To Infinity & Beyond: Infinity Reels & Pays Anywhere Explained

Infinity Reels and Pays Anywhere drift away from the idea of fixed reels and rigid paylines, each carrying its own small universe of possibilities.

Infinity Reels stretch the grid outward, opening the screen to new horizons. Pays Anywhere lets matching symbols land freely across the grid, forming wins from wherever they appear.

Both spark the question of just how far the game can go. Join us as we glide through that open universe, showing you how these mechanics change the experience of playing slots.

Infinity Reels: How It Works 

Usually, you have an expectation of the grid size when playing a slot, and for good reason. The description says it has 5 reels and 3 rows, but sometimes, that grid is not what it seems. Enter: Infinity Reels. 

Infinity Reels begin with three reels and four rows. When the right-most reel improves any regular combination on the grid, that’s the gas pedal to rocket off. From there, the grid pushes outward horizontally, adding a new reel to the edge of the screen. The expansion continues to infinity (and beyond!), as long as you keep matching symbols and forming wins with the right-most reel. 

If your Infinity Reels slot is developed by the original creator, ReelPlay, then each new reel brings a +1 multiplier, meaning every expansion blows your winning universe wide open. That’s Infinity Reels explained. But what about pays anywhere mechanics?

Pays Anywhere: How It Works

Regular slots have paylines, or fixed patterns on the grid. You have to land matching symbols on those lines to win. Pays anywhere does the opposite. It lifts those limits by awarding wins when matching symbols land anywhere, from the close orbit of reel 1 to the far-reaching edges of reels 5, 6, and beyond. 

The symbols don’t need to touch or line up. They can land far apart, tucked into corners, or clustered in the center. Your grid is wide open, showing nothing but a boundless sky of opportunity. If enough of them arrive, the win activates, no matter where they appear. 

Some Pays Anywhere games, like Grill and Chill or Cosmic Fruits 2, award wins for any number of matching symbols. The more you match, the more you win. Other games with this mechanic require a minimum number, such as four or more or eight or more.  

Infinity Reels vs. Pays Anywhere: Side-by-Side Comparison

Infinity Reels and Pays Anywhere sit on opposite sides. Infinity Reels uses paylines and focuses on expansion. The grid keeps growing as long as you keep landing wins on a payline that includes the right-most reel, and each new reel raises the multiplier. It creates a steady sense of movement, like watching the horizon pull farther and farther away with each step.

Pays Anywhere stays on a static grid and does not use paylines. Your wins are based on how many matching symbols land across the grid. You’re not watching the layout stretch like with Infinity Reels. Instead, you’re counting how many symbols appear from anywhere on the grid.

These slots’ volatility usually reflects this difference. Infinity Reels leans higher because the biggest payouts come from long chains of added reels and escalating multipliers. Pays Anywhere tends to hit wins more often, but to win big, you need to match a higher number of symbols in a single drop, which isn’t always easy. 

Pros and Cons

Both mechanics are next-gen slot features that reshape how you read a slot, almost like choosing between two styles of exploration.

One sends you outward, reel by reel, while the other asks you to scan the entire screen. Each has its own set of strengths and trade-offs depending on the pace you enjoy.

Infinity Reels

Pros:

• Grid expansion keeps the heart rate going, and that can never be discounted
• One win can lead to a series of wins, similar to the snowball effect of cascading reels
• Most slots with this feature include a progressive multiplier
• You usually don’t need three scatters to trigger it, like you would to unlock free spins and bonus rounds (wins from regular symbols count)

Cons:

• Infinity Reels slots are usually higher volatility, which means longer dry spells
• Wins depend heavily on continued reel extensions

Pays Anywhere

Pros:

• Simple to understand at a glance (no paylies to track)
• Frequent smaller hits
• Often paired with tumbling reels
• Come with bigger reel grids

Cons:

• Some Pays Anywhere slots require very high symbol totals to count as a win

FAQ

Infinity Reels slots and Pays Anywhere slots can feel larger than life, with a sense that anything could happen. Still, we’ll bring them back down to Earth and answer any lingering questions you might have. 

Do Infinity Reels have a maximum reel count?

Nope, they don’t, and they don’t need to. The expansion will naturally stop once you stop forming wins involving the right-most rel. 

Are these mechanics more volatile?

Often yes. Infinity Reels leans toward higher volatility because the biggest payouts depend on long expansion chains and rising multipliers.

Pays Anywhere varies, but slots that require higher symbol counts to win, like eight or more, tend to have higher volatility because it’s more difficult to achieve. 

Do Pays Anywhere games use clusters?

Nope! Cluster pay slots require symbols to touch to form a win. Pays Anywhere slots don’t. You can land matching symbols in opposite corners and still form a win if the total count meets the requirement. 

Are the payouts higher because of the mechanics?

Not automatically. These mechanics can lead to larger wins, but the payout potential comes from the game’s core design, not the mechanic alone. The size and frequency of your wins depends more on the game’s built-in RTP and volatility. The mechanics merely shape how wins are built. 

Do expanding reels affect RTP?

The expansion itself doesn’t change RTP mid-game. RTP is calculated across all outcomes the mechanic can generate, including expansions, multipliers, and bonus triggers. You might feel like the game grows or shifts as you play, but the underlying return stays the same. Infinity Reels, Pays Anywhere, and all other key slot features simply decide how the game reaches that long-term average. 

To Infinity, and Beyond!

Infinity Reels slots, while different, share the same idea: the screen can hold more possibilities than it first appears to. One grows outward, and the other breaks free from paylines, awarding wins from anywhere.

To explore these mechanics for yourself, enter the universe of SlotsLV Casino, place a bet, and shoot for the stars with our online slots.