> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rafflex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rafflex.io/instant-win-games/slots.md).

# Slots

A three reel slot machine. Customers spin once for every ticket, and a winning ticket lands three matching prize symbols.

***

### What Is It?

A slot machine style game with three spinning reels. After checking out, customers spin once for every ticket they bought. A winning ticket lands three matching symbols for that prize, and a losing ticket shows a mixed line.

In the **Game Type** dropdown, this game is called **Slots**.

{% hint style="info" %}
Like every game type, Slots only appears once the competition has at least one [instant win prize](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md). Without one, customers simply see their ticket numbers.
{% endhint %}

***

### How It Works

1. After checking out, the customer lands on their order confirmation page and sees the slot machine. The reels are slightly blurred, with a **Click To Spin!** label in the middle.
2. A counter underneath shows how many spins they have left (**Spins Remaining**). They get one spin per ticket.
3. The customer presses **Spin** (or clicks **Click To Spin!**). The three reels spin and stop one after another.
4. If the ticket is a winner, all three reels land on that prize's symbol, the machine flashes, a win sound plays and the prize name appears over the reels.
5. If not, the reels stop on a mixed line and they can spin again.
6. Once every ticket has been played, the machine shows **Thanks for playing!**.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Lots of tickets?** Customers can press **Auto Play** to spin through all their tickets automatically, and press **Stop** at any time. The dropdown next to it sets the pace: **Normal**, **Fast**, **Turbo** or **Ultra**. Sounds only play at Normal speed, so the faster settings are silent.
{% endhint %}

{% embed url="<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPaLMbqVvGk>" %}

***

### The 9 Prize Limit

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Slots supports a maximum of 9 different instant win prizes.**

Each reel only has 9 symbols on it, one for each prize. Every prize can still have as many winning tickets as you like. For example, you could offer 9 prizes with 100 winners each, but you **cannot** have a 10th different prize.
{% endhint %}

When a competition uses Slots, the **Create Instant Wins** page reminds you with the message **Slots game: max 9 instant wins**, and only lets you add up to 9 prize rows at a time. If you add prizes in more than one batch, keep count yourself so the total stays at 9 or fewer. See [Add Instant Wins](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md).

#### Which symbol each prize uses

The order of your instant wins decides which reel symbol belongs to which prize. The first prize in your list uses symbol 1, the second uses symbol 2, and so on up to 9. On the reel image, the symbols are counted **from the bottom up**:

| Position in your instant win list | Symbol on the reel image |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| 1st                               | The **bottom** symbol    |
| 2nd                               | Second from the bottom   |
| 3rd to 8th                        | Continuing upwards       |
| 9th                               | The **top** symbol       |

You can change the order in either of these places:

* On the **Create Instant Wins** page, in the **Existing Instant Wins** list. Grab the up and down arrows to the left of a prize and drag it to a new position. The order saves as soon as you let go.
* On the competition's edit page, in the **Instant Wins** tab below the form. The **#** column shows each prize's position, and you can reorder the prizes from there too.

See [Change the order](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md#change-the-order) for more detail.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Check the # column.** If you have deleted prizes and added new ones, the numbers in the **#** column can end up higher than 9. If you see that, drag any prize to a new position (and back again if you like). This renumbers the whole list from 1, so every prize lines up with its own symbol again.
{% endhint %}

***

### Setting It Up

1. In the **admin panel**, find the **Competitions** group in the left-hand menu and click **Competitions**.
2. Click **Edit** on the competition you want to use (or click **New Competition** to start a fresh one).
3. In the right-hand column, open the **Game Type** dropdown and choose **Slots**.
4. A panel called **Slots Settings** appears underneath. Choose a theme from the **Slots Theme** dropdown (see below). This setting is required.
5. Click **Save changes** (or **Create** on a new competition).
6. Add up to 9 instant win prizes, in the order that matches your reel symbols. See [Add Instant Wins](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md).

***

### Customisation Options

All of these options live in the **Slots Settings** panel, under the **Game Type** dropdown.

#### Slots Theme

Choose from 9 ready made themes, each with its own reel symbols and background, or upload your own:

| Theme                    | Style                                                                           |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Lucky Reels Classic**  | Classic fruit machine.                                                          |
| **Deep Sea Fortune**     | Underwater.                                                                     |
| **Lootin Racoons**       | Playful racoons.                                                                |
| **Candyland**            | Sweets and candy.                                                               |
| **Mayan Totem**          | Ancient Mayan.                                                                  |
| **Dr Wacko**             | Mad scientist.                                                                  |
| **Aztec Treasure Quest** | Aztec adventure.                                                                |
| **Crypto Riches**        | Cryptocurrency.                                                                 |
| **Miner Madness**        | Mining.                                                                         |
| **Custom Upload**        | Your own reels and background, uploaded using the extra fields described below. |

When you pick one of the ready made themes, a reminder about the 9 prize limit and two download links appear under the dropdown: one for that theme's **reels** and one for its **background**. Use these to see exactly which symbol sits in which position, so you can put your prizes in the right order. They also make handy starting points if you later want to design your own.

