This article about free spins is part of a series of beginners guides to slot machines which should answer most of the questions posed by those new to world of online slots.  Although these games look relatively simple from the outside, it can be helpful to have each aspect explained in a simple way.

So this guide is all about free spins; each modern five reel slot machine will feature what we call Bonus Games, extra aspects to the game which are usually triggered by landing three or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels or occasionally by landing other symbols of the game’s choosing.

Of course there are a variety of different bonus games available but we’re talking about free spins here and a common prize for triggering the bonus is to receive a number of the aforementioned spins.  You may for example receive ten free spins and they will cost you nothing; they may of course prove very valuable and that value can be increased if multipliers are included as they often are.  Ten free spins with a 4x multiplier on any wins suddenly looks pretty good.

Free spins can also be linked into other bonus games and we’ll use Rapunzel’s Tower as an example of how this can work.  In this slot three or more Tower symbols will trigger the free spins but during the free spins round you can work your way up Rapunzel’s hair and to the top of the tower by landing wild symbols along the way.  Check the video below and you can see how extra free spins are allocated as you reach various points up the tower.

There’s another type of free spin which is probably worth mentioning and these are collapsing reels.  To us they’re almost as good as a free spin and they work as follows – if a winning combo is formed on a payline, those symbols will disappear/dissolve/collapse in some manner, allowing new symbols to fall into their place and possibly create new lines.  It’s not quite a free spin but it’s close enough.  Have a look at our Elements The Awakening review to read more about collapsing reels.