Why the Mechanic Changes the Experience
Under every slot runs a random number generator that decides the outcome of each round. The mechanic is the layer on top: it determines which combinations count as wins, what happens after a win and how often the game reaches its bonus phase.
Once you know the mechanic, you can better judge what to expect. With cascades you count on wins chaining within a single round; with sticky wilds you know the biggest action comes in free spins.
Our examples come from NetEnt, Quickspin and BGaming games, which you will also find in the slots section on Dukat.bet. Check in the lobby whether a particular title is currently available.
Fixed Paylines, Ways and Megaways
The oldest principle is paylines. Symbols must land on a predefined path from left to right. NetEnt's Starburst has 10 lines that pay both ways – wins count from the left and from the right.
The ways system does away with lines. All that matters is whether a symbol appears on adjacent reels, regardless of position. Twin Spin uses 243 ways, and on top of that two to five adjacent reels link up as ‘twins’ showing identical symbols.
The next step is a grid that grows. Quickspin's Phoenix Sun starts with a smaller layout and expands up to 7,776 ways when certain symbols form wins.
Megaways goes further still: the number of symbols on each reel changes with every spin, so the number of combinations changes too. BGaming's Lady Wolf Moon Megaways is one example.
More combinations do not automatically mean more money. Individual symbol payouts tend to be lower on ways and Megaways games so that the overall maths of the game adds up.
Cascades: Symbols That Fall
With cascades, winning symbols are removed after the payout and new ones drop into their place. If another winning combination forms, the cycle continues – so one paid spin can produce a series of wins.
NetEnt calls this mechanic Avalanche, and Gonzo's Quest made it famous. Stone blocks tumble from above, and with each consecutive win the multiplier grows, even more so in free spins.
Quickspin has its own version, Swooping Reels, in Big Bad Wolf. The principle is the same, with the chain of wins tied to the story of the wolf blowing down the little pigs' house.
For the player, it means the round's result only shows once the whole series has finished. Animations take longer, so the game actually runs slower than it might first appear.
Wilds in Three Forms
A wild substitutes for other symbols and helps complete a combination. Individual games, however, treat it very differently.
An expanding wild stretches across the whole reel when it lands. In Starburst this happens on the three middle reels and also triggers a re-spin in which the expanded wild stays in place. If another one lands, the re-spin repeats.
A sticky wild stays in its position for several rounds in a row. Dead or Alive 2 uses it in free spins with three different modes, Quickspin's Sticky Bandits has it right in the name, and Sakura Fortune pairs it with respins.
Falling wilds and full wild reels are further variants. Divine Fortune features falling wilds that move one position down, while Durian Dynamite offers wild reels – entire reels turned wild.
The stronger a game's wilds, the more often they are tied to the bonus round. And that is frequently linked to higher volatility.
Free Spins, the Book Symbol and Hold-and-Win
Free spins are usually triggered by three or more scatter symbols. During them different rules often apply – a higher multiplier, sticky wilds or a special symbol.
BGaming's Book of Cats uses the well-known ‘Book’ mechanic. Before the free spins, an expanding symbol is chosen that spreads across the whole reel on a win and can pay even on non-adjacent positions.
NetEnt's Blood Suckers combines free spins with a separate bonus game in which you pick coffins with vampires. It is a low-volatility classic.
Elvis Frog in Vegas is built on the hold-and-win principle: special symbols lock in place and the respin counter resets every time a new one lands.
Multipliers and How They Affect Wins
A multiplier multiplies a win – sometimes the whole round's win, sometimes just the value of a single symbol. The difference is whether it is fixed, rising or random.
You know the rising multiplier from Gonzo's Quest, where it climbs with every cascade in a series. Quickspin's Eastern Emeralds uses multiplier symbols that multiply each other within combinations, and according to the manufacturer the game has very high volatility.
Multipliers are attractive, but they do not come free. The game's maths compensates elsewhere, usually with lower base payouts or rarer bonuses.
In other words – big numbers on the screen are rare.
Bonus Buy: Paying to Enter the Bonus
Some slots let you pay for direct entry into free spins instead of waiting for scatters. The price is a multiple of the base stake and can be high.
The feature is not available everywhere. Several regulated markets restrict or ban it, and even where it is allowed, not every game has it. Check in the game and its rules whether a particular slot on Dukat.bet offers it.
Illustrative example (not Dukat.bet parameters): if a bonus buy costs 100 times a 0.50 EUR stake, one purchase costs 50 EUR – and the bonus may return less than that.
The RTP of a bought bonus can differ from the base game. The manufacturer usually lists it separately in the game information.
Mechanic, Example and What It Means
To finish, an overview of every mechanic on this page with examples from our verified table (verified on 2026-10-06, source: manufacturer):
| Mechanic | Example | Volatility (manufacturer) | What it means for the player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed paylines | Starburst (NetEnt) | low | simple rules, wins both ways |
| 243 ways / twins | Twin Spin (NetEnt) | medium | more combinations, smaller individual payouts |
| Expanding grid | Phoenix Sun (Quickspin) | medium | up to 7,776 ways once expanded |
| Megaways | Lady Wolf Moon Megaways (BGaming) | very high | variable number of combinations every round |
| Cascades | Gonzo's Quest, Big Bad Wolf | medium / high | a series of wins from one spin |
| Sticky wilds | Dead or Alive 2, Sticky Bandits | high | action concentrated in free spins |
| Book symbol | Book of Cats (BGaming) | very high | expanding symbol in free spins |
| Hold-and-win | Elvis Frog in Vegas (BGaming) | medium-high | locked symbols and resetting respins |
You will find more detailed studio profiles on the NetEnt, Quickspin and BGaming pages. We cover jackpot mechanisms separately in our article on jackpot slots.