Have you ever wished that you could find ways to fit even more of your favourite symbols onto the reels of a poker machine? It may seem like there’s a pretty clear upper limit to how many symbols you can hit on a payline: five-reel pokies, for instance, can only have five symbols on a payline.
But that doesn’t have to be true. IGT has created a number of different pokies that utilize split symbols, a special kind of symbol that can make it possible to hit even bigger combinations without adding any more reels to a machine. These symbols can lead to some surprisingly big wins and plenty of dramatic moments, making split symbols one of the more popular special features in online pokies today.
A split symbol is any symbol that features two symbol placements in one symbol position. In other words, where you’d normally see a single symbol appear on a typical pokie, a split symbol will give you two. This means that it is possible to get more than five of the same symbols in a winning five-reel payline; in fact, on some games, it’s possible to hit as many as 10 in a row if your entire payline is covered in split symbols!
In most cases, split symbols act just like their normal counterparts. If a split symbol shows up on your screen, it will count as two of that symbol, making it easier for you to make a winning combination.
The most common way for players to benefit from this is in how much easier split symbols make it to earn three and four symbol combination. If you hit a split symbol on the first reel, that’s already two in a row; any matching symbol on the second reel will give you three in a row, while another split symbol could give you a four-symbol combination. While big wins are still rare, split symbols help make them a little more possible, especially if you can get a couple of split symbols to start off a payline.
Typically, there are no other special rules attached to split symbols. Just treat them as though they are a normal symbol: it’s only that you get to have two of them on one spot, which makes it easier to win prizes both big and small.
One great example of a split symbol pokie is the IGT game Cats. As the name would suggest, this game features a feline theme, and as such, all of the cats (tigers, lions, panthers and so on) come in two varieties: the regular version and a split symbol variant.
Both the normal and split symbols appear on every payline. Since it still only takes three of a given symbol to make a win, these split symbols definitely increase your chances of winning. However, the spread of prizes is much greater: rather than five symbols being enough to win the largest possible prize for each symbol, you’ll need 10 in a row instead!
Cats also features special symbols that utilize the split symbol feature. For instance, the wild symbol acts as a substitute as normal, but it will count as a split symbol when it pairs up with any of the cat symbols. There’s also a paw print symbol that triggers a free spins game if you can hit five or six paw prints on the reels at the same time. With these symbols only showing up on the second, third and fourth reels, this would normally be impossible; however, the paw print symbol also comes in a split variety.
Cats is far from the only IGT game that offers players split symbols. Games like Crystal Kingdom, Double Dinosaur, Dogs, and The Dream all feature this split symbol feature in various ways.
Split symbols are definitely an interesting innovation in online pokies, one that shows there is always more design space for developers to use when trying to make their poker machines stand out from the pack. If you want to get some hands-on experience with split symbol games, it’s as simple as signing up at a great online casino site using IGT software today!