Online slots are games of chance that offer players a variety of gameplay mechanics and slot themes designed to entertain while appealing to different tastes.
But regardless of what online slot game features or themes players prefer, all online slots offer potential prizes that can be won when the player meets the right conditions, including landing a paying combination of symbols on one of the game’s paylines.
Players who aren’t familiar with paylines can read on to learn more about them and how they work.
What Are Paylines in Slots?
A slot payline is simply the “invisible” line or pattern across slot reels that symbol combinations must land on in order to constitute a win. These paylines come in many patterns, offering the player different ways to win. These include standard horizontal paylines that consist of three to five matching symbols, clusters of symbols, or the total number of symbols scattered across the reels.
For example, here is how a classic online slot 3×3 reel with a single horizontal payline across the center row of the reels would work:
- The player spins the reels of this retro-style slot that requires three matching symbols to trigger a win.
- If the player lands three matching symbols across the top horizontal row, they won’t receive a payout, even if the correct matching symbols appear.
- If the player lands three matching symbols across the bottom row, they won’t receive a payout, regardless of whether the symbols are matching or not.
- To win, the player must land three symbols horizontally across the middle horizontal reels on the game’s payline.
Types of Paylines
Just like there are many types of online slots, there are many types of slot paylines that could affect the odds of a slot paying out. In most slot games, the paylines are outlined in the game’s paytable. To better understand how paylines work, here is a closer look at the most common paylines that appear in online slots.
Single Payline
Classic online slots with a 3×3 reel format or alternative online slots with a 3×1 reel format keep things simple by providing the player with a single payline. In 3×3 reel slots, this payline is typically horizontally across the center row. In alternative slots that simplify these games of chance even further, the player only has one row to keep track of, making this type of online slot even easier to play.
Multiple Paylines
Many online slots have a 5×3 reel format with multiple paylines. This means that paylines can appear horizontally across all of the reels, or in zigzag patterns. All of this depends on how many paylines the developer wants to offer in their online slot.
All Ways Paylines
While online slots can have multiple paylines, they still have specific criteria regarding how they work. The most notable of these criteria is that matching combinations of symbols must start from the first reel on the left to count as wins. This means that if players land the right number of matching symbols from any of the other reels, these combinations won’t pay out.
However, there is a category of paylines that does offer additional win opportunities, even if it doesn’t cover all positions on the reels. These are All Ways online slots. These are slots that offer payouts from the first reel on the right as well as from the first reel on the left, increasing the ways the player can win.
Fixed vs. Adjustable Paylines
Game developers can also design their game around two other types of paylines: fixed and adjustable paylines.
Fixed paylines simply means that the number of paylines on the reels doesn’t change with the size of the player’s bet. For example, a game with fixed 243 paylines will have 243 paylines regardless of whether the player places the minimum or maximum wager.
Adjustable paylines work slightly differently. If a game has adjustable paylines, this means that the number of paylines changes with the size of the player’s bet. For example, a game might have 30 paylines if the player places the maximum bet, but only six paylines if they place the minimum bet.
Megaways
Megaways is a unique game mechanic that was developed by the slot developer Big Time Gaming. Each time the player spins the reels of a Megaways slot, the number of symbols that can appear will change. Each spin could reveal as few as two or as many as seven symbols on a reel column. This means that each Megaways slot with a standard 6×5 reel setup could offer up to 177,649 ways to win each time the player spins the reels.
Cluster Pays
Cluster Pays is another unique game mechanic, but this change to the slot reel formula was created by slot developer NetEnt. Cluster Pays works by offering the player rewards for landing groups of matching symbols in clusters, instead of along paylines. Depending on the slot, players must land a minimum number of symbols in groups where symbols are touching at least one other symbol either vertically or horizontally.
Total Symbols
Some online slots do away with paylines entirely, instead opting to reward players for landing a minimum number of matching symbols anywhere on the reels. Games that offer this mechanic often require many more symbols to offer a payout, but the payout conditions for these types of games can be much easier to remember than games with strict payline requirements.
A Closer Look at Payline Systems in Different Online Slots
Players who want to learn more about the different payline systems of online slots can read more about the game mechanics of each game by accessing the online slot’s help files. These are typically accessible through the game’s menu, a help button, or an information button.
These help files will provide a breakdown of the game’s mechanics, including the paytables, slot features, the return to player (RTP), and how the payline system works.
For example, a help page will display all of the different payline patterns and any other information about how the paylines work, such as whether they pay from the first reel on the left or if winning combinations can also start from the first reel on the right.
Examples of Online Slots With Different Payline Mechanics
To get a better idea of how these different payline mechanics work, here are a few online slots with different payline systems:
