In 2016, the first Megaways slot machine was launched by Australian game developer Big Time Gaming, Dragon Born Megaways. It was a new concept that didn’t run very well at the time, so it stayed under the radar for a while. Nowadays, four years later, Megaways slot machines have become an integral part of the online casino industry, and for good reason!
Megaways slot machine, what exactly does that mean?
If you’re talking about a traditional slot machine, you’re often talking about 5 reels and 3 symbols per reel, with a fixed number of winning lines. The Megaways slot machine is much less standard. It often has six reels and the number of symbols per reel varies between two and eight symbols per reel. Because there is so much variation in these slot machines, there are a lot of ways to win.
Most Megaways slot machines have between 45,000 and 120,000 different ways to win. Some machines go even further, like Holy Driver Megaways with as many as 586,971 ways to win. That’s what I’m saying, bizarre. Where did they get this number from? Take, for example, a Megaways slot machine with six reels and up to seven symbols per reel. This gives you 7 times 7 times 7 times 7 = 117,649 ways to win. Megaways often use this number in their slot machines.
How do I win on a Megaways slot machine?
Even though a Megaways slot machine could appear quite confusing at first sight, it’s pretty straightforward if you understand how to win. You are supposed to spin identical symbols on adjacent reels. In which position on the reel this symbol is placed, and how big this symbol is, doesn’t (often) matter. For example, if you have the same symbol on the first reel at the top, on the second reel at the bottom, and on the third reel in the middle, you win. If you have the same symbol on the first, second, and fourth reel at the same height, but on reel three this symbol is missing, you don’t win.
The features of a Megaways slot machine
- Megaway slots don’t have a jackpot in general.
- They are high-risk slots due to their high variance.
- High variance also means that you have a chance of winning very large amounts of money.
The brief history of Megaways slots
As I said, Big Time Gaming started this new concept in 2016, but Dragon Born Megaways wasn’t really a success right away. When you see a Megaways slot machine for the first time, you can become a little overwhelmed by the chaos of reels and symbols, and you quickly lose track of the goal of the game. It didn’t really become popular for this reason, so that’s why Big Time Gaming created another slot machine. But again, they had no success. Both Starquest Megaways and Queen of Riches Megaways didn’t win many hearts. But they kept their hopes up, and with Bonanza Megaways they created an amazing game.
Bonanza Megaways turned out to be a huge success. Big Time Gaming brought a concept to the market that is now an integral part of the online casino industry. They filed a trademark for Big Time Gaming, in order to prevent other game developers from copying this Megaways concept. They shared their license In 2018, of course in return for a nice fee, with developers such as Blueprint Gaming, and WMS. They then also started to enjoy great success with new Megaways slot machines.
The Best Megaways Slot Machines
I deliberately don’t rank the Megaways slot machines, because the experience of each slot machine depends a lot on personal preference. However, I do want to talk about a number of slot machines that stand out because of certain features or statistics. Let me start with the slot machine from Megaways.
Bonanza Megaways
Bonanza Megaways takes place in an abandoned gold mine and has nice graphics like a waterwheel. The slot machine has a very appealing design, with banjo music playing in the background. With a unique system of double reels, a small win can result in very large amounts of money. In addition to this, it uses the waterfall principle, where winning symbols disappear and make room for even more symbols to increase your profits even further. Bonanza Megaways has six reels and has up to seven symbols per reel, thus offering 117,649 ways to win. It has an average RTP percentage of 96%.
Medusa Megaways
Medusa Megaways is an online slot machine developed by NextGen Gaming. In terms of design, it is very similar to Bonanza and therefore also has 117,649 ways to win with its six reels and up to seven symbols per reel. The variance is high, with a maximum win of 50,000 times your bet. But what makes Medusa Megaways stand out is the RTP percentage. The basic game has an RTP percentage of 96.28%, but you can choose to use the extra feature called ‘Buy Pass’. The costs are higher, but this makes the RTP percentage go through the roof with a great 97.63%.
Holy Driver Megaways
I mentioned Holy Driver Megaways briefly at the beginning of this blog, so that’s probably why you already know that this slot machine stands out because of its bizarrely high number of winning lines. With Holy Driver Megaways you can win in over half a million different ways. It’s another slot machine developed by Big Time Gaming and this slot machine takes place in the Middle Ages and has a matching soundtrack. The basic game offers 117,649 ways to win, but when you achieve the bonus you get free spins, which leads to a total of 586,971 ways to win.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire Megaways
Again, this is an online slot machine from Big Time Gaming, in which elements from the eponymous game show are incorporated into a Megaways slot machine. The basic game is all about small prizes, but it’s the bonus round that makes this slot machine so great. You start with eight free spins and you get to try to make your way up to a total of 50 free spins. You can do this by betting on A, B, C, or D. Just as in the game show, you can also use lifelines. Basically, there is no limit to the maximum winnings on this slot machine, which means that you can actually become a millionaire by playing this game.
Extra Chilli Megaways
With Extra Chilli Megaways, Big Time Gaming has once again developed a very interesting online slot machine. It is a Megaways slot machine with some extra spirit in it. Increasing multipliers can boost your winnings to extreme heights. There are also extra gambling opportunities in the game, with of course a higher level of risk but also possibly better winnings. The RTP percentage is also quite nice with 96.82%. All this takes place on a slot machine that has won my heart, especially in terms of design.
Our verdict of megaways slots
Megaway’s slot machines have only been on the market for about four years, but have gained tremendous popularity over the years thanks to the perseverance of Big Time Gaming. If you look for videos about Megaway’s slots on youtube, you see a lot of players win extreme amounts of money. Megaways slots are slots with high variance, so this means they are high-risk and high pay.
There are over 50 different Megaways slots available, and more are added every month. In this blog, I’ve discussed some interesting ones, which you should definitely check out. But don’t stick to playing on only these slot machines, because the rest is not bad either. This was it for me, thanks for reading my blog and have fun!
