Random Multiplier Slots: How Random Multipliers Work
The Multiplier Wilds in The Dog House can carry x2 or x3. Mental 2’s Dead Patient feature picks from ten values, running from x5 all the way to x9,999. Both are random multipliers: the game draws a number from a list it has set.
What the list doesn’t tell you is how often each number comes up. I think most players realise the top value doesn’t land as often as the bottom one, but the list won’t tell you how much rarer it is. Ten possible values isn’t a one-in-ten chance of each. And once the number is drawn, separate rules decide what it multiplies and how long it lasts.
What are random multiplier slots?
A random multiplier is one whose value is drawn from a set list, rather than fixed in advance or built up through a progression rule. The Dog House uses x2 or x3 on its Multiplier Wilds. Gates of Olympus uses Multiplier symbols with listed values from x2 to x500.
The bigger list doesn’t tell us which numbers are more likely to appear, or which game has a better chance of paying. It only tells us which values the rules allow.
How do random multipliers work?
There are two parts to it. First the game draws a value. Then it applies that value according to its own rules.
Gates of Olympus can produce several Multiplier symbols during a tumble sequence. Their values are added together once the tumbles finish and applied to that sequence’s win. Tombstone R.I.P. does something quite different during Boothill Free Spins: on each spin it draws a multiplier for the selected Cowboy, from listed values running from x5 to x999.
The diagram shows three of the lists side by side, and how far apart they can be before any rule about applying them comes in.
Compare two games below to see how their random multiplier rules differ.
Choose two games to see how random multipliers work. Some games use random multipliers in several ways. Open a feature for the recorded rules and sources. Sources: Current In-Game Rules Screenshots; Pragmatic Play Game Overview PDF; Pragmatic Play Official Game Page Sources: Spain rules document; Sweden rules document; UK rules documentCompare how two slots use random multipliers
At a glance
The Dog House Gates of Olympus What it does
Wilds on reels 2 to 4 carry a random x2 or x3 and multiply the payline wins they are part of.
Multiplier symbols add their values after a tumble sequence, then the total multiplies the win from that sequence. When it works
Base game and Free Spins
Base game Possible values
x2 or x3
x2 to x500 Explore each multiplier feature
The Dog House
Multiplier featureWild MultipliersBase game and features
Gates of Olympus
Multiplier featureRandom Multiplier Symbols (Base Game)Base game
How is the random multiplier value selected?
The game sets the list, and the draw happens inside it. Any number can’t simply turn up.
The Dog House has x2 and x3 Wild multipliers. Buffalo King has x2, x3 and x5 during Free Spins. Mental 2 goes much further: its Dead Patient list is x5, x10, x15, x30, x50, x100, x200, x500, x1,000 and x9,999. Nolimit City has always pushed boundaries, and that top value is a fair example.
A list of ten possible values doesn’t mean each has a one-in-ten chance. Unless the rules say how the values are weighted, the odds of each one stay unknown.
Where can a random multiplier appear?
Multiplier symbols
Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza use dedicated Multiplier symbols. Gates of Olympus uses them in the base game too, while Sweet Bonanza’s rules only use them in Free Spins.
Multiplier Wilds
The Dog House puts randomly drawn values on its Wilds, and Buffalo King does the same during Free Spins. “Multiplier Wild” describes the symbol; “random” describes how the number it carries is chosen.
Characters and feature objects
Tombstone R.I.P. draws a multiplier for a selected Cowboy. Mental 2 reveals one through its Dead Patient feature. In Dragon’s Fire Infinireels, a Fire Egg reveals it. None of them needs a conventional Multiplier Wild.
What does a random multiplier apply to?
A big number only matters if you know what it multiplies.
In The Dog House, a Multiplier Wild affects a winning payline that uses it. In Buffalo King‘s Free Spins, participating Wild values apply to the winning combination. Tombstone R.I.P. ties its drawn multiplier to the selected Cowboy, while the Dragon’s Fire Infinireels Fire Egg multiplier applies to all wins.
In Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza, the combined Multiplier symbol value applies to the current tumble sequence’s win.
How long does a random multiplier last?
A value can be random when it’s drawn and then fixed from that moment on. So it helps to separate the moment the number is chosen from how long the game remembers it.
