What Wild and Scatter Symbols Do in Slot Machines

Wild and scatter symbols: what they are and what they do

A wild symbol is a stand-in. It lands on the reels and takes the place of other symbols on a payline, so a line that would have been one symbol short of a win becomes a win. That is the whole job, and it is the reason wilds are the symbol most players notice first¹.

Wilds come in different shapes depending on the game. In Bastet & Cats Deluxe the wild is an Ankh, and it substitutes for every symbol except the scatter³. In Paddy's Payouts it is a mushroom that can land on any reel and substitutes for everything except the scatter and the instant prize symbols⁶. In Forbidden Temple Power Hit the wild replaces everything that is not a scatter, a coin or a collect symbol⁷. The pattern is the same across all of them: the wild is a chameleon, and the only symbols it usually refuses to copy are the other special symbols.

Some games go further. In Golden Joker, an optional extra bet upgrades standard symbols into enhanced Golden Joker symbols while raising your total wager⁸. That is a wild feature you pay for, not one that arrives on its own.

A scatter symbol works differently. It does not substitute for anything. It pays on its own, and it counts wherever it lands on the screen, whether or not it sits on the line you wagered⁹. In most games the scatter is the trigger: land enough of them and the machine starts a feature for you automatically⁹.

The numbers vary by game. In Bastet & Cats Deluxe the scatter is a Scarab Beetle, and five or more landing at once trigger free spins³. In Samba Game, three or more scatters during the base game award free spins¹⁰. On most Mocha slot machines, three scatters anywhere on the reels start the free game feature¹. On the video slots at Casino Corona, at least three scatters automatically activate the corresponding special feature¹¹.

So the two symbols do opposite jobs. The wild fills gaps. The scatter opens doors.

How wilds and scatters differ

The cleanest way to hold the difference in your head is this: a wild is about the line, a scatter is about the screen.

A wild only matters if it helps complete a combination on a payline. It is a tool to help you form more winning combinations in the basic game². A scatter does not care about paylines at all. It does not have to be on the line where your wager sits; it counts as long as it appears in any position⁹. That is why a scatter can pay you even when nothing else on the screen lines up.

The second difference is substitution. A wild substitutes for other symbols. A scatter does not². You will sometimes see a game where the wild cannot replace the scatter, and you will essentially never see a scatter that replaces a wild. In Samba Game, for example, the wild substitutes for all regular symbols except the scatter, the +1SPIN and the SAMBA symbols¹⁰. In Vegas Payouts Rapid Hold & Win, wilds appear on all reels and replace everything that is not a scatter or an instant prize symbol¹².

The third difference is what happens when enough of them land. A single wild can turn a losing spin into a winning one. A single scatter usually does nothing at all. Scatters tend to work in groups: three or more, sometimes five or more, and then the feature fires¹⁰.

One more thing worth knowing: the same idea shows up outside slots. In video poker, Deuces Wild makes all four twos wild cards, and the hand rankings shift to match¹³. In pai gow poker, the Joker is described as semi-wild and can substitute for an Ace or complete a hand¹⁵. The vocabulary is the same even when the game is not a slot.

Where you will find these special symbols

Wilds and scatters are standard equipment on modern video slots, and you will find them in casinos and online across Asia. The exact symbols, how many you need and what they trigger change from game to game, so the paytable is where you look first.

On the video slots at Casino Corona, the third page of the payoff table shows the scatter logo and the wild symbol along with specific instructions on how to enable the special features¹¹. That is the general rule anywhere: the paytable tells you which symbol is the wild, which is the scatter, how many scatters you need and what the feature pays.

