why do some slots have mini games that are worse than base game.

Noticing lately that some of these slot games throw in bonus rounds or mini games that honestly seem to pay less than just spinning the reels. It doesn’t make much sense to me. You’d expect that getting a feature would at least match the average payout you’d get playing normally, but sometimes these “bonuses” feel like a forced time-waster or just a chance to give you a tiny return on high hopes.

It’s especially weird when it happens on crypto slots. I always thought bonus features were meant to add excitement or at least offer a shot at a bigger hit, but there’ve been a few times where I hit a feature, and all the excitement just drained out watching a string of nothing spins or picking random boxes that end up being a few cents. Wondering if it’s just me, or if there’s some logic or math to this I’m missing from the design side. Maybe some devs are just padding out volatility stats, but it feels misleading from a player’s standpoint. Curious what people are seeing.