The Dog House shows this clearly. During Free Spins, a Wild that becomes sticky keeps the x2 or x3 it received when it landed until the feature ends. The value is random; keeping it isn’t.
Tombstone R.I.P. is the opposite: the Boothill Cowboy multiplier is drawn again on every Free Spin, so nothing carries over.
Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza are both Pragmatic Play games with very similar Multiplier symbols, but they part company in Free Spins. Sweet Bonanza’s Multiplier symbols last for the current tumble sequence, and each new Free Spin starts afresh. In Gates of Olympus Free Spins, the values add to a running total that lasts the whole round.
Mental 2 goes further. The random draw is only the start: separate Surgery rules can keep the highest Dead Patient multiplier for a Patient type and pass it on to later matching symbols.
What happens when more than one random multiplier applies?
That depends on the game’s combination rule, not on the fact that the values are random. The Dog House adds the values of Wilds on the same winning payline, so x2 and x3 make x5, while Buffalo King multiplies them during Free Spins to make x6. The Multiplier Slots guide goes into that in more detail.
Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza also add, but they add Multiplier symbols at the end of a tumble sequence rather than Wilds on a payline. You can’t work out the combination rule just by looking at the multiplier symbols.
Random vs increasing, fixed and Wild multipliers
Random vs increasing
Increasing Multipliers are about what makes an active multiplier grow; random multipliers are about how a value is chosen in the first place. A game can use both. In Gates of Olympus Free Spins, random values feed a running total that grows across the round.
Random vs fixed
An unpredictable spin doesn’t make the multiplier random. If a rule always gives x2, the value is fixed.
Random vs Multiplier Wilds
A Multiplier Wild is a Wild that carries a multiplier; random describes how its value is chosen. The Dog House uses both, but a random value can also arrive on a Multiplier symbol, a selected character or a Fire Egg, and not every Multiplier Wild has a random value.
Random multiplier examples compared
| Game | What carries it | Possible values | What it applies to / how long |
|---|---|---|---|
 Gates of Olympus |
Multiplier symbols during spins and tumbles. | Listed values from x2 to x500. | Visible values add after the tumble sequence and apply to that sequence’s win; in Free Spins they build a running total. |
 The Dog House |
Wilds on reels 2, 3 and 4. | x2 or x3. | Participating Wild values add on the winning payline; sticky Free Spins Wilds keep the assigned value. |
 Buffalo King |
Wilds during Free Spins. | x2, x3 or x5. | Participating Wild multipliers multiply together for the winning combination. |
 Sweet Bonanza |
Multiplier symbols during Free Spins. | Listed values from x2 to x100. | Visible values add at tumble end; each tumble sequence starts afresh. |
 Tombstone R.I.P. |
Boothill Cowboy multiplier drawn each Free Spin. | Listed values from x5 to x999. | Applies to the selected Cowboy and is drawn again on the next spin. |
 Mental 2 |
Dead Patient feature reveals a Patient multiplier. | Ten listed values from x5 to x9,999. | Separate Surgery rules can keep the highest value for a Patient type and pass it on. |
 Dragon’s Fire Infinireels |
Fire Egg. | Random multiplier; the exact list isn’t stated in the evidence used here. | Applies to all wins; only one Fire Egg may land per spin. |
Random Multipliers FAQ
Are all random multiplier values equally likely?
Not necessarily. A game may list its possible values without saying how often each one is drawn, and the list alone isn’t enough to work out the odds.
Can a randomly chosen multiplier stay active for later spins?
Yes. During The Dog House Free Spins, a sticky Wild keeps the random x2 or x3 value it got when it landed until the feature finishes.
Can a random multiplier grow?
It can feed one that does. In Gates of Olympus Free Spins, the random values on Multiplier symbols add to a running total that lasts the whole round.
Sources reviewed
The game examples are checked against developers’ rules, in-game help and game sheets, including material that isn’t publicly available. The links below identify the games; they are not substitutes for the underlying rule documents.
Pragmatic Play
Nolimit City
Red Tiger
Where this guide comes from
I compare game rules with developer material and keep unresolved differences visible. Read the full research methodology