Recently in the Slot Vocabulary series I mentioned Cash on Reels, one of a number of enduring slot trends of recent years that gets many players excited. Cash on Reels as a mechanic was popularized by Lightning Link and the Hold and Spin mechanic that came with that game.
Hold and Spin as a mechanic will look familiar to a modern slot player:
- Secure enough of the triggering symbol, whether a special symbol or cash on reels, to get the hold and spin feature.
- You’ll get a set number of spins to accomplish the goal. Usually you start with three.
- Getting another symbol will generally reset the counter back to where you started.
- Many, but not all, games like this will give you the top jackpot if you manage to fill in all the spaces.
There are of course plenty of variations on the theme; Mighty Cash games give you a set number of spins, based on how many triggering symbols, and you don’t get more spins. Some versions of Lock it Link give you a set number of spins, such as 5 on Piggy Bankin’ and Eureka Reel Blast.
Some games have the Cash on Reels right away; others add them in after triggering, like All Aboard. Some games unlock more reel spaces, like Ultimate Fire Link or Cash Xtreme Rising. Some games pay the prizes once; others may multiply them (Mighty Cash variations do this a lot, especially on a full reel set) or every time another symbol lands (like All Aboard).
These variations keep the games interesting, but the basic mechanic of a Hold and Spin at this point are pretty standard for players to follow along at this point.
Hold and Spin is one of a number of slot mechanics introduced by Aristocrat that has been cloned, near cloned, and given tons of variations at this point, and many of this style of game have become popular, so it’s unlikely for its popularity to wane in the near future.
