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What are 5-reel slots and how do they work?

Discover all you need to know about 5-reel slots, from how they work to the best games to play with oddschecker.

Apr 13 2025, 7:02pm | 12 min read

What are 5-reel slots and how do they work?

On your hunt for slot apps that pay real money, there’s a good chance you’ve come across a few games that have at least five reels. This seems to be the standard for most video slots these days, but what makes this particular format so popular?

If you look at some of the more advanced slot games out there, you’ll find that some of them have six or more reels with thousands of paylines. However, it can be good to keep things simple. In this guide, we’ll take you through everything you need to know about five-reel slots, look at some popular examples, and explain where you can start playing these games.

Remember to take a look at some of the reviews of casinos and games that we link to across our guide, too – and don’t put any money down until you get the complete lowdown!

What are 5-reel Slots, Anyway?
How to Play 5-reel Slots?
What are the best 5-reel Slots to play with real money?
5-reel Slots where you can buy bonus
5-reel Video Slots
A creative format with lots of potential

What are 5-reel Slots, Anyway?

Five-reel slots are games that mimic old-school slot machines and have five reels, or rotating columns, where you’ll spot symbols that you need to match on paylines to win prizes.

Even a cursory glance across any given casino will probably tell you that this is one of the most popular types of slots right now. After all, the five-reel setup lets designers pack in plenty of paylines and visual personality!

Nevertheless, traditional slot machines have fewer reels in practice; the oldest ones have three rather than five for you to line up. The five-reel machine is somewhat of a modern invention that has gained steam as video slots have become more and more popular over the years.

The more reels there are in a slot game, the more paylines you can bet on. This means you have more ways to win than you do in games that only have three or four reels.

Just because a game has plenty of reels and paylines, that doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a win. In fact, it’s always healthy to keep an open mind about the games you play and understand that they are completely random. You should always keep a close eye on your play time and bankroll.

The best casinos and slot sites – which we’ll link to a little further down – offer responsible gambling tools you can use to manage your play time and any money you want to put into your games.

How to Play 5-reel Slots?

Getting started with five-reel slots is pretty simple. You can follow the general rule of thumb that we explained in our complete guide on how to play slot machines, but here’s a quick cheat sheet to get you up and running with this particular style of game.

Step 1: Start by choosing a reputable casino to sign up with. We recommend using one of the several we link to in our rundown of the top games below.
Step 2: Look for five-reel games using our recommendations below or by exploring the game catalog on offer. These games usually aren’t too hard to find at most casinos.
Step 3: Launch the game and adjust how much you’d like to bet per line. You can normally do this by using the plus and minus toggles towards the bottom of the play grid.
Step 4: Click or tap the spin icon, and the grid will start spinning. All five reels will settle, and if you’ve made a winning combination, you’ll get a prize! If not, the game will inform you that you’ve been unlucky this time around.

Those are the absolute basics when it comes to playing five-reel slot games in various shapes and styles. There are no precise strategies when it comes to how to win at slots, however, so it’s always worth pacing your money so you can make the most of your games and bankroll.

When looking into five-reel slot games, you might also want to consider certain statistics. For example, all slot games have a Return to Player (RTP) rating. This is a percentage that tells you how generous a game is likely to be across its entire lifetime.

It’s not always an exact marker for success, and there's certainly no way to measure whether a game will definitely pay out, but it’s worth considering.

To learn more about some of the mechanics and probabilities behind five-reel slots and other casino games, check out our complete guide to RTP and volatility.

What are the best 5-reel Slots to play with real money?

What would a solid guide to five-reel slots be without a rundown of the best games that fit into the genre? We’ve brought together some of the best 5-reel slots below, along with some details about where you can get started playing them at real money casinos.

How many of these five-reel games have you played already? It’s time to unveil our list…

