Covers the classics people search for by name, the Scandinavian studios, and the slots that make a budget last.
Updated
This page carries figures checked on the date above, and that window has now passed. Studios publish new RTP settings and casinos change their rules: re-check the sources at the foot of the page.
An expanding symbol grows to cover its whole reel. That's the entire idea, and it comes in two flavours.
The book slot, made famous by Book of Dead: free spins pick one symbol at random, and when it lands it expands to fill its reel and pays on every line, even when the reels aren't next to each other. A screen of the top symbol is what everyone's waiting for.
The expanding wild: a wild that lands and grows to cover the reel, often carrying a multiplier. Starburst made it famous. Wanted Dead or a Wild, Tombstone RIP and RIP City push it much further.
On our Spin Score the newer wild-based games win comfortably. Book of Dead, the game that started half this page, is twelfth. I don't think that's harsh. Its own studio makes a better version.
At a glance
Best for
Players who like one clear thing to hope for on each spin
The catch
Book-style games have almost nothing going on in the base game
Top pick
Wanted Dead or a Wild, for three different bonus rounds
Better book slot
Legacy of Dead: higher RTP than Book of Dead and more expanding symbols
Check first
Play'n GO and Hacksaw list settings from about 84% to 88%
Play instead if...
You want constant action: see tumble slots
On this page
The 12 best expanding symbol slots, ranked
Ranked by Spin Score across every provider we cover, with no more than three from one studio. Spin Score = 40% RTP, 15% max win, 30% free spins round, 15% base game. How we score
Three bonus rounds you can trigger or buy: Great Train Robbery with sticky wilds, Duel at Dawn, which can stack several multiplier wild reels at once, and Dead Man's Hand. Real choice, scored 9. In the base game, VS symbols expand into wild reels with multipliers. RTP 96.38% at best, down to 88.42%; max win 12,500x. Hit frequency is 19.3%, so plenty of spins pass with nothing. See our full guide.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%8.1
Max winData · 15%7.6
Free spins roundEditors · 30%9.0
Base gameEditors · 15%6.0
What it is: A 5x5, 15-line western slot where VS symbols expand into wild reels carrying multipliers. Three bonus games can be triggered or bought: Great Train Robbery, Duel at Dawn and Dead Man's Hand.
Free spins round: Three different bonus rounds (sticky wilds, stacked duel reels, and a collect-then-showdown round) give real choice and the Duel at Dawn round can stack several multiplier reels at once.
Base game: VS symbols expand into multiplier wild reels in the base game, but many spins pass with no feature.
RTP, volatility and max win as Hacksaw Gaming publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
The extreme end. xNudge wilds gain +1 multiplier each step they nudge, and the Boothill free spins stack multiplier wilds toward a 300,000x cap. Nolimit City rates it Insane. The base game hit frequency is 9.08%, which means more than nine spins in ten return nothing. RTP is 96.08% or 94.08%. Tied with Wanted Dead or a Wild on score; the RTP tiebreak puts it second.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.2
Max winData · 15%10.0
Free spins roundEditors · 30%9.0
Base gameEditors · 15%6.0
What it is: A western slot on 5 reels and 108 ways where xNudge wilds gain +1 multiplier per nudge and splitting wilds double symbols. Two free spins rounds raise the stakes up to a 300,000x cap.
Free spins round: Two free spins rounds, the second (Boothill) built around stacking multiplier wilds aimed at the 300,000x cap.
Base game: xNudge and splitting wilds appear, but the 9.08% hit rate means most spins pay nothing.
RTP, volatility and max win as Nolimit City publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Starburst rebuilt for high stakes: expanding wilds on reels 2 to 4 carry random multipliers up to 150x and lock during respins. The base game scores 8. There are no free spins, only the paid XXXtreme Spins option, so the bonus scores 4. Two warnings from the record: the 96.45% RTP applies with XXXtreme Spins (SlotCatalog gives 96.26% without), and the 200,000x max win is from NetEnt's launch material while its own stats box says 16,800x.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%8.4
Max winData · 15%10.0
Free spins roundEditors · 30%4.0
Base gameEditors · 15%8.0
What it is: A 5x3 remake of Starburst where expanding wilds on reels 2 to 4 carry random multipliers up to 150x and lock in place during respins.
