Slot Glossary
32 terms covering Wild Swarm's Swarm Mode pre-placed Sticky Wilds, Collectable Bees hive meter, Pick Feature honeycomb cells, retriggering Free Games, and the path to 3,069x.
Autoplay
Spin the reels automatically for a set number of rounds. Wild Swarm lets you set stop conditions — stop on Free Games trigger, stop on Swarm Mode activation, stop on Pick Feature. Useful for grinding Bee collection toward Swarm Mode and waiting for scatter triggers.
Base Game
Standard play before Free Games or Swarm Mode triggers. Wild Swarm's base game runs across 20 paylines on the 5×4 grid. Bee symbols collected during base play fill the hive meter — most session value comes from grinding the meter and waiting for the random Pick Feature to trigger.
Bee Meter (Hive Collector)
Wild Swarm's persistence mechanic. Bee symbols drop during base spins and free spins, each filling the hive meter by one. Once the meter tops out, Swarm Mode triggers — converting every collected Bee into a Sticky Wild placed on the reels before free spins start.
Bonus Buy
Skip the base game and jump directly into Free Games. Wild Swarm offers Bonus Buy at ~100x stake (RTP 97.03%). The buy maintains base RTP. UK and Netherlands block Bonus Buy by regulation. Doesn't trigger Swarm Mode directly — only the natural meter-fill route does.
Cascading Reels (Tumble)
Wild Swarm doesn't use cascades. Wins resolve once per spin via 20 paylines. The respin and value-extension action comes from Sticky Wilds locking during Free Games rather than from cascading symbol removal.
Collectable Bees
Wild Swarm's headline accumulation symbols. Bee symbols appear during base game and free spins. Each bee collected fills the hive meter. The collection persists across sessions in some configurations, letting patient players build toward a loaded Swarm Mode bonus round.
Dead Spin
A spin returning nothing. Wild Swarm's medium-high volatility produces dead spins around 55-60% of base spins. Even dead spins can collect Bee symbols though — those symbols don't pay alone but contribute to the hive meter, so dead-pay spins still have meter value.
Feature Trigger Rate
How often features activate. Wild Swarm's natural Free Games trigger sits at ~1 in 220 base spins (3+ scatters). Pick Feature triggers randomly without scatter requirement. Swarm Mode triggers only via filled hive meter — variable depending on Bee collection rate.
Free Games
Wild Swarm's primary bonus round. Triggered by 3+ scatter symbols. Awards an initial allocation of free spins where any wilds that land become sticky for the remaining spins. Bee collection continues toward Swarm Mode during the round, so a Free Games run can chain into Swarm Mode if enough Bees land.
Hit Frequency
How often a paying combination forms. Wild Swarm's base hit rate sits around 35-40% — about 1 in 2.5 spins pays something. Above average for medium-high volatility slots, partly explained by the 97.03% RTP. Push Gaming designed it as a player-friendly slot.
Honeycomb Cells
Wild Swarm's Pick Feature visual structure. When the random Pick Feature triggers, a honeycomb screen pops up with concealed cells. Pick one to reveal an instant cash prize up to 200x stake, an extra free spin allocation, or a direct ticket into Free Games.
Max Win
The absolute ceiling per round. Wild Swarm caps at 3,069x — modest by 2025 standards but reachable through Swarm Mode when a fully loaded hive places Sticky Wilds across most reel positions, creating overlapping win lines on consecutive spins.
Megaways
A Big Time Gaming licensed mechanic with up to 117,649 ways. Wild Swarm doesn't use Megaways — uses 20 on a 5×4 grid. Push Gaming has Megaways-licensed titles in their catalog but Wild Swarm uses standard 20-line math that fits the Bee/Swarm Mode mechanic.
Multiplier
A value that multiplies a payout. Wild Swarm's wilds during base play can carry multipliers (rare). The math model favors coverage over multiplier stacks — Sticky Wilds creating overlapping winning lines through Swarm Mode produce larger payouts than multiplier-driven slot designs.
Paylines
Predefined lines where matching symbols form a win. Wild Swarm runs 20 fixed paylines on a 5×4 grid. Lines pay left-to-right starting from reel 1. All 20 lines are always active. The 5×4 grid (4 rows tall) gives Sticky Wilds more vertical coverage than typical 5×3 layouts.
Paytable
Reference chart for symbol payouts. Access through the in-game info menu. Wild Swarm's premium symbols (queen bee, honeycomb, hive character) pay the most. Mid-tier covers nature imagery (flowers, leaves). Card royals fill the bottom across the 20-line layout. Bee symbols collected for the meter pay separately during base hits.
