Free spins are the bonus round most slots are built around, but the rules behind them vary more than the name suggests: how many symbols start the round, how many spins you get, whether more can be added, and what changes during the round. The number of spins on its own says little — 7 spins in one game can be worth more than 30 in another. Here are the rules of every free-spins round in the games we review, side by side.
Last updated: 22 October 2026
Free spins in the games we review
| Slot | Trigger | Spins | Retrigger | About 1 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lobster House | 3 Scatters on reels 1, 3, 5 | 9–27 (clam reveal) | No | 112 |
| The Dog House | 3 Scatters on reels 1, 3, 5 | 9–27 (3×3 reveal) | No | 180 |
| Gator Hunters 2 | 3 / 4 Bonus symbols | 7 / 9 | +1 per Bonus, +2 per Super Bonus | 205 |
| Gator Hunters | 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 Bonus symbols | 10 / 12 / 15 / 18 | +3 to +15 for 2–6 Bonus symbols | 236 |
| Merge Up | 4 / 5 / 6 Scatters | 15 / 18 / 20 | Extra Scatters add spins | 276 |
| Merge Up 2, Sugar Merge Up | 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+ Scatters | 12 / 15 / 20 / 30 | +5 for 3+ Scatters | 409 |
| Bullets and Bounty | 3 / 4 / 5 Scatters | 10 in each of three rounds | +2 / +4 in True Grit; +3 per bar level | — |
| Victoria Wild | 3 / 4 / 5 Temple Scatters, or 25 collected Oasis symbols | 8 / 10 / 12 (Temple), 10 (Oasis) | Temple Scatters can land in Oasis Free Spins | — |
| Woolly Wilds | 3 / 4 / 5 Scatters | 10 / 15 / 25, reels 4–5 fully Wild | +5 for 2 Scatters, +10 for 3 | — |
| Something Fruity | 3 / 4 / 5 star Scatters, or 3 lemons, cherries, plums or oranges | 5 / 10 / 25 (1–2 from fruit) | Unlimited | — |
| Wild Wild Chest | 3 bonus symbols on reels 1, 3 and 5 | Picked from three hidden counts | — | — |
| Miss Cherry Fruits Jackpot Party | 3 Scatters on reels 1, 3, 5 | — | +8 for 3+ Scatters, unlimited | 98 (any bonus) |
Seven of the slots we review have no free spins at all. The original Miss Cherry Fruits and Better Wilds use Wild respins; Burning Wild pays its Scatters in cash; Super Hot Fruits, Super Fruits Wild and Mighty Hot Wilds use Inspired’s Hot Spins; and Vikings Wild Feast uses a hold-and-respin coin bonus that comes about once in 124 spins.
Which Scatter rules start each of these rounds — fixed reels, ladders or different bonuses for different counts — is compared in our Scatter symbols guide.
What decides the value of a round
- What carries over between spins. Sticky Wilds in Lobster House, cell multipliers in the Merge Up games and the running bullet total in Gator Hunters all build up during the round. A short round with something that accumulates can beat a long round without it.
- Upgrades decided at the start. Gator Hunters gives one to four random upgrades depending on how many Bonus symbols you landed; Bullets and Bounty uses a different round for 3, 4 and 5 Scatters.
- Retriggers. Lobster House and The Dog House cannot extend their rounds; Miss Cherry Fruits Jackpot Party can add 8 spins again and again.
- The cap. A round that reaches the maximum win ends immediately — 4,000× in Lobster House, 30,000× in Gator Hunters 2.
More spins does not mean a better bonus
Merge Up 2 hands out up to 30 free spins, Gator Hunters 2 only 7 or 9, and the 2011 Werewolf Wild up to 28. But in Gator Hunters 2 the Fire Zone and a running multiplier work on every spin — and in Fire Gatornado Spins every Revolver is a Super Fire Revolver — while Merge Up 2’s spins mostly build cell multipliers that need repeated wins on the same cells. Judge a round by what accumulates and by the game’s ceiling, not by the spin count.
Trigger frequency is an average. On Merge Up 2 (about 1 in 409) almost one session in two of 300 spins ends without free spins — the full table is in our volatility guide.
Buying free spins instead
Most of these games let you skip the wait: 70× to 500× the bet for standard rounds, more for enhanced versions. On average a buy costs about as much per euro as playing normally, but the whole amount rides on one round, and buys are not offered in the UK. Prices and the maths are in our bonus buy guide.