What Are Wild Symbols?
The Wild symbol has been a feature in slot machines from day one. Following the same approach as the ‘Joker’ card in classic card games, Wilds can replace any symbol on the online slot’s reels and help score a winning combination.
For example, let’s suppose you’re playing a slot where landing five sharks on a payline trigger a big win, but after the spin, you only hit four sharks and another marine mammal. In such a case, you would generally go home empty-handed. However, if that other marine mammal happens to be a Wild symbol, you’d still hit the big win because the mammal would act as a shark in this instance.
It works the same for any other slot, but in case you’re into sharks, go check out Razor Shark by Push Gaming, one of or favourite online slot machines.
The Best 10 Online Slots With Wilds
Almost all online slots offer the Wild symbol feature, so it would be silly to list thousands of slot games here. Instead, we picked ten amazing games for you to try out. If you want more selection, we recommend using our search bar at the top of the site and just browsing games by name or provider.
| Slot title | Provider |
|---|---|
| Punk Rocker | NoLimit City |
| Gold Rush | Pragmatic Play |
| Fat Rabbit | Push Gaming |
| Bonanza Megapays | Big Time Gaming |
| Fruit Party 2 | Pragmatic Play |
| Jammin Jars | Push Gaming |
| Chilli Heat Megaways | Pragmatic Play |
| Dinopolis | Push Gaming |
| Buffalo Hunter | NoLimit City |
| Lil Devil | Big Time Gaming |
Wilds: Exception to The Rule
When we say that a Wild symbol replaces every other symbol, we’re not completely honest. In most online slots, Wilds cannot substitute Scatter, free spin or bonus symbols. The reason is that these symbols trigger another form of action within the game, and it wouldn’t be fair to single-handedly decide which of the action is in favour of the player.
As such, we always recommend looking at the online slot’s paytable to find out where Wilds appear, which symbols they can and cannot replace, and which other restrictions might apply, as this can vary depending on the game the slot developer.
Different Types of Wild Symbols
Now that you understand how Wilds work, let’s also have a look at the different types of Wilds in online slot machines:
- Random Wilds
- Expanding Wild Symbols
- Stacked Wilds
- Sticky Wild Symbols
- Moving Wilds
The random Wild symbol is the most common form of Wilds. It means that the “slot’s joker” appears randomly across the reels and can help score a winning combination. Check out the game’s paytable for more information.
Expanding and stacked Wild symbols show up initially as single symbols but quickly expand across the reels. As you can imagine, having Wilds spread across paylines means that you’re chance of winning big increases exponentially.
Sticky Wilds, on the other hand, do not expand further but stay in their spot for one or more spins. Typically, when you hit a Wild, it immediately disappears once you hit the spin button again. With sticky Wild symbols, you can keep you’re increased winnings chances for more than one round.
FAQ
What are Wild symbols?
Wilds are the online slot’s Joker card. The symbol can replace almost any other symbol on the reels and help you score a winning combination.
Which symbols can a Wild not replace?
Wild symbols typically cannot replace Scatter, Free Spin or other Bonus symbols.
Which online slots feature Wilds?
Nearly all online slot machines offer Wild symbols as part of their feature list.
Are Wild symbols the best online slot feature?
Wild features are an important aspect of any online slot. However, we believe features such as respins, multipliers, and volatility add more excitement to the game.