However, life isn’t all about getting the required number of matching symbols to get a win. Slot games have a variety of bonus games that can be triggered in several ways. This can be via a certain number of scatter symbols appearing on the reels or a bonus symbol landing on the reels.
It’s always a great moment when the first few reels see key symbols land on the reels and you just wait to see if you can get the one you need to get you into a bonus round. Usually games introduce a dramatic piece of music as the remaining reel(s) spin.
Bonus games are most commonly found in five reel slot machines. With just three reels there are usually just a handful of paylines and a wild symbol. With five reels though there’s more space to produce more complex games and that’s where scatter symbols and bonus games can come into play.
There are several different kinds of bonus games and they are often associated with the theme of the slot. For example in the pirate-themed ‘Chests of Plenty’ game from Ash Gaming, the bonus game features a treasure chest. It’s a pick ’em game which is a popular form of bonus game. As you might have guessed you have a choice of items to pick from, in this case gems. Your task is to find three gems of the same value to win a cash prize.

‘Chests of Plenty’ Bonus Game
There are plenty of variations on this theme, sometimes the pick ’em feature simply determines the size of multiplier and number of free spins that you have earned.

Activating ‘Hole in the Wall’ Bonus game
In the Fremantle Media game ‘Hole in the Wall’ the bonus game sees you having to play a second screen game (as is often the case with bonus games in five reel games) and choose a contestant and hope they can make it through the strange shaped holes in the wall to win a multiplier.
Some games require you to collect a certain number of items during a game. For example in the ‘Castle Builder’ slot from Rabcat, you need to collect building equipment before you can try and build the castle for the Princess to live in.
Bonus Games are a great way of building up your account balance. Just don’t spend too much trying to trigger them in the first place.