Scatter symbol (slot definition)
A scatter pays or triggers a feature wherever it lands, not along a payline. Sun Temple's Temple Door scatter starts a bonus about once in 107 spins.
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A scatter is a slot symbol that counts wherever it lands on the reels, not only along a payline. Scatters usually do one of two things: pay a prize based on how many appear, or trigger a bonus feature such as free spins. They are the main way a slot reaches its bonus rounds.
Why scatters work differently
Ordinary symbols must line up on a payline in a set order. A scatter ignores lines and position: three scatters anywhere on a five-reel grid are enough. That is why scatter wins can feel exciting, as the symbols land in scattered places and each reel stop adds suspense.
Scatters are also typically not replaced by wilds, so a wild cannot create a scatter win.
Sun Temple's Temple Door
In Cashout Arcade's Sun Temple the scatter is the Temple Door. The published rules say:
- Three or more Temple Doors anywhere start a bonus.
- A bonus starts on average once in 107 spins.
- The game picks one of two bonuses at random, half each: Temple Link, a hold-and-spin round, or Pharaoh's Offers, a sequence of up to four offers you can take or pass.
Worked example: how often to expect it
One in 107 means that over 1,000 spins you would see about 9.3 bonuses on average (1,000 divided by 107). But that is an average, not a schedule. The number of spins until the next bonus is random, so you can see two in ten spins, or none in 300. The bonus is a large part of the game's return: according to the published odds, the lines pay about 48.6 percent of the total and the bonus feature the rest.
| Spins played | Average number of bonuses |
|---|---|
| 100 | about 0.9 |
| 500 | about 4.7 |
| 1,000 | about 9.3 |
Common misconceptions
- "Two scatters on screen means the third is due." Reels are independent, and the near miss is just a display of a result already decided. See Gambler's fallacy (definition and example).
- "Scatters pay more than normal symbols." Some do, some do not. The value is in the feature they trigger, and a feature can return less than its stake in a single trigger.
- "A longer dry spell means a bonus is coming." The chance per spin does not grow with time.
Coins are virtual and have no cash value. See Free spins (definition and what they cost) for the commonest scatter feature and the Odds page for the full Sun Temple rules.