Imagine the scene, for a moment. The year is 2014, Miley Cyrus has just performed Wrecking Ball at the MTV Music Awards, while Gone Girl, Transformers and The Grand Budapest Hotel are all battling it out in the cinemas. You’re playing a slot machine with 243 paylines and you have no idea that casino games are about to change forever.
What are Megaways slots?
A long story short, Megaways is a mechanic which introduces more paylines to slot reels. This means that rather than 243 ways to win, there are at least 117,649 ways to win. Now THAT is a big difference!
This is because you don’t need to form specific lines to win. Instead, the matching symbols just need to land somewhere on the reels to count.
How do Megaways slots work?
The maths behind Megways slots might seem intimidating at first, but it’s simple once you can get your head around it.
As the symbols just need to land anywhere on the reels, this means that each of the seven symbols across the six reels has a chance of contributing towards the win. So…
7x7x7x7x7x7 = 117,649
As the player, you don’t need to worry too much about this. All you need to know is that Megaways offers more ways to win at no extra cost to you. You can wager the minimum amount and still have access to all of the paylines.
Who invented Megaways slots?
The Megaways slot mechanic was developed by Big Time Gaming, a studio founded by Nik Robinson in 2011.
In 2015, Big Time Gaming published Dragon Born, which is widely credited to be the first Megaways slot to be released. Although it didn’t top the charts like Big Time Gaming would’ve liked, it made just enough traction for them to try the mechanic again.
When Bonanza Megaways released in 2016, it became an instant classic and everyone fell in love with the mechanic immediately.
Big Time Gaming went on to licence out the Megaways mechanic to other studios, which is why you see so many of the biggest online slot games offering Megaways versions.
What are some of the most popular Megaways slots?
If you want to try out this mechanic for yourself, then you’re in luck, because you can play Megaways at any of the best US online casinos. Whether you want to play Buffalo King Megaways by Pragmatic Play, Big Bass Bonanza Megaways by Reel Kingdom or The Goonies Megaways by Blueprint, then it couldn’t be easier.
You can find these titles at Rush Street Interactive, Caesars, BetMGM, BetRivers and Borgata.