#### Custom Upload

When you choose **Custom Upload**, two more fields appear. Both are required.

| Field                              | What it does                                                                                                                    | File rules                                                      |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Slot Background Image Override** | The background behind the slot machine.                                                                                         | An image exactly **2200px wide by 1214px high**, max **872KB**. |
| **Slot Reel Image Override**       | Your reel strip: one tall image holding all 9 symbols stacked on top of each other. The same strip is used for all three reels. | An image exactly **500px wide by 4800px high**, max **872KB**.  |

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Upload refused?** Check that the image is **exactly** the size listed above (not one pixel more or less), and that it is under 872KB. Exporting as a JPG and running it through a free image compressor usually brings the file size down.
{% endhint %}

***

### Creating a Custom Slot Theme

We have made Canva templates that are already the right size, so you only need to drop your own images in.

{% hint style="success" %}
Click here to access the [**Reels Template**](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGm3C4LANQ/lq5owVXhftEPkFP5JAnOkw/view?utm_content=DAGm3C4LANQ\&utm_campaign=designshare\&utm_medium=link\&utm_source=publishsharelink\&mode=preview). You will use this to create your custom reels. ***Please note**: You will need a free Canva account to use this template.*
{% endhint %}

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Upload Your Images to Canva

Click **Upload**, then **Upload Files**. Select your 9 prize images and your background image. These will be saved to your uploads folder.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Set a Background

You can either upload an image or use a solid colour. Click any white space around the image templates to select the whole design, then right-click your background image and choose **Set Image as Background**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Add Your Reel Images

Drag your images into each of the 9 square spaces. Try to centre each image within its square.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The **bottom** square is symbol 1, which is used by the **first** prize in your instant win list. Work upwards from there, so the top square is used by your 9th prize. Plan your squares to match the order of your instant wins (see [Which symbol each prize uses](#which-symbol-each-prize-uses)).
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Download Your Reels

Click **Share**, then **Download**. Change the file type to **JPG**. Leave all other settings as they are and click **Download**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Create Your Background

Open the [**Background Template**](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGm3Rh8VjQ/98rj-y5wj1Kem2-9roiN0w/view?utm_content=DAGm3Rh8VjQ\&utm_campaign=designshare\&utm_medium=link\&utm_source=publishsharelink\&mode=preview), add your design, and download it as a **JPG** in the same way.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Upload to Rafflex

1. Head back to your competition's edit page in the admin panel.
2. In **Slots Settings**, set the **Slots Theme** to **Custom Upload**.
3. Upload your reels JPG under **Slot Reel Image Override**.
4. Upload your background JPG under **Slot Background Image Override**.
5. Click **Save changes** and you are done.
   {% endstep %}
   {% endstepper %}

***

### Tips

* **Use bold, simple symbols.** The reels are small on a phone, so clear shapes and strong colours read far better than detailed photos.
* **Make every symbol different.** A win is shown as three matching symbols, so if two symbols look alike, customers may think they have won when they have not.
* **Keep the important part of the background away from the middle.** The slot machine sits in the centre of the background, so put logos and text around the edges.

***

### Want to try it first?

Once the competition has been saved, a **Preview Game** button appears just under the **Game Type** dropdown. Click it to open the **Game Preview** page, where you can play Slots with your own settings before any customer sees it.

* The **Game Settings** panel on the left holds the same **Slots Settings** described above. Any change you make, including a new upload, shows in the preview straight away.
* The **Live Preview** on the right plays the game with a few sample tickets, some of them winners. Nothing is entered and no one is charged.
* Use the desktop and mobile buttons above the preview to see both layouts, and the circular arrow to replay the game.
* Click **Save** when you are happy. Your changes are not applied to the competition until you do. Click **Back to competition** to return to the edit page.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The preview page has its own **Game Type** dropdown, so you can compare different games. If you change it and then click **Save**, the competition's game type changes too. A message under the page title warns you when this will happen.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
The preview uses your real instant win prizes, so you can see your own prize names and symbols on the reels. The sample winning tickets only use the prizes at the top of your list, though. If the competition has no instant wins yet, it shows some example prizes instead so you can still check the look. To check every symbol, open the reels download link (or your own reel image) and compare it with the order in your **Existing Instant Wins** list.
{% endhint %}

For other ways to check a game before launch, see:

{% content-ref url="/pages/llkGYVvQNWvOv6PJtv5g" %}
[Preview a Game](/instant-win-games/test-a-game-type.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}