An integral part of today’s online slot games is the almost ever present special features, ranging from bonus rounds and freespins through to scatter icons and wild symbols. Of these, it is the very latter that has been developed and expanded the most, with various different options to add on to its ability to stand in for other icons on the reels in order to make a winning combination. This is where sticky wilds come into play, providing a new dimension to the gaming experience of products that feature them.

Sticky wilds still act in the same way as the standard ones, in the sense that they very nicely substitute all other icons, with the exception of any inclusive scatters or bonus symbols. However, they also pack a little bit more of a punch into their existence, sometimes assisting in big wins of their own.

How Do Sticky Wilds Differ to the Norm?

When you’re playing an online slot game, it’s fairly normal to witness regular wild icons appearing on the reels at any given time, and sometimes they’ll assist in creating a win on a payline. This is all great and balance-boosting, of course, although the sticky wild can go one better.

While it does tend to appear in much the same way and acts as a stand in like the regular icon, sticky wilds will do exactly as its name suggests – stick! This means that they’ll hold their position on the reel that they appear on for the next spin. This is sometimes a spin that is triggered by you pressing the ‘Spin’ button again, or by the icon having its own inbuilt program to set the reels off on a re-spin with no extra wager included. As is fairly obvious, a wild that stays in place for at least a second spin can only provide benefits in the sense that a second winning combination or more could be created incorporating it.

When do They Appear?

Sticky wilds aren’t specific across all games. They tend to have their own settings depending upon the product you’re playing. So, while some will be found in the base game, appearing at random, others will only get the chance to shine in a bonus round or freespins round. It’s also often the case that if they appear in a freespins round, they will stick in position for the duration of that particular feature.

Constant Re-Spins

It has become a staple feature of one or two games that include sticky wilds to add a little more flair to the icon alongside. Take for example the Netent game, ‘Stickers’. In this game, it’s only stand out feature is its sticky wild icons, which do everything a regular one of these symbols would do, but if another sticky wild appears on the triggered re-spin, it will remain in place and force the previous one to do so before setting the reels off on another re-spin. Should any more appear, the process continues on. In this instance, it’s possible to fill up the entirety of the reels with wilds, providing a massive payout.

Others include sticky wilds that will trigger a re-spin of the other reels apart from the one it exists on. Meanwhile, some other games, for example, ‘Egyptian Wilds’ from Cayetano Gaming will fix a wild in place for a specific number of spins to follow – in this particular game, that being anywhere between two and four.

Where Can I Find Games with This Feature?

As a variation on the standard wild icon, it can now be found in many online slot games from a variety of developers. Some of the more popular games that feature this particular wild include such options as ‘Elements’ from Netent, which provides the icon as part of its Earth Storm mode, ‘Beowulf’ by Quickspin, which features both regular and locked wilds, and ‘Girls with Guns II: Frozen Dawn‘ by Microgaming, which offers up the frozen wilds in its freespins round as a randomly assigned feature alternative to magnetic wilds.