5 Reel Slots: Why Most Online Slots Use Five Reels (and What 7 Add)
By John Isaac,Editor at online-gambling.com
John Isaac
Editor at online-gambling.com The term 5 reel slots covers slot machines with five spinning columns, usually three or four rows high. Most online slots use this format because five reels leave room for 9 to 25 paylines or 243 to 1,024 ways to win, plus wilds, scatters and free spins.
Games with seven or more reels are almost all 7×7 grids that pay in clusters, so “7 reel slot” usually means “grid slot”. Below we compare the formats and list nine popular 5-reel slots, each checked against the provider’s game page or two independent reviews.
What a 5 Reel Slot Is
Reels are the vertical columns on the game screen. A 5-reel slot has five of them, and each shows three symbols when it stops, so the standard 5×3 grid has 15 visible positions. Some games use four rows instead, which makes 20 positions (5×4).
Wins are paid either along paylines or by ways. A payline is a fixed pattern across the five reels, and 10, 20 and 25 lines are the common counts.
A ways game pays for matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left in any row: 243 ways on a 5×3 grid, 1,024 on 5×4. Our slot paylines guide shows both systems with diagrams.
Those 15 or 20 positions are also what the familiar slot features need room for.
- Wilds – substitute for standard symbols to complete a combination on a line or a way. Five columns give a wild more positions to land in than the nine of a 3×3 game.
- Scatters – pay from anywhere on the grid instead of along a line, and they are the usual trigger for a free spins round. A 5×3 grid gives them 15 places to land, a 5×4 grid 20.
- Stacked symbols – the same symbol repeated down a reel. Fitting them is one of the reasons a game uses a 5×4 grid rather than 5×3.
- Cascades – the symbols in a win are removed and new ones drop into the gaps, so a single spin can pay more than once. The 7×7 grids further down the page run on this.
In the video-slot era, 5 reel slot machines took over. Fortune Coin Co. built the first video slot in 1976 in Kearny Mesa, California. Once the reels were pixels instead of metal drums, a designer could add a reel without making the cabinet wider.
WMS’s Reel ’Em In (1996) was the first US video slot with a second-screen bonus round, paired with multi-line, multi-coin betting. That combination needed more positions than a 3×3 window, and five reels with three rows became the template online providers copied from the late 1990s.
The format has barely moved since. Megaways reels and cluster grids are variations on the same idea, and both now sit next to classic 5 reel slots in most online slots lobbies.
5 Reel vs 3 Reel Slots
The table sets the two formats side by side. Both run on a random number generator and neither has a built-in edge over the other; the differences are in position count and features, and in how fast a round plays.
| Feature | 3 reel slots | 5 reel slots |
|---|---|---|
| Grid | 3×3, nine positions (some use a single row) | 5×3 with 15 positions, or 5×4 with 20 |
| Paylines | 1 to 5 fixed lines; Mega Joker and Fire Joker both use 5 | Usually 9 to 25 lines, up to 50 or more on some games, or 243 to 1,024 ways |
| Features | Wilds, respins, sometimes a supermeter or gamble button | Free spins, expanding symbols, cascades, pick bonuses, jackpots |
| Volatility tendency | Low to medium: small wins land often, though a single-payline classic with a big fixed top prize behaves like a high-volatility game | Full range, from low (Starburst) to very high (Dead or Alive 2) |
| RTP | Wide spread; Mega Joker pays 99% at its top bet level and far lower at the minimum coin level | Mostly 95% to 97%; progressive jackpot games run lower, such as Mega Moolah at 88.12% |
| Example titles | Mega Joker (NetEnt), Fire Joker (Play’n GO) | Starburst (NetEnt), Book of Dead (Play’n GO), Wolf Gold (Pragmatic Play) |
Classic 3-reel slots still suit players who want a paytable they can read at a glance. Many of them are fruit machines, built around cherries, bars and sevens.
