Megaways Slots – Demo Play & Reviews

Megaways Slots are an exciting and innovative genre of online slot games created by Australian slot developer Big Time Gaming in 2016. They feature a reel modifying mechanic that alters the number of symbols appearing on a reel each time it is spun. This leads to the Megaways engine generating a random number of paylines on every spin, potentially creating thousands or even millions of ways to win. Through Megaways versatility and ingenuity, it can offer players games with higher volatility levels and a superior standard of entertainment compared to traditional and classic slots.

Megaways games are now among the most popular slots found in online casinos. Through our informative guide to the gaming engine, you can learn how the mechanics behind them work, try over 500 free demo slots featuring Megaways, and use our data tables to quickly find the best games rated by review score, RTP and biggest payouts.

Bonus Features & Mechanics

The volume of Megaways slots that can now be played is so substantial that there are various bonus rounds and in-game modifiers that can be experienced. However, there are some core mechanics that tend to feature more in the slots than others.

• Cascading Reels: A long-standing element of the Megaways series and found in one of its earlier releases, Bonanza Megaways, cascading reels remove winning symbols from the playfield with new symbols then dropping in from above, creating the possibility for more chances to win from one single paid spin.

• Mystery Symbols: First seen in Blueprint Gaming’s Diamond Mine Megaways, the mystery symbols will transform into randomly selected symbols from the paytable when they land. These can be particularly lucrative during the free spins bonus.

• Free Spins & Increasing Multiplier: The most known feature pairing throughout Megaways is the free spins round, which includes the win multiplier. This will typically begin with a value of x1 and rise in value each time a successful winning cascade is made during the bonus.

• Feature Gambles: Integrated into even the earliest Megaways slots, the bonus gamble gives players the opportunity to risk the volatility of their bonus. However, if the gamble is lost, in many instances, it can end the feature before it even begins.

• Bonus Buy: While most games now fall into the bonus buy slots category, offering players instant access to the free spins round, this feature was initially only found in Megaways slots. Big Time Gaming’s Extra Chilli slot and White Rabbit were the first titles to offer the facility.

Highest RTP Megaways Slots

With over 500 slots in the Megaways catalogue, there are various low, medium and high-volatility games to choose from. These all have a different range of return to player percentage, which is the value you would expect to see over a period of time, often defined as millions of spins. This may seem insignificant given that the statistics are taken over such a large amount of spins, but it will still make a difference to you if you are playing a game with a low RTP, even on a short session. To avoid such games, our data table below of the Megaways slots with the highest RTP will help you choose the best titles for your bankroll.

Software Provider Game Franchises With Megaways

• Big Time Gaming: One of BTG’s all-time greats was the original Bonanza slot. Such was its success that the provider would go on to make a Christmas version of the slot and a follow-up release titled Bonanza Falls.

• Relax Gaming: The first game featuring Megaways from Relax that gained recognition was the superb Temple Tumble Megaways. The developer would go on to create several titles in this series, with TNT Tumble being another brilliant release.

• Blueprint Gaming: Taking an iconic TV Gameshow and turning it into an online slot is no easy task, but Blueprint made a deal to develop a collection of Deal or no Deal slots, with the original Deal or no Deal Megaways still being one of the best creations of that franchise to this day.

What is a Megaways Slot & How Does It Work?

A Megaways slot is defined as such because it works under the premise that each reel can contain a random number of symbols on each spin, generally between 2 and 7. The size of these symbols will then be multiplied across each reel adjacently to determine the final amount of paylines you are awarded. All mathematics behind the gaming engine will be worked out for you on each spin, with the result typically displayed above the reels on each game.

Whilst each slot within the Megaways series can potentially differ with its amount of reels or rows of symbols that are present upon them, the principle behind the mechanic will always remain the same, with the more symbols that appear across the reel set delivering a higher amount of paylines that are in play.

How Do You Win on a Megaways Slot

Once your total amount of Megaways has been determined, winning combinations can occur across the reel set. This may seem a little puzzling, to begin with, but working out how to win on a Megaways slot is a very basic and uncomplicated process. 

Wins are awarded on a Megaways slot when matching symbols land from left to right on adjacent reels. Generally, you will require a symbol to land on at least three reels to create a win, with the first symbol needing to land on reel 1. The size of the symbols that help to create the wins is insignificant, but the number of symbols on each reel when they are part of a win is a major factor in calculating how many winning Megaways have been formed and what win will be paid. 

Megaways Slots With the Biggest Payouts

Almost all of the Megaways slots fall into the high volatile slot bracket, so as you can imagine, many of these games can pay huge multiples of your stake. Rather than taking hours to sift through the 100s of Megaways games to find out which have the biggest jackpots, our helpful table cuts out all the hard work, presenting you with up to date facts of the top 10 biggest paying Megaways slots.

Megaways Slots Summary

The Megaways engine dominated the online slot scene for around five years after its creation in 2016, but since 2021, due to countless clones and the arrival of new game developers and mechanics, it has taken somewhat of a backseat. The majority of the new games feel lazy and almost predictable before you even play them now, with hardly any innovation seeming to go into the development.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though, as we do still get the odd stellar release from a tier-one provider, and there is still a good selection of legacy titles in the Megaways niche that will remain firm favourites with both of us here at Demoslot and among the millions of players around the world.