Pick Feature
Wild Swarm's random base-game mini-game. Triggered randomly during base play — no scatter requirement. A honeycomb screen pops up with concealed cells. Choose from honeycomb cells to reveal instant cash prizes up to 200x stake, extra free spins, or entry into the Free Games bonus.
Push Gaming Provider Catalog
Push Gaming is a London-based studio with a long-running catalog of innovative slots (Razor Shark, Jammin' Jars, Big Bamboo). Wild Swarm (September 2017) sits in their nature/animal-themed sub-catalog. GLI certification covers all titles. Distribution skews UK, EU regulated markets, and select operators globally.
Retrigger Mechanic
Wild Swarm's Free Games extension. Land additional scatters during Free Games for extra free spins on top of remaining spins. Sticky Wilds from previous spins continue to lock through retriggers, so chained Free Games runs accumulate sticky coverage across the entire extended round.
RNG (Random Number Generator)
The certified algorithm determining every spin outcome. Push Gaming uses GLI-tested RNGs — independently audited for fairness in regulated markets. Each spin in Wild Swarm is independent of the last; previous Bee collections or scatter counts have zero predictive value for future spins.
RTP (Return to Player)
The theoretical percentage of wagered money the slot returns over millions of spins. Wild Swarm runs at 97.03% on the standard configuration — significantly above the industry average of 96%. Push Gaming designed it as a player-friendly slot. Some operators may run lower variants — verify in the game info screen before spinning.
Scatter
A symbol that triggers features regardless of position. Wild Swarm's scatters trigger Free Games when 3+ land on the reels. Different from Bee symbols (which fill the hive meter for Swarm Mode) — two distinct trigger paths via two different special symbol types.
Session Variance
The gap between actual results and theoretical RTP. Wild Swarm has 97.03% RTP, but a 200-spin session can range from 50% to 200% of wager. Medium-high volatility means session swings are moderate to wide — Swarm Mode triggers (when they happen) can swing a losing session into solid profit territory.
Stake
Your bet per spin. Wild Swarm ranges from $0.20 to $100. The stake applies uniformly across all 20 paylines. All payout values (Pick Feature prizes, Sticky Wild line wins, max win) are quoted as multiples of stake.
Sticky Wilds
Wild Swarm's Free Games and Swarm Mode mechanic. During Free Games, wild symbols that land stick in place for the remaining spins. Combined with Swarm Mode's pre-placed wilds, later spins in the bonus can have the majority of the grid covered in wilds, creating multiple winning combinations per spin.
Swarm Mode
Wild Swarm's ultimate bonus and headline feature. When you've collected enough bees to fill the hive meter, the hive explodes and unleashes Swarm Mode — 10 free spins where every collected bee becomes a Sticky Wild placed on the reels before a single spin plays. The more bees gathered, the more wilds cover the grid.
Volatility (Variance)
How payouts are distributed. Wild Swarm is rated Medium-High — pays more frequently than pure high-vol slots thanks to the 97.03% RTP and Pick Feature, but the big wins are concentrated in Swarm Mode where collected bees convert into Sticky Wilds.
Ways to Win
An alternative to fixed paylines. Wild Swarm uses 20 paylines, not ways-to-win. The 20-line layout works well with Sticky Wild mechanics because wild positions create specific column-based line completions that are easy to visualize.
Wild Symbol
A symbol that substitutes for any regular symbol to complete combinations. Wild Swarm's wilds substitute for everything except scatters. During Free Games, all wilds that land become sticky for the rest of the round. Swarm Mode pre-places wilds based on collected Bee count.
Win Distribution
How total payouts spread across categories. Wild Swarm's medium-high-volatility split: Swarm Mode rounds ~35% of total RTP, standard Free Games ~25%, Pick Feature ~15%, base-game line wins ~25%. The distribution is relatively balanced compared to high-vol slots — partly why the hit frequency stays above 35%.
Bonus Buy Restrictions
Some jurisdictions block bonus purchases entirely. UK has prohibited buy features since October 2021. Netherlands also blocks them. Wild Swarm's 100x Bonus Buy is unavailable in those markets — only natural triggers and Swarm Mode meter-fill work for affected players.
5×4 Grid with 20 Paylines
Wild Swarm's grid format. 5 reels × 4 rows = 20 cells (one row taller than typical 5×3 slots). Pays through 20 fixed paylines. The extra row gives Sticky Wilds more vertical coverage during Free Games — particularly important for Swarm Mode which benefits from grid-spanning wild placements.
See These Terms in Action
Try Wild Swarm demo and watch Bees fill the hive meter, Pick Feature reveal honeycomb prizes, and Swarm Mode pre-place Sticky Wilds across the grid.
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