What are medium volatility slots?
When you look at the volatility level in any online slot game, you’ll see one of three words to describe it:
So, the medium volatility option obviously sits in the middle of the two extremes, but what does that mean for your gameplay prospects? We’ve put together a table that displays the main facts about each option. This should help you figure out whether the medium version is right for you.
| Volatility Level |
Prize Frequency |
Potential Size of Prizes |
| Low |
Often |
Usually small |
| Medium |
More often than high but less often than low |
Bigger than low volatility but smaller than high volatility |
| High |
Infrequent |
Chance of bigger prizes when they do arrive |
In a sense, medium volatility means you’re hitting the sweet spot between the frequent but small payouts you might get from a low volatility game and the occasional but potentially much bigger prizes you might get when playing the high volatility games. You’re looking at average games offering an average chance of collecting an average prize. Incidentally, you might also see volatility referred to as variance, but it means the same thing.
Why are medium volatility slots popular among players?
If you’re undecided on whether to try these titles, you might find the following section worthwhile to read. Some players seek out these slots, and these are the reasons why.
They offer better prizes than the low volatility titles
While it’s nice to play low volatility games and get a steady string of prizes, you may realize that those prizes are going to be small. You might get the occasional larger one, but if you’re playing with pennies – or whichever currency you’re using at your chosen casino – you’re usually only going to win pennies in return. We’ve had times when we’ve played three-reel slots with a penny per go, and had ‘big win’ messages pop up for a 50-cent prize. You’re not going to win anything life-changing in a medium volatility slot game, but you will have more promising prizes to go after.
You’re not going to hit a long fallow period with no prizes at all
You might have experienced this in a high volatility slot. We’ve gone through plenty of spins with no prizes at all, and it can be disheartening. If you’ve only got a small budget to work with, highly volatile slots can be a quick way to go through it with nothing to show in return. While a medium volatility level doesn’t land prizes as often as
low volatility slot machines
do, you’re still likely to hit some appealing prizes while playing one.
It’s sometimes easier to trigger bonus features than in high volatility slots
You’ll find plenty of slots that include at least one bonus round. While you may not always win a prize during these, most slots do offer a prize range, so you’ll often walk away with something. You’ll usually have a better chance of reaching a bonus feature in medium volatility casino slots when compared to the highly volatile ones with greater prize potential involved.
They’re ideal for players with all kinds of budgets
Some players like to find
high stakes slots
to play, but those obviously carry a much higher degree of risk. The good news is that, regardless of your budget, you can usually participate in a few slots that offer medium variance status. And with prize potential landing more often than it would in high-variance games, you have a better chance of getting prizes and making the best of your budget. Just remember that there is never a guarantee of winning prizes, and you may lose more than you win over the space of a few – or many – spins.
Top queries you might have about medium volatility online slots
Whether you are looking for medium volatility
free slots in Canada
or you’re somewhere else entirely, you may well want to ask many of the same questions lots of players have about these games. We aim to answer the top queries for you here.
🔍 How can you find out the volatility level of a specific slot game?
There are several ways you can do this. We tend to visit the official website for the developer first – oftentimes, they will confirm the volatility level when promoting each game. We might also load the game and check the paytable – or more specifically, the loading screen. We’ve noticed that slots from Pragmatic Play provide the easiest way to find out volatility. Look at the loading screen and you will see five lightning bolts. You can then judge the volatility depending on how many bolts they’ve colored in.
Another option is to read online reviews for particular slots. We’d suggest checking through two or three to make sure they reveal identical volatility levels. Finally, you can check the return-to-player (RTP) percentage. Low volatility games tend to have higher RTPs overall, so look for 96% or above there. Slots falling into the medium range can potentially have a slightly lower RTP compared to those.
Finally, some casinos use a star system or dial to indicate where a slot might sit on the volatility scale. That’s the easiest way to tell as you can check it before you load a game to see what it’s all about.
🎰 How many online casinos offer medium volatility slots?
You should find some of these games at most – if not all – online casinos you can visit in your country or region. Some casinos allow you to search for games in various ways, and may include volatility within their search options as well. Alternatively, you can follow the advice we’ve provided above to give you a better idea of which games offer a medium variance in terms of prize size and prize frequency.
💰 Do these slot games feature jackpots?
Yes, they are more likely to include one or more jackpots compared to the lower volatility slots. Since those offer smaller prizes, they don’t tend to bring up jackpot prizes quite as often. As usual, your best option is to load the game and check the paytable to determine whether the game offers any jackpots – and if so, what size they might be. You could spot fixed jackpots, which are based on multiplier wins, or progressives that will climb in size until someone wins them. As you might guess, high volatility titles are most likely to have big jackpots available.
🎮 Can you play them without making real wagers on them?
Yes, you can often play slots for free – look for a demo or practice option when visiting an online casino. You’ll see that lots of online casinos only offer access to this version if you’re a member, but in some cases, you may be able to test some before you sign up. You might find the availability of free slots depends on which country you’re in and the regulations in force there. For instance, you might need to prove your age before you can play, even for free. On balance, though, most software developers do include a practice option to try first.
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5 of the best medium volatility slots you can play today
We could provide a giant list of slots that hit the medium target for you here, but we’ve spent time choosing some of the more appealing – and more famous – titles you can play. Take note that some game developers may only make their games available in certain countries. However, even if you find you cannot play all the titles listed here, you can still search for slots that sit in the middle on the volatility scale at any casino you care to visit. You can also check whether you can play
slots with no deposit
at your selected site.
