A mainstay on modern slot machines, the multiplier is there is make things a little more exciting and to boost your winnings. These multipliers come in many forms and are available on most slots. Simply put, a multiplier multiplies your win by the amount shown. Therefore, a win of $10 would equate to $20, $30, $40 and $50 from respective multipliers of 2x, 3x, 4x and 5x.
In a sense, all symbols on slots are multipliers, as all winning lines basically return an amount that is multiplied by your line bet or your total stake. This is why you will often see something like “1,000x” on the Paytable, as opposed to a monetary or coin amount. However, the word “Multiplier” is used to refer to the in-game feature that multiplies your total win, and can be activated during the base game or even during a feature.
Base Game Multipliers
Although rare, there are a number of slots out there that have multipliers on the base game. These are often attached to wilds, which means that every time you land a wild symbol in a winning payline, your wins will be doubled, trebled or more. It is rare to find a big multiplier on the base game though, as this would shift the RTP/House Edge balance too much in favour of the player.
Bonus Multipliers
Multipliers are commonly added to free spin features to differentiate the free spins round from the base game. These multipliers are often higher than a simple 2x or 3x, and 5x seems to be common. This is the case on many slots, including Game of Thrones and Playboy, where you can choose from a number of options, getting more free spins and a small multiplier, or fewer free spins and a higher multiplier. There is also a 5x multiplier on the Jack Hammer and Jack Hammer II free spin features.
Multipliers are often used as bonus features on their own, which is to say they are available even outside of free spin features. On Ghostbusters, for instance, Slimer — who remains on the screen throughout — triggers occasional random features, one of which includes a multiplier that boosts your win. The same goes for South Park: Reels of Chaos, with a short animation involving Butters’ alter ego triggering a multiplier that applies only to that spin.
Other Multipliers
Scatter multipliers are also common, and in most cases they are active during a free spins feature. Essentially, this means that whenever you land a scatter symbol during a free spin, it will act as a multiplier, boosting whatever winning payline you have for that spin. This is actually a negative dressed as a positive, because ideally you want that scatter symbol to be re-triggering more free spins, and if it acts as a multiplier instead, it usually means that there are no re-triggered free spins available.
