Like all online casino games, video slots have had to evolve or fade away. One area where slots developers are always coming up with new ideas and features, is wild symbols. Over the last few years, we’ve seen so many new types of wild icons appear, that it can be rather confusing as a new player to understand them all. We know that wilds replace themselves with a symbol that a player needs to win, but what else can they do? Let’s take a quick look at some of the more popular types of wild icons to grace our favourite online slots over the last few years, and learn what each of them does.

Stacked, Expanding and Spreading wilds

Stacked wilds are immensely popular. These are basically wild icons that are placed one on top of the other – stacked – if you will. They can offer you bigger wins, if more than one is used in a winning combination.

Expanding wilds are kind of like stacked wilds, although they have another function. Expanding wilds only appear as single wild icons. However, if you happen to use that wild in a winning combination, then they will cover the length of the reel that they appear on, offering you more winning combinations.  Count Spectacular is a great example of a slot with expanding wilds. Similarly, spreading wilds also expand, although horizontally across the reels instead.

Sticky, Locked and Frozen wilds

Sticky wilds do as their name suggests. If a sticky wild appears on the reels, it will remain in place for a specific number of spins, often called re-spins. NetEnt casinos feature several slots with sticky wilds such as the Attraction slot.

Locked and frozen wilds are essentially the same thing, albeit with different names. These wilds will remain in place – just like sticky wilds – although, they will remain locked or frozen in place for a longer period. These locked and frozen wilds often appear during bonus rounds and can remain in place until the bonus round is concluded.

Walking, Random and Split wilds

Walking wilds are something of a novelty. When these wilds appear on screen, the player will often be awarded re-spins. They will then move one reel to the left on every re-spin, until they disappear completely from the reels. In so doing, they are walking across the reels, and in many ways they are quite similar to sticky wilds.

Random wilds also have a function which is just as their name suggests. When these icons appear on screen, they have the power to turn other symbols into wilds, at random.

Split wilds are a newer kind of wild icon. These symbols can often count for two wilds. What’s the purpose of that? Well, instead of having a five of a kind combination, you could now potentially have a six of a kind winning combination. In short, if each wild counts for two wilds, you can have bigger and better wins. Jurassic Park slot from Microgaming features many different wild symbols including split wilds.

Multiplying, Bonus Feature and Jackpot wilds

Multiplying wilds are simple enough to grasp. These wilds simply multiply any winnings that are acquired when the wilds are used in a winning combination. Bonus feature wilds on the other hand, can have several purposes. In some slots, these bonus wilds may take the place of scatters and trigger bonus games, as well as being substitute symbols. Some wilds can even offer players big jackpots, if a player lands five wilds in a winning combination.

It’s a wild, wild world

There are many other types of wild icons too, with new ones appearing all of the time. For a list of nearly 7,000 online casino game reviews  please visit our Online Casino Games page. You can sort by game type, software provider and more!