Slot Machine Symbols — Complete Guide to Icons & Paylines
Published: 28 March 2026
Slot machines — whether you play them in a casino, a pub, or online — are built around symbols. Every spin of the reels displays a combination of icons, and matching the right symbols on the right paylines determines whether you win. But with modern video slots featuring dozens of different symbol types, it can be confusing for newcomers.
This guide explains every type of slot machine symbol you'll encounter, from basic fruit icons to complex bonus triggers, plus how paylines work and the fascinating history behind those cherries and bars.
The History of Slot Machine Symbols
The Original Symbols
The very first slot machine — Charles Fey's Liberty Bell (1894) — used just five symbols: horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts, and a cracked Liberty Bell. Three Liberty Bells in a row paid the highest prize of 50 cents (about £10 in today's money).
Why Fruit?
In the early 1900s, gambling machines were banned in many US states. Manufacturers got creative — they redesigned machines to dispense fruit-flavoured chewing gum as prizes instead of cash. The symbols were changed to match the gum flavours: cherries, lemons, oranges, plums, and watermelons. The BAR symbol was actually the logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company.
These fruit symbols stuck, and even today — well over a century later — you'll find cherries, lemons, and bars on slot machines worldwide. In the UK, traditional pub machines are still commonly called "fruit machines" because of this heritage.
Standard Symbols
These are the basic, regular symbols that appear on every slot machine. They pay when you land a certain number of matching symbols on a payline (usually 3 or more on a 5-reel slot).
Low-Value Symbols
On classic fruit machines, low-value symbols are typically fruit icons: cherries, lemons, oranges, and plums. On modern video slots, low-value symbols are often playing card values (9, 10, J, Q, K, A) or playing card suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades). These appear most frequently and pay the least.
High-Value Symbols
High-value symbols relate to the slot's theme. On an Egyptian-themed slot, this might be pharaohs, scarab beetles, and the Eye of Horus. On a Viking-themed slot, it could be axes, shields, and longships. These symbols appear less frequently but pay significantly more. The highest-value standard symbol typically pays 5-50x your line bet for five on a payline.
Wild Symbols
Wilds are one of the most important symbols in modern slots. A wild symbol substitutes for any other standard symbol to help complete winning combinations. Think of it like a joker in a card game.
For example, if you land Cherry — Wild — Cherry on a payline, the wild acts as a cherry, giving you three cherries in a row for a win.
Types of Wild Symbols
| Wild Type | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Standard Wild | Substitutes for regular symbols. Appears on all reels. |
| Expanding Wild | When it lands, it expands to cover the entire reel (all positions on that column). Very powerful. |
| Sticky Wild | Stays in place for a set number of spins (common during free spins rounds). |
| Stacked Wild | Multiple wilds appear stacked on top of each other on a single reel, covering 2-3 or even all positions. |
| Walking Wild | Moves one reel to the left (or right) with each spin until it walks off the screen. |
| Multiplier Wild | Acts as a wild AND multiplies the win by 2x, 3x, or more. |
| Random Wild | Appears on random positions during a spin (added by the game engine, not on the reels). |
Important: Wilds typically do not substitute for Scatter symbols or Bonus symbols. This is stated in each slot's paytable.
Scatter Symbols
Scatters are the second-most important special symbol. Unlike regular symbols that need to appear on a specific payline, scatters pay regardless of position — they can appear anywhere on the reels.
Scatters typically serve two functions:
- Direct payouts — landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters pays a multiplier of your total bet (e.g., 5x, 20x, 100x)
- Trigger bonus features — most commonly, 3 scatters trigger a free spins round
The scatter symbol usually relates to the slot's theme. In an adventure-themed slot, it might be a treasure map. In a fantasy slot, it could be a magic book. Look for the symbol marked "SCATTER" in the paytable.
Bonus Symbols
Bonus symbols trigger bonus games or special features that go beyond the standard base game. These are different from scatters, though some slots use the scatter as the bonus trigger.