9 Masks of Fire: This dramatic, fiery five-reel game hides a shady secret: it starts racking up the prizes when you lock up to nine masks into place on the reels. You can start playing 9 Masks of Fire at BetMGM, a top US casino where you can claim a $25 no deposit bonus as a new player.
Book of Dead: Rich Wilde’s intrepid tomb raiding adventures have helped put Play’n GO on the map as one of the most successful slot developers of all time. You can unearth the action in this popular slot over at Pokerstars Casino, where there’s currently a 100% cash match deal worth up to $600 for new players.
Cash Eruption: Take cover! This lava-ly take on the five-reel format serves up whole-reel wilds and spot prizes galore – if you can stand the heat. It’s currently available to play at FanDuel, one of our highest-rated casinos, and you can get up to $1,000 in a welcome casino bonus joining up today.
Da Vinci Diamonds: This magnificent five-reel slot game is certainly a work of art, and as one of the longest enduring games of its kind online, it still has plenty of charm and prizes up its sleeves. You can start playing this classic video slot over at Golden Nugget Casino, where there’s a bonus cash match worth up to $1,000 when you sign up and make a deposit.
Dancing Drums: Dancing Drums is a popular five-reel slot game that’s famous for its jackpots and vibrant Eastern theme. It’s certainly one of the most memorable slots that uses this format. It’s also super mobile-friendly and is another game you can get into as a new player at Golden Nugget.
Fortune Coin: Another slot game with a theme of Eastern treasures, Fortune Coin is simple yet effective, with a hidden free spins mode and a series of jackpots available for you to unlock if you’re persistent and patient. You can find the game among many others at DraftKings, where you can unlock $100 in casino games by playing through your first $10 deposit.
Immortal Romance: Dramatic and legendary on the online slots scene, this gothic five-reel game has certainly earned its place in the pantheon of modern reel-spinning classics. The team at BetMGM has it available for you to play for real money.
Rich Little Piggies: Hog Wild: Do you have what it takes to fill up not just one, but three piggy banks? Rich Little Piggies offers up a super-colorful video slot that looks just as good on mobile as it does on desktop. You can start getting into it for real money by signing up over at Pokerstars Casino.
Starburst: Where do you start with a game like Starburst? This gem-busting title has been part of the online slots scene since at least 2012, making it part of the old guard. It’s rare to find a casino that doesn’t have Starburst available to play, but we recommend you check out the game at Fanatics, where you can claim $50 in casino credit just by paying a minimum of $5.

Of course, there are plenty more five-reel slots where these came from. If you explore any of the casinos we’ve linked here, you’ll likely find lots more five-column action across the catalogs.

It’s also a good idea to look for free 5-reel slots online at social casinos, where you don’t have to make a deposit or place real-money bets but still have a chance to win prizes.

5-reel Slots where you can buy bonus

Alongside traditional games, some of the most popular slots with five reels let you unlock bonus features early!

This means you have to pay in and buy a feature outright. Although you’re risking a higher amount of money than you might on a straight bet, you have a better chance to win prizes in free spins and pick-me rounds.

Not all five-reel games offer this option; our research indicates that bonus buy features usually appear more often in six-reel and Megaways games. Nevertheless, there are still some five-reel slots that let you leap ahead.

Take Ultimate Fire Link: Olvera Street, for example. This super-festive slot classic not only has five reels of action to unpack, but there are also four different jackpot prizes and the option to purchase its free spins game.

If you don’t want to wait for bonus symbols to fall into the grid, buying the bonus can help you see the biggest features a slot game has to offer with an upfront payment.

If you’re looking around for which slot machines pay the best, remember that being able to leapfrog to the bonus round doesn’t mean you stand a higher chance of winning. In fact, the odds always remain the same – and given that you’re paying more upfront, there’s actually a bigger risk involved.

Before you start diving into bonus buy slots, be sure to get a grip on your bankroll and decide how to manage your play time.

5-reel Video Slots

The five-reel slot game is certainly more common as a video slot format – that is, games you can play through real money casino apps and at online slots sites – although there are some traditional machines that have this column configuration.

Game developers have gotten more and more creative over the years with 5-reel video slots, whether that means developing sticky or supersized symbols, or adding in bigger bonus rounds and multiplier features.

Just like in other slot games, there are no precise strategies on how to win at video slots with five reels as everything is random. Your best chance at making the most of your spins is to lower your bet as much as possible to maximize your play time and avoid buying any bonuses unless you can afford it.

Some of the biggest and best-known slot games online have five reels. Take the wild and colorful Wolf Gold, for example. This game is available to play at several big casinos and through a variety of slot apps. Although it might be simple in design, it has inspired plenty of newer five-slot games that have come along in the meantime.

Newer games like Razor Shark are just as simple on the surface but still hide a couple of tricks up their sleeves. The five-reel format has become somewhat expected by a lot of players. Games like this one and Wolf Gold can maximize paylines for players to bet on, whereas traditional three-reel slot machines have fewer than ten paylines in general.

Another example of a massively popular five-reel slot game that has taken on a life of its own is Big Bass Bonanza. This fishing game could even be credited for revitalizing the fishing game genre in the slots industry. It has also spawned a series of spinoffs over the years, including Big Bass Splash.

Although there are more and more video slots using bigger game grids and more complex layouts in the modern age of iGaming, the five-reel setup is a reliable standard that is actually less predictable than you might think.

A creative format with lots of potential

Five-reel games are some of the most common yet creative slots you’ll find at online casinos. Although slot machines dating back decades usually have fewer columns, the five-reel setup is a hallmark of the video slot era – and it’s one that is unlikely to change any time soon.

Take a look at some of the top slots we’ve introduced in this guide and explore some of the big casinos we’ve linked to. You’ll see some top welcome bonuses available now that could help you find and play interesting five-reel titles you’ve never tried before.

As always, make sure to keep track of your play time and your bankroll. Always play responsibly and read the terms and conditions of any bonuses you encounter.

Now that you know how to play 5-reel slots, it’s time to see what you can spin into action!