Best 5 Reel Slots: Nine Popular Titles Compared
These nine titles are among the best-known 5 reel slots online and show the range of the format, from a 9-line game to a 243-ways game.
| Game | Provider | Layout | Paylines or ways | RTP | Volatility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starburst | NetEnt | 5×3 | 10 lines, pay both ways | 96.09% | Low |
| Book of Dead | Play’n GO | 5×3 | 10 lines | 96.21% | High |
| Gonzo’s Quest | NetEnt | 5×3 | 20 lines | 95.97% | Medium-high |
| Wolf Gold | Pragmatic Play | 5×3 | 25 lines | 96.01% | Medium |
| Big Bass Bonanza | Pragmatic Play | 5×3 | 10 lines | 96.71% | Medium-high |
| Immortal Romance | Games Global | 5×3 | 243 ways | 96.86% | Medium |
| Dead or Alive 2 | NetEnt | 5×3 | 9 lines | 96.80% | High |
| Mega Moolah | Games Global | 5×3 | 25 lines | 88.12% | Medium |
| Rainbow Riches | Barcrest (Light & Wonder) | 5×3 | 20 lines | 95.00% (original version) | Medium |
TIP: The RTP figures above are the provider’s default setting. Casinos can license lower settings of the same game, so check the paytable in the game you actually open.
Two things stand out. First, how few lines the best-known titles use: Starburst, Book of Dead and Big Bass Bonanza run 10, Dead or Alive 2 runs 9, yet Dead or Alive 2 can pay up to 100,000x the bet. Line count sets how often something lands, not how much.
Second, RTP. Eight of the nine sit between 95% and 96.9%. Mega Moolah is the outlier at 88.12% because part of every bet feeds four progressive jackpots; the network’s biggest win, €19.43 million in Belgium in April 2021, landed on Absolootly Mad: Mega Moolah.
Our slot RTP guide explains how to read these figures.
Our pick among the best 5 reel slots for a first session is Starburst, for its low volatility and 96.09% default RTP.
Worked Example: What 243 Ways Means
On a 5×3 ways game, a symbol on reel 1 can connect to any of the three positions on reel 2, and so on. Three of a kind from the left has 27 possible paths (3 x 3 x 3), four of a kind 81, five of a kind 243.
A 10-line game pays the same five of a kind on only 10 fixed paths, so it needs bigger per-line prizes or a stronger bonus round to reach a similar RTP. That is why 10-line games such as Book of Dead feel so swingy.
7 Reel Slots: What the Extra Reels Change
Search for 7-reel slots and you find games such as Reactoonz or Thor’s Lightning. They do have seven columns, but they also have seven rows and no paylines.
A 7×7 grid holds 49 positions against the 15 on most 5 reel slots. A seven-of-a-kind line win across 49 positions would land far too rarely to carry a game, so these titles pay in clusters instead.
Cluster pays means five or more matching symbols touching horizontally or vertically form a win. The win clears, the cascade refills the gaps, and the chain continues until no new cluster forms. A meter that charges with each cascade often replaces the free spins round.
| Game | Provider | Grid | Win mechanic | RTP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reactoonz | Play’n GO | 7×7 | Cluster pays, cascades, Quantum meter | 96.51% |
| Gemix | Play’n GO | 7×7 | Cluster pays, Crystal Charge meter | 96.75% |
| Thor’s Lightning | Red Tiger | 7×7 | Cluster pays, locked center tiles open free spins | 96.08% |
| Giovanni’s Gems | Betsoft | 7×7 | Cluster pays, coal next to a win turns into diamonds | 94.35% |
| Fruit Party | Pragmatic Play | 7×7 | Cluster pays, random multipliers stack to 256x | 96.50% |
Gemix (2014) and Reactoonz (2017) set the pattern, and the other three follow it. When we checked 15 games sold as 7-reel slots in September 2026, all 15 paid by cluster or cascade.
Grid Games That Are Not 7 Reel Slots
- Jammin’ Jars (Push Gaming) – an 8×8 cluster grid with a 96.83% RTP, high volatility and wins up to 20,000x. That makes eight reels, one more than a 7×7 grid.
