Regular slots fans will know and love many of the new features that modern games offer. Gone are the days when we pulled a lever and had to line up a couple of the same fruit or bar symbols on the single payline.
Now, just as console and PC games use hi-tech software to add multiple layers of visually stunning gameplay, slots have become feature-rich, too.
Slots now have bonus rounds of free spins or pick-a-prize games. Some feature a “Wheel of Fortune” style prize mechanic. Then Big Time Gaming came up with the brilliant Megaways mechanic, where random numbers of symbols could fall on a reel. You no longer had fixed paylines but instead just had to have the same symbol anywhere on successive reels - a structure that allows up to an amazing 117,649 ways to win on any given spin.
All the Megaways games and just about every other slot always need you to land the same symbol on success reels, starting with the first on the left, then the second left and so on. It`s a feature of slots that everyone has become used to since the first games appeared in bars and casinos, and then at online casinos.
Now, however, a growing number of slot games are also allowing right to left slot wins. So, as well as landing from left to right, you can also win with successive symbols on the reels, starting on the right, and moving one to the left each time.
This mechanic adds new ways to win and keeps each spin of the reels interesting to the end. Where before if the second reel matched nothing from the first, you knew your luck was out. But now your interest remains until the last reel stops.
Search any online casino for games with right to left slots wins; there are growing numbers around, but one game has made it extremely well known.
Starburst Win Both Ways
The most popular online slot for the last nine years has been NetEnt`s epic Starburst game. Visually simple yet appealing, and with soft, melodic sound effects, it`s not just the look and feel of the slot that appealed; it was the first mainstream online slot game to use the win both ways mechanic.
There may only be ten winning paylines on this five-reel, three-row production, which is set in another galaxy. But as players soon found out after the slot first launched in 2012, when you can win in either direction, the ten paylines was plenty.
Throw in the wild symbols on reels two, three, and four, which can expand to fill all positions on the reel, and your winning chances increase even more and can trigger re-spin bonuses.
Being able to win from right to left and left to right does mean more frequent payouts, but as you might expect, those payouts are not necessarily that high. This is fine for most recreational players, as it makes Starburst a low volatility slot, meaning you will have similar results across multiple sessions. In contrast, high volatility games might see you have wild swings, which is not appealing to most.
Siberian Storm Right to Left Wins
The popularity of Starburst`s win both ways mechanic was not lost on another big slot game developer, IGT. It has followed suit with several games using the win both ways feature. One of the better known of those is Siberian Storm.
In this game, there is also an innovation with the reels. There are six of them, but they have different numbers of rows, with the slot laid out in a 3-4-5-4-3 row format. In this game, there are no set paylines; you just need to land the same symbol anywhere on successive reels - from right to left, as well as left to right.
Siberian Storm is set in the frozen wilds of Siberia (although you read more nowadays about Siberian wildfires). Players enjoy the format so much that IGT has used the same mechanics for its Thundering Buffalo slot. But instead of just calling it win both ways, the developer has put its own description, calling it the MultiWay Xtra feature.
Other Win Both Ways Slots
While Starburst and Siberian Storm are perhaps the best-known of the win both ways slots, there are plenty more if you look around the online casino platforms. Others you might find include Dragon Island from NetEnt, Playtech`s Highway Kings, or Crazy Chameleons from Microgaming (a game that is also visually appealing with tongue-in-cheek gameplay).
