Bonus hunt glossary

The vocabulary of bonus hunting, defined plainly. Most of it is shorthand invented on streams and in chat, which is why the same term sometimes means two things — where that happens, both readings are below.

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The session

Bonus hunt
A session in two halves: collect feature rounds without opening them, then open the whole collection in one sitting. Also called a bonus collection or, on some streams, a hunt.
Collecting / collect phase
The first half. You spin the base game across a line-up of games and park every feature round that triggers. Money goes out and nothing comes back during this phase.
Opening / playout
The second half, where the collected rounds are played one after another and each payout is recorded.
Line-up
The set of games a hunt collects from, usually decided before the first spin.
Start balance
The balance the hunt begins with. Not always the same as the hunt cost — see below.
Hunt cost
What collecting actually consumed: start balance minus whatever was left when collecting stopped. This is the figure break-even is computed from.
Bust
Running the balance to zero. In the collect phase it ends the hunt early; applied to a single round it means the round returned nothing.
Session result
Total returned across all opened rounds, minus the hunt cost. The only figure that settles a hunt.

The numbers

Break-even / break-even X
The average multiplier the collected rounds must return for the session to finish level: hunt cost divided by the total stake across all rounds.
Average X / avg x / average multi
The mean multiplier across the rounds opened so far. On 5scatter this is the unweighted mean of per-round multipliers, so every round counts once.
Multiplier / X
A round's payout divided by the stake it was collected at. A 2.00 stake returning 84.00 is 42x.
Required X
What the unopened rounds now have to average for the hunt to finish level, given what has already come back. Moves after every round.
Hit rate
The share of opened rounds that returned more than the stake they were collected at. A description of consistency, not of size.
RTP (return to player)
A game's theoretical long-run return, quoted as a percentage. It describes an enormous number of spins and says nothing about a single session.
Volatility / variance
How spread out a game's outcomes are. High volatility means longer quiet stretches and rarer large rounds; it is a description of shape, not of generosity.
Max win
The largest multiple of stake a game is designed to be able to pay. A ceiling, not an expectation.
Dead spin
A spin that returns nothing. Most spins in most games are dead spins.

The games

Feature round / bonus round
The part of a slot that a hunt collects — the triggered mode that runs separately from the base game, often as a fixed number of extra spins with a modified reel set.
Base game
Ordinary play, outside any triggered feature. Where collecting happens.
Scatter
A symbol that triggers the feature round by appearing a set number of times anywhere on the reels, rather than on a payline. Three scatters is the most common trigger, which is where this site's name comes from.
Super / mega / enhanced version
A stronger variant of a game's feature round, usually triggered by more scatters or bought at a higher price. Counts as its own round in a hunt.
Retrigger
Landing the trigger again inside a feature round, extending it. Part of the same collected round, not a new one.
Hold and win / respin feature
A feature format where symbols lock in place and remaining positions respin. Usually short, which affects how long an opening phase runs.
Tumble / cascade
Winning symbols are removed and replaced within a single spin, allowing chained outcomes. Common in modern grid games.
Feature buy / bonus buy
An in-game button that skips to the feature round for a fixed price. Restricted or prohibited in several regulated markets, and usually excluded from hunts.
Demo / practice play
A game running on virtual credits with no money involved and nothing payable out. Free to play in the literal sense: there is nothing at stake and nothing to win.

The mechanics of collecting

Saving / parking a bonus
Leaving a triggered feature round unplayed so it can be opened later. Whether this is possible is decided by the game provider.
Hold rule / hold time
A studio's policy on how long a parked round survives — indefinitely, until the session ends, or not at all.
Forced play
A studio behaviour where a triggered feature starts immediately and cannot be parked. Rules the game out of a collect-first session.
Cherry-picking
Choosing which collected rounds to open, or in what order, rather than following collection order. Frowned on because it makes a hunt incomparable to other hunts.
Stake / bet size
The amount wagered per spin. Hunts conventionally fix one stake for the whole session so break-even stays a single calculation.
Shared hunt / group hunt
A hunt several people contribute to and record together, with each participant's starting balance tracked separately so the result can be split.

Common questions

What does avg x mean in a bonus hunt?
Average X is the mean multiplier across the rounds opened so far — each round's payout divided by its stake, averaged. It is the running score of the opening phase.
What does break-even mean in a bonus hunt?
The average multiplier the collected rounds need to return for the session to finish level. It is fixed the moment collecting stops, and it is computed from hunt cost and total stake.
What is a super bonus?
A stronger variant of a game's feature round, usually triggered by more scatter symbols or purchasable at a higher price. In a hunt it is recorded as its own collected round.
What does it mean to save a bonus?
To leave a triggered feature round unplayed so it can be opened later in the session. Whether a round can be saved is decided by the game provider, not the casino.