What Are Bonus Features?

Bonus is a magical word in the online casino world. Every player loves a bonus. We’ve got quite a few bonuses here at Secret Slots, but now we’re going to talk about a different type of a bonus. We’re going to talk about slots bonus features. You may ask ‘What are bonus features?’, and if that’s your question you’re lucky, because that’s the exact question that we’re going to answer here. Bonus features are triggered within the game, and when you manage to activate a bonus feature, you can expect a win, these spins end in a win a lot more often compared to spins during which a bonus feature hasn’t been activated.

What Are Bonus Features – Definition & Types

There can be all sorts of bonus features. That’s why the question ‘What are bonus features?’, can be answered in two different ways. We can either explain how bonus features work or give you a list of all types of available bonus features and then give you a bit more information on each type. We opted for a combined approach, i.e. we’re going to give you an insight into bonus features and how they work and the types of bonus features that are usually offered.

Bonus Features Explained

Let’s explain how bonus features work. Bonus features are triggered within the game, usually when a particular combination of symbols appears on the reels. In a way, it is like a winning combination, but in a way also like a mini game that’s part of the game. Well, we can say that this actually depends on the type of the bonus game.

Sometimes getting a specific combination of symbols on the reels activates a payout and triggers a bonus game, simultaneously. When a bonus feature is triggered, you will usually get an additional spin or spins without having to make an extra wager. And sometimes it’s not just the extra spins, you would also get other enhancements, like a multiplier, or another extra feature that can further increase your chances of winning or generate greater winnings.

Bonus Features And RTP

Either way, the simplest way to answer the questions ‘What are bonus features?’ is to say that these are features that are triggered in game which generate enhanced winning opportunities. Now, you are probably familiar with the concept of RTP, if not, we would suggest reading our ‘What does RTP mean?’. We are going to have a look at how the RTP impacts the bonus features.

The RTP is the theoretical return rate of each game. For online slots this percentage is somewhere in the range between 94% and 97% in most cases. Regardless of the exact percentage and the game in question, the RTP gives us the long-term return rate. So, if a game has an RTP of 96%, it doesn’t mean that £96 of every £100 will be returned to the player, but that overall, the return rate would come to 96% over a course of millions of spins.

Now, if we had the option to consider only the spins when the RTP has been triggered, and calculate the RTP just for those spins, it would be over 100% and significantly higher than the standard RTP for the particular game. The less likely it is for the bonus features to be triggered, the higher the bonus spins RTP would be. Not only you can expect greater winnings in the bonus game, but there’s also another thing – within the bonus game you can get to play more than one spin without an additional wager, i.e. you get to spin the reels multiple times with your original stake, so it is understandable that the RTP would be raised significantly.

Types Of Bonus Features

Now, let’s have a look at the separate types of bonus features that you get on online slots nowadays. Of course, as we mentioned above, the game can come with multiple bonus features and there are customised bonus features that are available only on particular game or games.

Free Spins Bonus

This is the most common and we would say the most popular bonus feature. There is usually a special symbol, called a bonus symbol or a scatter, that triggers the free spins bonus, but often, games feature a mini bonus game and the free spins can be triggered within this game.

Let us explain how free spins work through a practical example. Imagine that you’re playing an online slot where you need three scatters across the reels to win free spins. The number of spins depends on the number of scatters, so let’s say that three scatters trigger ten free spins, four symbols activate a 15 free spins bonus and five symbols will enable you to play 20 free spins.

So, you got four symbols and 15 free spins were awarded to you. In most cases the free spins are played on the same reel-set with the same symbols. But, there are certain variations in some cases. For instance, there could be special symbols that appear only during free spins, or certain symbols can be altered just for the free spins. A regular symbol may appear as stacked, or as a sticky symbol and so on.

Mini Games

When these type of bonus games are triggered, as the name suggests, you get to play a game within the game that is different from the main game. This game can be a pick game, where you get to make a choice and out of several similar objects choose one or few. For instance, there could be nine coins and you get to pick three of them. The coins may hide cash prizes that are added together to give your bonus prize, or they could feature different types of prizes, one might hide a multiplier, another a cash prize and a third one free spins and so on.
There are other sorts of features like the gamble feature that’s quite common, as well as branded and unique bonus features.

The games that we offer at Secret Slots come with all sorts of bonus features. Register today, claim your bonus and play some of the most exciting online slots!