The Best Crypto Slots Online

The basic premise of all slots is that we want to line up the same symbol type on a set of reels, in most cases on adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost one. Within this simple framework three distinct win mechanics have evolved over the years. Lines, Ways, and Clusters.

In addition to these three we have two modifiers: "Both Ways" and "Scatter Pays". They can be combined with Ways and Lines (Scatter Pays can work alone) - for Cluster wins they do not really make sense, that would result in a stand alone Scatter Pays situation. Some slots may employ these modifiers as special functions that needs activation. Then our reviews list them among the slots features. If you see either listed as a win mechanic it means it is active in the base game.

Let us go through each, see how they differ, and what they bring to the world of online crypto slots. Different software providers may have slight variations on what they call their versions. We will try to cover that as well.

Lines is the most common win mechanic. Here we must land the same symbols on pre-defined lines running across the reels. We start from left to right, hopefully making it all the way to the rightmost reel.

In some crypto slots it is possible to adjust the number of lines we play on. Basically, what we are doing is putting down a separate bet on each line, hence why it is sometimes called bet lines. Reducing the number in general means a less exciting experience and should be avoided: If you cannot afford to play with max lines it is likely time to stop or time for a deposit.

Win ways, or ways to win, is a very flexible mechanic where we need to roll the same symbols on adjacent reels, from left to right. The symbols do not need to touch.

The beauty of win ways is that same symbols on the same reel will multiply the ways we win. Say we have 3 same symbols on the first reel, 1 right of it and another 1 right of this. We can now create three (3) different 3-symbol combinations using the first reel’s symbols. And we will be paid, according to the pay table, three (3) times for this 3-symbol combination. I

Many will be familiar with slots boasting “243 ways to win”. This implies a standard modern video slot reel layout of 5 reels that are 3 symbols high, and that the slot employs the win mechanic “Ways”. The possibilities are limited by the number of reels and their height. Multiplying the number of symbols of each reel will give us the exact number of ways. Some popular reel layouts look like this:

• 5x3: 3x3x3x3x3 = 243
• 5x4: 4x4x4x4x4 = 1024
• 6x4: 4x4x4x4x4x4 = 4096
• 6x7 (MegaWays): 7x7x7x7x7x7 = 117,649

In our eyes this is the most elegant and open of the three win mechanics.

Clusters are defined as directly adjacent symbols, both vertically and horizontally. Touching corners rarely qualify. Here we are generally talking about more than five (5) to count as a win.

Where the cluster is located rarely matters, in contrast to ways and lines that has to start from the leftmost reel.

Cluster wins are normally reserved to reel setups that are a bit bigger than the classic 5x3-format. They are also very popular in slots with Tumbling Reels (symbols fall from above into columns rather than spun onto reels, and wins are removed – making space for new symbols within the same game round).

To trigger bonus rounds in crypto slots it is extremely common to use some special symbol and require at least three (3) of it to land on the reels to activate. This symbol must be rare enough to not trigger all the time but not frustratingly impossible to hit.

To solve this dilemma, software providers have come up with the Scatter Symbol, a symbol that overrides the game’s regular game mechanic. In layman’s terms this means that it does not matter exactly where this symbol lands, if we hit enough of them it will trigger. This allows the symbol to be very rare but never disappoint when we manage to land three of them – which would certainly be the case if they had to land on a valid pay line.

The Scatter mechanism can theoretically be combined with both win ways and line wins. In practice this means that the line or way can have a gap-reel but still include subsequent symbols in its winning combination. Although possible for way wins, we cannot think of an example, but for line wins slots there are plenty: The Book-of-slots from Play’n GO come to mind.

Scatter Pays can also work alone. Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza are modern classics and they both use straight up Scatter Pays for all symbols, in both the base game and free spins.

Here on CryptoGambling.com we make the distinction between Scatter Pays as a special function and a win mechanic. If we list it as the latter it means it is employed on all symbols in the base game. The box to the right (or below if you are on mobile) includes both though.

All slots have a pay table that states how much (in relation to our bet) we get paid for different combinations. In general, three (3) or more identical symbols is required to make a win, four (4) will pay better, and so on.

Most slots also have two or more kinds of symbols, low- and high paying ones. The low paying symbols generally follow some standard, using for instance playing card denominations (10, J, Q, K, A).

A general color convention also exists, with blue being “bad” and red “good”. See picture below for an example (this is not always true so make sure to check the pay table of the game you are playing).

High paying symbols usually come with more interesting graphics, tied to the theme of the game. We will leave symbols for now but will return to the subject further down when we go into more advanced slots functions.

There are hundreds of game providers that make online slots, and many support playing with crypto. Or denominate their games in cryptocurrencies we should say, we can still play all slots from a crypto casino account.

When we open an online slot that does not support crypto denominated play, we will get to choose a fiat denomination. The crypto casino platform will then make our crypto holdings available in fiat for the game session. When we leave the game, losses are deducted from our crypto holdings, or conversely, if we win it will be credited. In most cases there are no on-chain transactions made here, it is simply internal accounting.

You can find a list of online casino game providers and their respective crypto support, or lack thereof, in our main crypto casino games section. Also, in our slots reviews you can hover over the provider's name in the info-box. Or simply keep an eye out in the same box for the "Play with crypto" tag. See picture below, or try it out in our demo box to the right (or above on mobile).