Free spins round: No free spins; the paid XXXtreme Spins option guarantees one or two Starburst Wilds per spin, which is the only bonus-style feature.
Base game: Expanding wilds with random multipliers up to 150x and Random Wilds can land on any base spin.
RTP, volatility and max win as NetEnt publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
The Tombstone follow-up on a 3-4-4-4-3 grid with 576 ways. Stacked xNudge wilds on the middle reels raise a multiplier each time they nudge, and a 40.17% hit frequency keeps small wins coming, unusual for Nolimit City. Sheriff badges on reels 1 and 5 start Shoot Out spins. Max win 13,950x; RTP 96.03% at the top of three settings, the lowest 90.13%.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.1
Max winData · 15%7.8
Free spins roundEditors · 30%8.0
Base gameEditors · 15%6.0
What it is: The Tombstone follow-up on a 3-4-4-4-3 grid with 576 ways, where stacked xNudge wilds raise a multiplier each step they nudge. Sheriff badges on reels 1 and 5 start a shoot-out bonus.
Free spins round: Shoot Out spins pit sheriff badges against multiplier wilds, and the free spins stack xNudge multipliers.
Base game: Stacked Hunter wilds nudge with +1 multiplier on the middle reels, and the 40% hit rate keeps small wins coming.
RTP, volatility and max win as Nolimit City publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
One of two medium-volatility games here. Gift Box wilds carry multipliers from x2 to x200 on any reel, three of them start sticky respins, and Dork Spins turn reels 2 to 4 into stacked wild reels whose multipliers add together. Max win 10,000x. RTP 96.28% at best per Bigwinboard's data box, though its review text quotes 96.24%; settings go down to 88.22%.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.8
Max winData · 15%7.2
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%6.0
What it is: A colourful 5x4, 16-line slot built around Gift Box wilds with multipliers from x2 to x200. Three Gift Boxes start sticky respins and the free spins add stacked multiplier wild reels.
Free spins round: Dork Spins turn reels 2 to 4 into stacked wild reels with multipliers up to x200 that add together.
Base game: Gift Box wild multipliers land on any reel and three of them start the sticky Gift Bonanza respins.
RTP, volatility and max win as Hacksaw Gaming publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Wild Cat symbols expand down the reel and swallow WILD symbols as multipliers. Two free spins choices: Ro$$ raises the chance of Wild Cats, Maxx activates reels so a Wild Cat lands there on every remaining spin. Medium volatility with a 12,500x ceiling, but an 18% hit frequency, so it's quieter than the label suggests. RTP 96.22%, down to 88.02%.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.7
Max winData · 15%7.6
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%5.0
What it is: A cartoon cat-and-mouse 5x5 line slot where Wild Cat symbols expand down the reel and absorb WILD symbols as multipliers. Two free spins rounds focus on landing more Wild Cats.
Free spins round: Two bonus choices: Ro$$ raises the chance of Wild Cats, Maxx activates reels so a Wild Cat lands there on every remaining spin.
Base game: Expanding Wild Cat symbols that swallow WILD multipliers give the base game some life, with a low 18% hit rate.
RTP, volatility and max win as Hacksaw Gaming publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Starts at 5x3 and 243 ways, and xWays mystery symbols expand reels while a sixth bonus reel can open, up to 46,656 ways. Molotov wilds convert nearby symbols. The two 8-spin bonus rounds are decent but the step between them is modest, so a 7. Nolimit City's page gives 96.01% and 15,072x; Bigwinboard's figures differ slightly, so we use the studio's.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.0
Max winData · 15%7.9
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%6.0
What it is: A London punk slot starting at 5x3 and 243 ways, where xWays mystery symbols expand reels and a sixth bonus reel can open, up to 46,656 ways. Molotov wilds convert nearby symbols.
Free spins round: Two 8-spin rounds with the bonus reel active and xWays expanding, with a clear but modest step between them.
Base game: xWays mystery symbols and Molotov wilds that spread appear in the base game, and two scatters give a Riot Respin.
