Free games are somewhat ubiquitous as a bonus type on slot machines, but players will notice a variety of ways it’s approached. Here’s an example of an observation many players may recognize:
Why are some bonus retriggers only 3 more free games and some reset to 6 more? How does that affect return to player (RTP) performance?
Joann F.
The structure of this question reads like a Lightning/Dragon Link series game question, but we’ll also address it on a broader level. When you play these games, some give you more free spins on a retrigger than others.
First off, bonus design doesn’t really impact the return to player, or RTP, of a slot. How much is awarded in a bonus, and how that bonus structure awards it, can be tweaked in various ways and still achieve the intended long term payback of a slot.
Instead, less spins may indicate a difference in bonus volatility. If you presume all the Dragon Link games are designed with a similar RTP (and are set to that on a specific casino floor), then the question becomes what do less spins mean? And that means that they have higher potential to deliver value, so you get less chances at it.
But less chances also means you may not have anything come out in time, leaving just the bonus trigger as your prize. So if you’re a more risk averse gambler, you might want more spins to make something happen, even if the average win on those spins is reduced to make up for that runway.
This is the Dancing Drums bonus choice to a T. 15 free games with a shorter reel set means lower potential for anything massive, but a lot more spins to get something to land. By comparison, Three really tall spins means a lot more room on the reels to line things up in a major way, but you only have three spins to get it.
The other thing to consider is the chances of retriggering 3 spins may differ from 6 spins within the bonus, so the 3 spin retrigger may come out more often. Think of the Lightning Link themes Magic Pearl and High Stakes, where you get the giant middle reel, and landing a bonus symbol there gets you three more games.
That bonus symbol comes up pretty frequently, especially compared to the ability to retrigger on some of the other bonuses. That’s probably in part because you’re getting less spins, an the volatility of the bonus.
So ultimately you won’t make less or more in the long run simply because one bonus gives you six more games and another gives you three for that retrigger. But it may give you a clue as to whether one free games bonus is a bit tougher than another.
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