. Taking out the physical limitation allows for a lot more creativity, which means there’s less absolutes and more flexibility, at least in terms of what’s allowed by regulation.
You don’t tend to see blank reel stops on modern video slots because they don’t need those to create losing spins. Over time, the diversity of pay table symbol counts has allowed for more dynamite options as well.
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