Immortal Romance
Immortal Romance
-
RTP:
96.86
-
Theme:
Mythology
-
Volatility:
medium
How about a vampire theme to start us off here? You might have wondered whether that theme would be on offer given the title, and it plays out across five large reels in this game. There’s little room for any backdrop here, and what you do get is dark red and black in tone, which fits the theme nicely. You can also play over 243 ways to win, which means you get all possibilities across the 5 x 3 game screen.
Games Global provides you with a wild game logo, which can replace standard symbols and offer a 2x multiplier for prize-winning combinations. You might also spot an ornate door knocker – that’s the scatter symbol. Finding three of those anywhere in a spin will take you into the Chamber of Spins. You’ll begin with Amber, one of four main characters in the slot game. She awards you 10 free spins with a 5x win multiplier. If you play for long enough, you can access three other versions of this round. Watch out too for the random Wild Desire feature that will change one or more reels into wild reels.
Rainbow Riches Pick ‘n’ Mix
Rainbow Riches Pick ‘n’ Mix
-
RTP:
94
-
Theme:
Irish
-
Volatility:
medium
You’ve got one of many sequels to the original Rainbow Riches game. It offers a standard set of five reels and 20 paylines. It’s a big game, with up to five bonus rounds to chase down. You must choose how many you would like to try and reach before you start, with three, four, or five on offer. Going for a lower quantity of bonus rounds will make it more likely that you might reach one. We spotted free spins, along with Road to Riches, Pots of Gold, and two more.
This element of choice also means you might see different triggering icons on the reels, since you need something different for each bonus round. We liked this aspect, and it certainly makes this medium volatility slot game well worth trying.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra
-
RTP:
95.02
-
Theme:
Mythology
-
Volatility:
medium
If you’ve seen the iconic and colorful image accompanying this slot – the one with just her eyes visible – you’ll know which slot we are talking about. It’s an IGT slot – arguably one of their most famous – and we found it relatively simple to play, too. Don’t expect too much by way of a background – the focus is on the reels here, five of them in all. With three symbols per reel, you’ll get 20 adjustable paylines to bet on.
The Cleopatra logo provides the best prizes, with 10,000x your bet for landing five on the same pay line. You can use it as a wild symbol too, as it can replace everything apart from the golden Pharaoh symbol. You need three of these to appear anywhere to get some free spins – 15 of them. If you land a prize during those, you’ll receive a 3x multiplier. The exception to that would be landing the top prize of five Cleopatra icons on a line.
Book of Dead
Book of Dead
-
RTP:
96.21
-
Theme:
Mythology
-
Volatility:
high
This must be the most famous ‘book of’ slot currently on offer. Play’n Go came up with an adventure theme for this game, but you will need to search for a golden tomb rather than a book to find the wild and scatter symbols, as it acts in both roles. You’ll find a familiar setup as well, with five reels and three rows of symbols providing plenty of space to play across 10 lines.
Three tombs reveal the entrance to the free spins round. You can expect to receive a randomly chosen expanding symbol for those games, too. This means that you’ve got a better chance of landing one or more prizes with that symbol, especially if it lands on more than one reel at the same time.
Fishin’ Frenzy The Big Splash
Fishin Frenzy The Big Splash
-
RTP:
95
-
Theme:
Sports
-
Volatility:
medium
You might have come across a slew of titles in the same range as this, but we’ve chosen this as one of our preferred top medium volatility slots to play. It focuses on fishing, obviously, with a bright game screen and some quirky icons to look for, including some pelicans. You’ve got five reels and 10 lines to contend with along the way.
You’ve got a fisherman as the wild symbol, plus his boat as a scatter symbol. You can also watch out for some fish, appearing in different amounts on the symbols, together with cash sums. You can try and reel in some of those prizes during the bonus collect feature and some free spins.
Pros and cons of medium volatility slots
Pros and cons
- Plenty to choose from
- Many popular slots have medium volatility level
- Wins come more often than with high volatility slots
- Ideal for all budget levels
- Can be hard to identify volatility
Try some medium volatility slots to see what you think
The only way you will know for sure whether you like playing slots with a medium volatility level is by trying them. Fortunately, as we’ve seen, there are lots of them available for you to play online today, including popular titles such as Book of Dead and Cleopatra. You can find plenty of slot reviews and possibilities here, so you won’t need to go far to find some options.
While there are pros and cons to playing slots offering different volatility levels, we think the balance of features and prize potential for medium variance slots is often the most appealing. This means we’re unlikely to see a slowdown for these slot releases anytime soon.
If you want to try out medium volatility slots out for yourself, tap the banners on this page to visit our recommended and trusted online platforms.
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Medium volatility slots FAQs
🎰 Can you change the volatility level in a slot game?
Yes, on occasion it’s possible, but it is rare. You might come across a slot that gives you the option to choose your volatility before you start to play.
⚖️ What volatility is best for slots?
Many players choose a medium level of volatility. That’s because it can provide you with a balance of risk and reward. Of course, you should always be aware of your preferences and budget, and compare all three levels of volatility (low, medium, and high) to decide what’s best for you.
🔑 What is the secret to winning on slot machines?
There isn’t one. Slots work using a random number generator (RNG) to ensure each spin is random and as fair as possible. Different slots offer different volatility levels, which affect the payout potential, but each spin will still be random.
💸 Can you play medium volatility slots for free?
Lots of online slot games include a demo version, which you can play for free using tokens that are included within the game. Of course, you cannot win real prizes playing these, although you can gain knowledge about the game and decide whether you like it or not before playing for real.
