Slot volatility plays a big role in your experience of a slot game. Otherwise known as variance, it’s the fundamental measure of a game’s risk. In other words, how much it deviates from its expected Return to Player (RTP).
So, if you want to understand the rhythm of the payouts on games at Novomatic casino UK and the like, you need to find out what its volatility is. Below are a handful of ways to go about this.
Reading the paytable and in-game information
The most immediate data source, and perhaps most directly available, is concealed in the game’s “Info” or “Paytable” menu. So, here you can check the Disparity Principle: examine the payout structure for premium symbols.
Unfortunately there’s not typically a single figure (though this is now changing with some modern providers which give a rating between 1 and 5). Still, most require some interpretation. So, seeing a big jump in value between a four-of-a-kind and a five-of-a-kind combination (e.g., a 20x multiplier for four symbols versus a 250x multiplier for five) is a strong indicator of high volatility. If you see a more linear and gradual payout progression, this suggests lower variance.
If you want even more insight, you can analyze the structure of bonus features. If the game’s maximum win potential is locked behind a difficult free spins round with stacked (and complicated) multipliers, its volatility is likely high.
Scrutinizing the casino’s FAQ and game rules
Beyond the game client, a casino’s platform should also document information that can give you some clues. Using the site’s search function can be effective, you could search for “Slot Name + volatility” or “Slot Name + variance.” It may not always work, but sometimes transparent operators maintain detailed FAQ sections or game rule databases that list the technical specs for their slot library.
This is also where provider-specific tendencies become apparent. Developers can cultivate some of their own distinct mathematical profiles, and a casino may describe these to players.
Just ask!
Directly reaching out to a casino’s support team is a simple but effective way of getting information. And, if it’s like getting blood out of a stone, it’s a good warning sign against using that casino (saves a lot of hassle in case you have a genuinely urgent issue down the line).
“Could you please provide the official volatility or variance rating for the slot [Insert Game Name]?” should do the trick.
The responses are telling, because an ideal outcome is a direct answer providing the specific rating, but they may simply say something like “All wins are random”, which is a red flag.
Mining the slot provider’s website
For the most definitive and unbiased data, head straight to the source. By bypassing the casino operator and going directly to the game developer’s website, you eliminate any human error on behalf of the casino.
These B2B sites (e.g., NetEnt, Play’n GO, Pragmatic Play) are a goldmine of information for those interested in the technical side of things. Navigate to their games section and try finding the title you are researching – or type it in on Google with the publisher’s brand name.
Look for a downloadable “Game Sheet” or “Fact Sheet” as these PDF documents, which are created for casino operators, not customers, are the primary source of truth. They almost certainly will have the official volatility rating, max win potential, hit frequency and many other detailed feature breakdowns. Opting for convenience (but leaving some room for error), you can upload this PDF to an AI model, like ChatGPT, and ask for a summary of its variance.
Trusted reviews
Finally, one of the more convenient ways to get a summary of a game and its variance is to look for reviews from trusted sites. These aren’t always accurate, which is why it’s important to only use trusted ones, but can be a quicker way of getting a descriptive overview – often in lay terms as well. If it’s a long review, press “Ctrl” + “F” and search for “variance” or “volatility”, as it likely will appear if it actually exists in the review (rarely do reviewers use any other term).
Synthesizing information for a strategic choice
Between these five places for information, you can find out everything about a single game. Some methods are more reliable than others, but require more digging. And remember, heading to the technical factsheet may have less room for error on their part, but you may misunderstand the figures or technical descriptions yourself. Because of this, it’s always worth finding the answer in two of the five places, so you can reconcile them to ensure they tell the same story. Likewise, if using AI, you can ask it to double-check its findings with another source of information, so that too has less room for misinterpretation.