RTP, volatility and max win as Nolimit City publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
The better book slot, in my view. Same 5x3, 10-line shape as Book of Dead, but extra scatters add more expanding symbols in free spins, which retrigger without limit. And the top RTP is higher: 96.58% against 96.21%. That's the whole gap between them on our score. The base game is plain lines, scored 3. Max win 5,000x. Play'n GO lists settings down to 84.55%.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%8.7
Max winData · 15%6.0
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%3.0
What it is: A 5x3, 10-line book-style slot where tomb scatters award free spins with special expanding symbols.
Free spins round: Free spins use expanding symbols and can retrigger without limit, and extra scatters add more expanding symbols than Book of Dead.
Base game: The base game is plain lines with a wild-scatter, so it is mostly waiting for the feature.
RTP, volatility and max win as Play'n GO publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Eight free spins with a random expanding symbol, retriggerable, and the high symbols need only two to expand. RTP and score match Legacy of Dead exactly: 96.58%, 6.9. The base game has nothing beyond the orb wild-scatter. Max win 5,000x. If you've had enough of Egyptian tombs, it's the same engine in a different coat. Same five RTP settings, so check the info screen.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%8.7
Max winData · 15%6.0
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%3.0
What it is: A 5x3, 10-line slot where three Magical Orbs award eight free spins with a randomly chosen expanding symbol.
Free spins round: Eight free spins with a random expanding symbol, retriggerable, and high symbols need only two more to expand.
Base game: The orb wild-scatter is the only base game feature, so most spins are plain.
RTP, volatility and max win as Play'n GO publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Two modes, Olympus or Hades, and you choose. Expanding wilds with multipliers up to 100x appear in both, and in the 10 free spins they become sticky. Hades trades a lower trigger rate for bigger average wins, per the record. Very high volatility, 15,000x max win, RTP 96.07% at the top of three settings. Bonus buy where it's allowed.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.2
Max winData · 15%7.9
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%5.0
What it is: A 5x5, 15-line slot with two modes (Olympus or Hades). Expanding wilds with multipliers up to 100x appear in both modes, and three scatters give 10 free spins with sticky expanding wilds.
Free spins round: Ten free spins where expanding wilds with multipliers up to 100x become sticky, with the Hades mode trading trigger rate for bigger average wins.
Base game: Expanding multiplier wilds can land in the base game, and players choose between two volatility modes.
RTP, volatility and max win as Pragmatic Play publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Wilds fall one row per respin, and a wild landing on a falling wild expands to fill the reel. In free spins every wild becomes full-reel and bronze, silver and gold collections pay 10x to 500x. Medium-high volatility and a 41% hit frequency in NetEnt's stats box make it one of the steadier games here. The 4,500x max payout is the lowest on the page.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.3
Max winData · 15%5.8
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%6.0
What it is: A 6-reel Megaways slot with up to 117,649 ways. Wilds fall one row per respin, a wild landing on a falling wild expands to the full reel, and free spins add bonus-win collections.
Free spins round: Free spins (10, plus 5 per extra symbol) turn every wild into a full-reel wild and add bronze, silver and gold collections worth 10x to 500x.
Base game: Falling Wilds respins and Wild on Wild expansions show up in the base game.
RTP, volatility and max win as NetEnt publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
The original, and last on the list. Three scatters give ten free spins with one random expanding symbol that pays on any line, plus retriggers. Simple and it can fill the screen. But the base game scores 3, the max win is 5,000x, and the top RTP of 96.21% is lower than Play'n GO's own Legacy of Dead. The lowest setting listed is 84.18%. Our Book of Dead guide covers what to check.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.6
Max winData · 15%6.0
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%3.0
What it is: A 5x3, 10-line slot where three scatters award ten free spins with a randomly chosen expanding symbol.
Free spins round: Ten free spins with one random expanding symbol that pays on any line, plus retriggers; simple but it can fill the screen.
Base game: No base game features beyond wins and scatters, so most spins are quiet until the free spins.
RTP, volatility and max win as Play'n GO publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Demo buttons open the free-play version on the game studio’s own site: no deposit, no account. We are not paid for them. How we make money
How book-style expanding symbols work
Free spins start, and one regular symbol is picked at random as the special one. During the round, when enough of that symbol lands to make a win, every copy expands to cover its whole reel. Then it pays on every line, and it doesn't need the reels to be next to each other.
