Megaways Slots Mechanics: What It Is and How It Works?

Online slots are some of the most evolving and ever-changing online casino games in terms of the engine and features involved.

Megaways is a concept designed by Big Time Gaming in 2015, which revolutionized the entire slot design and inspired many other developers to launch different engines on their own. What the Megaways mechanics did was increase the number of ways to win, literally.

It took the standard 5×3 grid with 20 paylines on average and turned it into a 6-reel model with up to 117,649 ways to win. While this is not the biggest number of ways to win available in Megaways slots nowadays, it was back then, and it opened a whole new world of possibilities for players to explore.

Offering basically an unlimited number of potential winning combos, Megaways Slots became an instant hit, and are, to this day, some of the most popular titles. Over the years, BTG made sure to license other developers who wanted it, giving them the right to use the mechanics in their own slot creations. That’s why today you’ll find hundreds of Megaways slot machines, and they’ll keep on coming.

How Does Megaways Feature Work?

While slots previously allowed you to make winning combos on a fixed number of paylines, on adjacent reels, and when symbols landed from left to right, in Megaways Slots, your opportunities to win are limitless. As long as a matching combo lands on one of the 117,649 possible ways to win, you score a win, no matter the position of the matching symbols on the grid. Here’s what you need to know about it:

• What happens is, Megaways Slots usually come with Cascading Reels, and random multipliers on each spin, allowing for a different number of ways to win to be available on each spin. That’s because, on each spin, each of the 6 reels can hold 2 to 7 symbols. Since the Cascades remove winning symbols and allow for new ones to drop from above, you get to land wins over and over again, as long as these chain reaction wins appear on the screen, and until a non-winning spin occurs. What’s more, on each consecutive Cascade, the value of the Multiplier grows, further boosting your wins.
• As you can see, this is a highly dynamic mechanics, one that can provide you with fun and exciting rewards on each spin. To help you achieve the best payouts, Megaways slots also come with some features characteristic of them. In addition to the mentioned Cascades and Progressive Win Multipliers, Megaways slots often come with Wild Multipliers and Mystery Symbols which further unlock new possibilities to create consecutive big wins.

How Does the Mechanics Influence the Math Behind the Slot?

Considering all of the winning opportunities Megaways Slots can deliver, they come with a quite different math model compared to regular slots. In some titles, the minimum bet is pretty low and affordable, in others it is pretty high. Also, most Megaways slots are highly volatile and can deliver life-changing payouts. That’s why they are not suited for everyone’s budget, and you cannot really manage the risk tolerance and your own preferences when it comes to bet level and volatility.

Should you be able to respond to the volatility and bets, then, wow, you’re in for a real rollercoaster of opportunities to win. Higher potential payouts are what Megaways Slots are most known for. Your chances to win big are huge here, thanks to the many features offered and the masterful way the mechanics works.

Top 5 Megaways Slots to Try Out

When trying to pick the Best Megaways Slots to try, one can help but notice that there’s so much choice, with each title offering more and more exciting features than the previous one, which take players to massive payouts. So, in our try to select the most popular Megaways slots for you to try, we came up with these examples:

1. Bonanza Megaways – Also known as only Bonanza, this is the first slot that featured the Megaways mechanics; in fact, BTG premiered the mechanics with this slot. It features a mining theme, where symbols like dynamites, diamonds and carts of gold appear on the screen. In true Megaways fashion, it comes with Cascades and Free Spins, high volatility, an average RTP and a max payout potential of up to 12,000x the stake! Yep, it is one of those Megaways titles that can change lives, should a player achieve the top payout.
2. Gonzo’s Quest Megaways – When Red Tiger Gaming acquired the license to design its Megaways titles, it launched an epic slot, one that combines this mega-popular mechanics with one of the most epic slots of all times, NetEnt’s Gonzo’s Quest. So, Gonzo’s Quest Megaways is a slot that takes you digging up for gold, offers Cascades, Free Spins, high volatility, an average RTP and a max win potential of up to 21,000x the stake!
3. Extra Chilli Megaways – Another exciting title by BTG, one that has received all the praises of players is Extra Chilli Megaways. It comes with a max payout of 20,000x the stake, an average RTP and, of course, high volatility, but it is popular for its Mexican theme, packed with sombreros, chilli peppers and senoritas. Gameplay-wise, it offers the standard Megaways features, the Cascades and Free Spins.
4. Great Rhino Megaways – Taking you to Africa, Great Rhino Megaways is a special Megaways title that allows for an even bigger number of ways to win. Since it comes with a horizontal bonus reel with an extra position above the reels, holding 2 to 5 symbols, it allows for up to 200,704 ways to win! Cascades and Free Spins are offered, as expected, and there’s also the chance to place an Ante Bet to increase your odds of triggering the bonus. Overall, the game can deliver a payout potential of up to 20,000x the stake.
5. Poseidon Ancient Fortunes Megaways – Now, this is a title that not only offers the powerful Megaways mechanics, but also comes with medium volatility, a tad lower-than-average RTP, and four fixed jackpot prizes, in addition to Free Spins with Multipliers. Boosted with special extras, the slot can eventually deliver a payout of up to 10,000x the stake.