- Sweet Bonanza (Pragmatic Play) – a 6×5 grid that pays for eight or more matching symbols anywhere on screen. It pays without lines or clusters.
- Bonanza (Big Time Gaming) – six reels with a variable number of symbols on each, up to 117,649 ways per spin, at a 96% RTP. This is the Megaways engine.
Which Reel Count Should You Play?
Pick by bankroll and by what you want a spin to do, not by the reel count itself.
- Small bankroll, long session: a low-volatility 5-reel slot such as Starburst, or a 3-reel game at its minimum bet. Frequent small wins stretch the balance.
- Chasing a big multiplier: high-volatility 5-reel games such as Book of Dead or Dead or Alive 2, or a 7×7 cluster game. Expect long dry runs and budget for them.
- 5 reel slot machines offer the widest choice of free spins, pick bonuses and jackpots, while a 3-reel game gives you one to five lines and a paytable you can read in ten seconds.
TIP: Reel count changes how a win forms. The RTP is fixed in the game’s code, and nothing you do at the reels changes it.
Start by matching the volatility of a slot to your bankroll.
Bet sizing, session limits and the highest RTP setting on offer are the honest answer to how to win at slots.
FAQ
Short answers to the questions people ask most about 5-reel slots and games with more reels.
1. How many paylines do 5 reel slots have?
Most 5-reel slots have between 9 and 25 paylines, and some run to 50 or more. Starburst and Book of Dead use 10, Gonzo’s Quest 20, Wolf Gold and Mega Moolah 25. Games without fixed lines pay by ways instead: 243 ways on a 5x3 grid and 1,024 ways on a 5x4 grid.
2. Are 5 reel slots better than 3 reel slots?
Neither format pays better by design. RTP is set per game, not per reel count, and both formats include high and low payers. Five reels give you more features, paylines and volatility choices; three reels give you faster, simpler play. Choose by the RTP and volatility of the specific title.
3. Do 7 reel slots exist?
Yes, but nearly all of them are 7x7 grid games that pay in clusters of five or more touching symbols rather than on paylines. Reactoonz, Gemix, Thor’s Lightning, Giovanni’s Gems and Fruit Party are examples. A conventional seven-reel slot with paylines is very rare, because a seven-of-a-kind line win across 49 positions would almost never land.
4. Do more reels mean lower odds of winning?
Not in the way people expect. Extra reels make a full-line combination rarer, but designers offset that with more paylines, ways or cluster pays and with smaller symbol sets. The RTP tells you what a game returns and the hit frequency how often any win lands; both are set independently of the reel count.
5. How many reels do most slot machines have?
Five. The 5x3 layout has been the default for video slots since the late 1990s and for online slots since they launched. Three-reel games remain common as classic and fruit-style slots. Six-reel Megaways games and 7x7 or 8x8 grid games make up a growing but still smaller share of new releases.
6. What is the difference between 5x3 and 5x4 slots?
The second number is the rows. A 5x3 slot shows three symbols per reel, 15 in total, and gives 243 ways if it pays by ways. A 5x4 slot shows four symbols per reel, 20 positions and 1,024 ways. More rows mean more room for scatters and stacked symbols, but the RTP is not automatically higher.
Final Thoughts
Over time, 5 reel slots became the standard because they fit paylines, ways and bonus features into one screen, as the nine titles show. Seven-reel games are a different animal: 7×7 grids with cluster pays, worth a look if you prefer cascades and meters to free spins.
Every game on this page returns less than it takes over the long run, whatever its reel count, so decide what a session is worth to you before you open one and stop at that figure.
Game menus differ by market, so which 5 reel slots online you can open depends on where you live. The slots available in the US, for example, are licensed state by state, and only a handful of states allow online casinos at all.
A single national regulator, PAGCOR, licenses every legal site offering slots in the Philippines.
Dutch players choose from licensed online slots in the Netherlands, and every account there needs a deposit limit.