Slot Machines with Cascading Reels

These days, there are many great slot machine features, and they can appear in many different guises in modern games. What was once just a dream for many players is now a reality thanks to the implementation of cascading reels by a number of different software providers. With this feature, symbols now have the ability to essentially vanish while being replaced with new symbols, which gives players an incredible opportunity to increase their winnings on just about each and every spin.

How They Work

Cascading reels are reminiscent of internet games like Gemix and old classic video games like Tetris. When a symbol is part of a winning combination, you are paid out for the win then the symbols on the payline explode or disappear from the screen, allowing new symbols to drop into their place. This is an innovative take on basic symbols, and can boost winnings as the replacement symbols can generate further wins of their own. These work in place of traditional reels, and symbols fall from above to fill the reels. Any winning paylines are paid out, and then the winning icons disappear allowing new ones to drop in and take their place – potentially resulting in further wins.

Generally speaking, these types of features all follow the same general function. The icons are only replaced on the reels if they are used to complete a winning combination. If you had four matching symbols on one payline for example, you would be awarded with the corresponding payout for that winning combination and then the winning icons would be replaced with new icons, giving you a chance to win more money on the same spin.

Watch Cascading Reels in Action

The original slot machines generally only had one payline, so most winning combinations would consist of three-of-a-kind and would pay out accordingly. Modern games however can have up to seven reels and hundreds of paylines. Games developers are always coming up with new ways to improve the gaming experience and draw in new players, and different features are just one way that they’ve made games far more entertaining.

You can now find many variations of these features; including expanding wilds, sticky wilds, shifting wilds, and stacked wilds. Each of these performs in a different way to generate single or multiple wins, but all still follow the same basic principle of substituting for another symbol.

Playing Casino Games Online

With so many variations out there we recommend checking the pay table before you start playing a game, so you can see exactly how the features work and how they can help you win. The pay table is accessed by clicking the button at the bottom of a game screen, and it features details of all winning combinations, pay out levels, wild and scatter symbols, and jackpots. It will also tell you if there are any special features such as bonus rounds or cascading reels.

We’ve got a host of free online slots right here on this site if you’re itching to get playing and test out some games with cascading reels. If you feel ready to step up to the plate and take on the real money games, we have a comprehensive list of the best online casinos out there, as well as some of the best new customer offers going. But to help you dive right in, we've listed some of the best cacading slots below that you can play for free on our website with no downloads required.

Other Types of Symbols

Game developers have used increasingly complex video graphics to design their games, and features now come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Stacked wilds appear as though several wilds are stacked on top of each other and can cover an entire reel, generating several winning lines in one hit.

Sticky wilds stay in place on the reel for several spins at a time, awarding the player with multiple winning paylines. These are often used as part of a bonus game to increase winnings. Shifting wilds work in a similar way by staying on the screen, but they also shift one position every time the reels spin. They will carry on generating winning combinations on each spin until they eventually shift off of the reels.

Expanding wilds are often animated and once they land on a reel, they will expand to cover the whole reel, and can create several winning paylines, in a similar way to a stacked wild.