Video Slot Machine Bonus Games

Video slot machines have the advantage of having more features than traditional slots. Most notable of these are the bonus games. A bonus game is an extra game that you can activate while playing the actual slot machine game. While there are countless types of slot games, there are only a few kinds of bonus games. Let us look at them now.

Video Slot Machine Bonus Game Types

First a word on the bonus game screen in video slot machines. Some bonus games take place right on the slot reels. You never leave the original playing scene to play the extra game. With other bonus games, however, a new screen will appear. You will play the extra game there and exit back to the reels when it is over. This latter type of bonus game plays like a computer video game.

Bonus Games on the Reels

What bonus games do we get on the slot reels? Well, the most common bonus is a free spin. A free spin is one that you can make without inserting credits. This bonus "game" is very commonplace; it is offered by over half of today's video slots. You can usually get a free spin (or more) by hitting the scatter symbol in a certain way. Wins using these spins may be multiplied.

A really cool bonus game in video slot machines is the one with a "hold" feature like you see in old British fruit machines. With the hold feature, you can freeze whichever reel you choose and let the rest spin. The hold feature often gives you a chance to hit another bonus game or a special jackpot prize.

There are many other bonus games on the reels, such as wild cards. Wild cards can stay for in effect for one or more spins thus giving you a better shot at winning spins. You may also see symbols that change at random, wild symbols that occupy an entire reel or row, and so on.

Bonus Games Off the Reels

With bonus games that run in a separate screen, there is technically no limit to the varieties possible. But knowing that slot players do not like complicated games, their programmers have made them simple.

A common bonus game off the reels involves picking a symbol or box to see what it contains. For instance, you may pick a pyramid block to blast and whatever is inside is your prize (i.e. you get more credits depending on the value of the item). A certain event will trigger the end of the bonus game, for instance if you hit landmine, a building collapses and so on. You keep whatever you won in the bonus game. Bonus games can also offer free spins, wild multipliers, cascade and other on-the-reel bonuses. All these make video slot machines quite fun to play.