Common Bonus Features Triggered by Bonus Symbols
- Free Spins — the most common bonus. You receive a set number of free spins, often with added benefits like extra wilds or multipliers.
- Pick-and-Click — a mini-game where you select objects to reveal cash prizes, multipliers, or extra features.
- Wheel of Fortune — spin a prize wheel to win cash, free spins, or jackpot prizes.
- Cascading/Avalanche — winning symbols disappear and new ones fall into place, creating chain reactions.
- Gamble Feature — some slots let you gamble your winnings on a coin flip or card colour guess to double or quadruple your payout.
Multiplier Symbols
Multiplier symbols multiply your winnings by a specific amount. They're most commonly found during free spins rounds or bonus games. Common multiplier values are 2x, 3x, 5x, and 10x, though some progressive features can reach 100x or higher.
Multipliers can apply to:
- A single winning payline (line multiplier)
- The total win from a single spin (total bet multiplier)
- Free spins — some slots have increasing multipliers (1x on spin 1, 2x on spin 2, etc.)
Jackpot Symbols
On progressive jackpot slots, a specific jackpot symbol or combination triggers the jackpot prize. Progressive jackpots grow with every bet placed across the network until one lucky player hits the winning combination.
Famous progressive jackpot slots include Mega Moolah (which has paid out over £150 million in total jackpots) and Mega Fortune (which once paid out €17.8 million from a single 25p spin).
How Paylines Work
A payline is the line across the reels on which matching symbols must land to create a winning combination. Early slot machines had just one payline — a straight line across the middle. Modern slots have multiple paylines:
| Slot Type | Typical Paylines | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Classic 3-reel | 1-5 | Bar Bar Bar, 777 |
| Standard 5-reel video slot | 10-25 | Starburst (10), Book of Dead (10) |
| Multi-payline video slot | 50-100 | Thunderstruck II (243 ways) |
| Megaways slots | Up to 117,649 | Big Time Gaming's Megaways series |
| Cluster Pay slots | No paylines — wins from clusters | Aloha! Cluster Pays |
"Ways to Win" vs. Paylines
Many modern slots use a "ways to win" system instead of fixed paylines. In a 243-ways slot, any matching symbol on adjacent reels (from left to right) counts as a win, regardless of vertical position. Megaways slots take this further — each reel can show a variable number of symbols per spin (2-7), creating up to 117,649 possible ways to win.
Reading the Paytable
Every slot machine has a paytable (sometimes called the "info" or "help" screen) that tells you:
- What each symbol looks like and what it pays
- How many matching symbols are needed for each payout level
- Which symbols are wild, scatter, or bonus
- How bonus features are triggered and what they offer
- The payline patterns (where on the reels symbols must land)
- The game's RTP (Return to Player) percentage
Always check the paytable before playing a new slot. Understanding which symbols trigger the best payouts and bonuses helps you know what to look for during gameplay.
UK Fruit Machine Specifics
Traditional UK fruit machines in pubs and arcades have their own symbol traditions:
- Hold and Nudge — unique to UK fruit machines, these features let you hold certain reels in place or nudge them one position to try to complete a win
- Trail/Board Games — many UK fruities feature a trail around the cabinet where you advance based on wins, collecting prizes along the way
- Hi-Lo Gamble — guess whether the next number will be higher or lower to multiply your win
- Classic symbols — UK machines still frequently use bars, 7s, bells, cherries, and melons
Summary
Slot machine symbols have evolved enormously from Charles Fey's five simple icons to the dozens of symbol types you'll find on modern video slots. Understanding the role of wilds, scatters, multipliers, and bonus symbols is essential for any slot player. Always check the paytable, know what triggers the bonus features, and remember — whether it's a cherry on a pub fruit machine or an expanding wild on a Megaways slot, every symbol has a specific function that determines your chances of winning.
Please gamble responsibly. For support, visit BeGambleAware.org.