So if the special symbol lands on reels 1, 3 and 5, it expands on all three and pays across all ten lines. Pick a high-paying symbol and fill five reels, and that's the 5,000x on Book of Dead.
The base game does very little. On Book of Dead, Legacy of Dead and Rise of Merlin the editors scored it 3: plain lines and a wild that doubles as the scatter. You're spinning for the free spins.
Legacy of Dead adds one thing that matters: extra scatters on the trigger give more expanding symbols. Rise of Merlin lets the high symbols expand from two. Small rule changes, but they're the reason both outscore the original.
How expanding wilds work
A wild lands and grows to fill its reel. On Starburst it lands on the middle three reels, expands and awards a respin, up to three in a row. On Starburst XXXtreme the same wilds carry random multipliers up to 150x.
Studios have built a lot on that. Hacksaw's VS symbols in Wanted Dead or a Wild expand into multiplier wild reels. Nolimit City's xNudge wilds nudge down step by step and gain +1 multiplier each time. RIP City's Wild Cats expand and absorb other wilds as multipliers. Divine Fortune Megaways expands a wild when another lands on top of it.
These usually do something in the base game, which is why they score better than book slots there. Starburst XXXtreme gets an 8.
What separates a good one from a dud
A reason to play the base game, or a bonus with real choices. Wanted Dead or a Wild has three bonus rounds that play differently. Book of Dead has one, and it's the same every time.
A multiplier helps a lot. A full-reel wild with a multiplier on it is the main source of big results in most of the newer games here.
And the RTP setting. Play'n GO lists five for each of its three games here, with the lowest between 84.18% and 84.55%. A book slot on its lowest setting loses money noticeably faster than the same game at 96.58%, and the screen looks identical. Check the info screen; our RTP guide shows where.
Volatility and budget
Mostly high. Nine of the twelve are high or very high. Dork Unit and RIP City are medium, Divine Fortune Megaways is medium-high.
Book slots are a special case: long waits, then a bonus that's either small or very large depending on which symbol it picks. Bigwinboard rates Book of Dead 10 out of 10 for volatility. Tombstone RIP is harsher still, with a base game that pays on 9.08% of spins.
Budget for the wait. Pick a stake that gives you enough spins to see the bonus more than once, and accept it might not come.
Bonus buys and the best studios
Eight of the twelve sell the bonus. Tombstone RIP's Boothill buy costs 3,000x at 97.03% RTP per Bigwinboard: a better percentage than the base game, and still a loss on average, with each click costing 3,000 stakes. The bonus buy page has the full maths. The book slots from Play'n GO don't have one.
Hacksaw Gaming and Nolimit City do the most with expanding wilds, three games each. Play'n GO owns the book format. NetEnt has Starburst XXXtreme, and Pragmatic Play has Zeus vs Hades. Two more games in our data use the mechanic and fall just short of the twelve: Snake Arena at 6.4, and Starburst itself at 4.8.
Every other one we scored
The rest of the 14 we scored, best first. They qualify but lost out on score or on the three-per-provider cap.
A symbol that grows to cover its whole reel when it lands. In book slots it's a regular symbol picked at random for free spins. In other games it's a wild, often with a multiplier attached.
Is Legacy of Dead better than Book of Dead?
On our numbers, yes. Legacy of Dead lists a top RTP of 96.58% against Book of Dead's 96.21%, and extra scatters give more expanding symbols in its free spins. Both have a 5,000x max win.
Do expanding symbols pay on non-adjacent reels?
In book-style free spins, yes: the expanded symbol pays on every line regardless of which reels it's on. That's what makes those rounds work. Regular base game wins still need the usual left-to-right match.
What is the max win on Starburst XXXtreme?
NetEnt's launch material quotes 200,000x. Its own game page shows a 16,800x max payout in the stats box. We score the 200,000x figure and flag the conflict in the card.
Which expanding wild slot has the highest max win?
Tombstone RIP, with a 300,000x cap, per Nolimit City. It also has a 9.08% base game hit frequency and an Insane volatility rating, so that number is very, very rarely reached.
