Expanding Wilds

One of the most versatile symbols in the modern pokies game is the Wild symbol. This single character may influence gameplay in a wide variety of ways. Wild symbols bay be used to trigger and feature in Free Spins rounds, accentuate multipliers](/nz/guide/multipliers/) or join other symbols as cascading symbols. As you’ve probably guessed, the name Wild refers to the unpredictable and fun wild card action produced by this symbol. A mechanic that’s increasingly used is that of the Expanding Wild, which comes fully loaded with opportunities to influence rewards in a pokies game. Here’s how.

What are Expanding Wilds?

While a pokies grid is typically made up of individual reels and rows occupied by single symbols, Expanding Wilds can grow to cover more reels or entire reels and rows. They’re usually activated by landing on a highlighted reel, causing them to grow in size, sometimes over the course of respins or bonus spins. They’re not to be confused with Stacked Symbols, as Expanding Symbols grow after the reels have stopped whereas Stacked Symbols already cover multiple rows while they spin on the reels.

How do expanding Wilds work?

The fun in Expanding Wilds is part of the pokies experience that is based on Random Number Generators, meaning that the gameplay is ultimately impossible to predict and there’s no strategy that can force these fun symbols to arrive on the scene. When they do turn up, Expanding Wilds expand over the length of a reel from top to bottom, making every symbol on the reel Wild, which can potentially generate several wins over several paylines. These symbols appear randomly on the reels. Some games only allow expanding Wilds on certain reels. Once a symbol has expanded, the combination/s created are added to your bankroll as wins, potentially creating opportunities for sizeable wins through these combinations. When the symbol has expanded, each winning combination it creates is added to your bankroll in turn, and this can result in huge winnings if the wilds help to create multiple valuable combinations.

Think of a Wild symbol as the Joker card in a deck; they can substitute for any other symbol to create a winning combination. They can’t replace a Scatter symbol and don’t typically replace Free Spin or other bonus icons. Some Wilds may come with a value of their own, while in other games they don’t have their own value.

Examples of expanding Wilds pokies

Expanding Wilds are popular as a game mechanic in an online pokies casino game as they provide a game-changing element that keeps players engaged.

You can find expanding Wild elements in Book of Dead, Wild Blood, Jack and the Beanstalk, 1491 Uncharted Seas and a host of other Wildz Casino pokies titles. Explore this handy online casino guide for more gaming experiences.