Cascading reels refers to a type of video slot machine which have become extremely popular with both online gamers and casino players as they offer up multiple chances to win when compared to older style slot machines which featured only one payline. They are particularly popular because they allow the traditional symbols to be replaced with different ones which can signal a bonus round or game, all of which allows players to add to their winnings.
Cascading reels work differently to traditional slot machines and have more in common with retro video games such as Tetris. If a winning combination of symbols appears on the screen, cascading reels slots have the software to allow for video animation. This animation can make the symbols completely disappear which means new symbols then drop into view, replacing the old ones.
By having completely new symbols to play with, players get much more opportunities to add to their winnings. Particularly when you consider that the players are able to gain winnings from the replacement symbols alone. Although the amount of wins isn’t that different from traditional reel machines, by having a machine capable of animation, it opens up further opportunities for casinos to keep players sat at the slot machine. On a Cascading Reels machine, players tend to sit at them for longer in the hope that the reels will be replaced, opening up new opportunities to win as-well as the possibility of a potentially highly lucrative bonus game. Ultimately, it’s the promise of further wins that draws in the players and has led to the huge popularity in cascading reels slot machines.
With the developments in video game graphics, more and more game developers have used these advances to their advantage, meaning that cascading reels games are able to offer up increasingly complex bonus games with a skill element involved to make players believe that they are in control of how much they win. The reality is that it is purely down to luck, but by having intuitive animation, it can make players believe they are creating their own luck.
The biggest expansion of cascading reels however has been online, where players can access the paytable, which is usually found at the bottom of a game screen. The table lets people know the different pay out levels of various symbol combinations as-well as the all important jackpot.
Ultimately, there is very little difference between the traditional and cascading reels machines in terms of the casino’s advantage or ‘house edge‘ over the players. Some cascading reels slot machines installed by casinos give them a 15% house edge over the player, so no-matter how much excitement cascading reels brings to the gameplay, players can still expect to lose more than they win.