Here is how a few games handle it:

• Bastet & Cats Deluxe: the wild is an Ankh substituting for all symbols except the scatter; the scatter is a Scarab Beetle, and five or more trigger free spins³.
• Samba Game: the wild appears on all reels and substitutes for all regular symbols except the scatter, +1SPIN and SAMBA; the scatter appears on all reels and three or more award free spins¹⁰.
• Paddy's Payouts: the wild is a mushroom that can land on any reel and substitutes for everything except the scatter and instant prize symbols⁶.
• Vegas Payouts Rapid Hold & Win: wilds appear on all reels; free spin scatters appear only on reels 2, 3 or 4¹².
• Forbidden Fury: the Mystic Wild and the three Arcane Wilds (Blue, Green, Red) land exclusively on reels 2, 3 and 4, substituting for everything except scatters¹⁶.
• Forbidden Temple Power Hit: the wild replaces everything that is not a scatter, a coin or a collect symbol⁷.
• Golden Joker: the Golden Joker Wild is one of the high paying symbols, alongside the Bell and the Number 7⁸.

Notice how often the wild is restricted to the middle reels. Reels 2, 3 and 4 are the most common home for wilds because that is where they do the most work, sitting in the middle of a line rather than at the edge¹⁶. Scatters, by contrast, usually appear on all reels, because their job is to be found anywhere¹⁰.

Some machines use a different kind of special symbol entirely. Super Split is a Hold & Spin game built around Cash on Reel symbols¹⁷. Mystery Jackpot machines are designed so the most valuable symbols are not required to win, which is why they produce more frequent wins than progressive jackpot machines¹. If you want the wider picture of how these features fit together, see slot features explained and hold and win slots.

How special symbols can affect your chances of winning

Some slots have special symbols like wilds and scatters, and they can potentially increase your chances of winning⁵. That is true in a narrow, practical sense, and it is worth being precise about what it means.

A wild increases your chances on a single spin because it turns near-misses into wins. If you have two matching symbols on a line and a wild lands in the third spot, you collect. Without the wild, that spin pays nothing. Over many spins, a game with generous wilds will hand you more winning combinations than a game without them.

A scatter increases your chances in a different way. It does not help you complete lines. It triggers features, and features are where the larger payouts usually sit. Three scatters that start a free spins round give you a run of spins you did not pay for, and any wins during that round are yours. That is a real change to what a session can produce.

What special symbols do not do is change the machine's overall return. Slot machines are computers using a random number generator to determine the outcome of each play, generating hundreds or thousands of numbers per second, and the result depends on the number generated the instant you press the button⁴. The wilds and scatters are part of that design, not a way around it. A game with a low return and lots of wilds is still a game with a low return.

There is also a real difference between machines. Not all slot machines are the same. Some have more frequent prizes and bonus games, while others pay less often but with bigger prizes⁴. A machine packed with wilds and scatters usually falls into the first group: more frequent, smaller wins. A machine with few special symbols often falls into the second. Neither is better; they are different shapes of the same math.

If you want to go deeper on how the symbols interact with the rest of the game, how slot machines work covers the reels and the random number generator, slot paylines and ways to win explains why a scatter does not need a line, and how free spins and bonus rounds trigger walks through what happens once the scatters land.

One last note for anyone playing pachinko in Japan, where the vocabulary overlaps. On those machines, odd-numbered symbols are the chance-variation symbols and even-numbered symbols are the normal ones¹⁸. In Gingira Panic, odd symbols are chance-variation symbols on CR machines, while on cash machines they give an eight-round big win with 100-spin time shortening¹⁹. CR Pachinko Checkers splits its symbols into two groups: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and the special mark give a four-spin probability variation plus 96-spin time shortening, while 2, 4, 6, 8 and the two music notes give a four-spin probability variation plus 16-spin time shortening²⁰. CR RYU-OH uses the symbols three, seven, corner, flying and king to trigger probability variation on a jackpot²¹. CR Mister Marick uses A, 2 through 9, J, Q and K as jackpot symbols, with the probability changing on the goddess card in the Trump Chance feature²². Sexy Shot X uses 0 through 9 plus the bag, hat, high heels and lipstick²³. Wanwan Paradise colors its odd symbols red and its even symbols blue so you can tell them apart at a glance²⁴. It is a different game with a different name for the idea, but the principle is familiar: certain symbols do more than sit there.