How the Megaways engine works
A standard slot has fixed rows. A Megaways slot does not: each reel is dealt a random height, from two symbols up to seven, on every spin. The number of ways to win is the heights multiplied together. Six reels of seven symbols give 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7, which is 117,649. Six reels of two give 64. Most spins land somewhere in between, and the counter above the reels shows the exact figure before the symbols settle.
Wins are counted as ways, not lines. Matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left pay, whatever row they sit in, and if a symbol appears twice on one reel it counts twice. That is why a tall reel matters: three of the same symbol on a seven-high reel triples every way running through it.
Bonanza and many of its relatives add a horizontal reel above reels two to five. It carries four extra symbols that can join any way running through those reels, and it is where the engine's most surprising wins come from.
Cascades and the unlimited multiplier
Winning symbols in a Megaways game are removed and the gaps fill from above, a reaction that repeats until no new win forms. In the base game that means several wins from one stake. In free spins it means something more: an unlimited multiplier that rises by one with every reaction and never resets until the round ends. Bonanza starts free spins at 1x; a round with fifteen reactions ends at 16x with every win along the way paid at the multiplier in force.
Not every licensee keeps the unlimited multiplier. Some cap it, some replace it with a fixed multiplier ladder, and a few use the engine without cascades at all. The game page at Megaway Slots states which rule applies so you can choose by the feature, not by the artwork.
Who makes Megaways games
Big Time Gaming released the first Megaways slot in 2015 and began licensing the engine to other studios a few years later. The lobby at Megaway Slots groups games by studio because each one uses the licence differently.
Studio | Megaways titles in the lobby | House style |
Big Time Gaming | Bonanza, Extra Chilli | Original engine, cascades, unlimited multiplier, feature drop |
Pragmatic Play | The Dog House Megaways, Madame Destiny Megaways, Extra Juicy Megaways | Known brands rebuilt on the engine, feature buy at 100x |
Red Tiger | Piggy Riches Megaways, Gonzo's Quest Megaways | NetEnt classics reworked, cascades kept |
Blueprint Gaming | Buffalo Rising Megaways | Early licensee, mystery symbols, feature buy |
BGaming | Book Of Cats Megaways, Book of Panda Megaways | Book-style expanding symbols on Megaways reels |
The BGaming pair is worth a note. Both take the "book" format, where one symbol is chosen to expand across a reel during free spins, and put it on reels that change height. A seven-high reel filled by an expanding symbol pays through every way at once, which is the engine's version of a full-screen win.
The Megaways lobby at Megaway Slots
Bonanza (Big Time Gaming)
The game that made the engine famous. Four scatter letters spelling G-O-L-D start twelve free spins with the unlimited multiplier. RTP 96%. High volatility, and the benchmark every later title is measured against.
Extra Chilli (Big Time Gaming)
Bonanza's spicier cousin with a gamble wheel for extra spins and Feature Drop, which lets you buy the free spins for 50x the bet. RTP 96.82%.
The Dog House Megaways (Pragmatic Play)
Choose Sticky Wilds or Raining Wilds before the free spins. Maximum win 12,305x, feature buy at 100x.
Buffalo Rising Megaways (Blueprint Gaming)
Cascades, mystery symbols and a free spin round with an unlimited multiplier. RTP 96.5%.
Book Of Cats Megaways and Book of Panda Megaways (BGaming)
Expanding-symbol free spins on Megaways reels. Two of the most opened games in the lobby among players moving over from classic book slots.
Piggy Riches Megaways and Gonzo's Quest Megaways (Red Tiger)
Two NetEnt classics rebuilt on the engine with their cascades and multiplier ladders intact.
Madame Destiny Megaways and Extra Juicy Megaways (Pragmatic Play)
Multiplier wilds and progressive free spin multipliers on six reels. Both carry the Pragmatic Play feature buy.
Volatility bands
Megaways games are not all wild rides. The band depends on how the studio pairs the engine with its bonus.
Band | What drives it | Examples | Suits |
High | Unlimited multiplier, rare trigger | Bonanza, Extra Chilli, Buffalo Rising Megaways | Larger balance, patience for long base-game stretches |
Medium-high | Capped or stepped multipliers | The Dog House Megaways, Madame Destiny Megaways | Players who want bonus rounds more often |
Medium | Expanding symbols, no cascade multiplier | Book Of Cats Megaways, Book of Panda Megaways | Book-slot players trying the engine |
Reading a Megaways paytable
A Megaways paytable is shorter than a line game's because there are no line diagrams, but three lines in it carry more weight than the rest.
Symbol values per way
Values are quoted per way, as a multiple of the stake, for three to six adjacent reels. Because a spin can hold thousands of ways, a small per-way value multiplied by a tall board is where mid-sized wins come from. Compare the six-reel value of the top symbol between games; it is the fairest single number for the base game.
Free spin trigger and multiplier rule
Bonanza needs four scatter letters, G-O-L-D, for twelve spins, with each extra scatter adding five. The multiplier line then says "increases by one with each reaction, no limit" in the original and something narrower in many licensees. That line is the difference between the high and medium shelves at Megaway Slots.
Top reel behaviour
Games with the horizontal reel state whether its symbols pay through reels two to five and whether wilds can appear there. In Bonanza wilds land only on the top reel, which is why the extra reel matters so much more than its four symbols suggest.
Feature buy and Feature Drop
Big Time Gaming's Feature Drop in Extra Chilli lets you lower the price of the free spins with each spin, buying in at 50x the bet or waiting for the counter to fall. Pragmatic Play's Megaways titles use a fixed buy at 100x. Blueprint's Buffalo Rising Megaways offers a buy as well. Where feature buy is not permitted in a market, the button is hidden and the scatter route remains.
A buy is priced near what an average round returns before the house edge, so it is not a shortcut to profit; it is a way to skip the base game. On the high shelf that base game is long and quiet, which is the strongest case for buying. A balance that covers many buys survives the losing runs that a balance covering three or four will not.
A hundred spins of Bonanza, in numbers
A demo log from the lobby, kept because it shows what the high shelf asks of a bankroll. One hundred spins at one stake each. Fifty-eight spins paid nothing. Thirty-one paid less than the stake back. Nine paid between one and five stakes, most from a two- or three-step cascade on a tall board. Two paid more than ten stakes, both from cascades that ran five steps. No free spins were triggered. The balance ended at 71 stakes. That is a normal hundred spins of Bonanza, and the reason Megaway Slots lists a five-hundred-stake floor for the game.
Bet sizing for a changing grid
Because the number of ways changes each spin, the stake is not divided across lines; it is a flat bet per spin, and the paytable values are quoted as multiples of it. That makes sizing simple. A high-band game with a trigger that arrives every few hundred spins needs a balance measured in hundreds of stakes. A medium-band book game can be played with far less. Megaway Slots shows the stake-to-balance ratio in the game notes so you can compare before you deposit.
Bonuses and wagering in plain words
Every offer at Megaway Slots is printed with its wagering requirement, game weighting and maximum stake while the bonus is active. Megaways games count in full toward wagering unless the offer page says otherwise. A cascade-driven free spin round can move a bonus balance quickly, so the stake cap is the line to read first. Free spin awards are attached to a named game and a fixed stake.
Cashier and account
Balances are in EUR. Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, Trustly and paysafecard fund the account; withdrawals return to cards, e-wallets or bank transfer, with e-wallets released first after verification. Identity and address are confirmed before the first withdrawal, which goes faster if documents are already on file.
- Visa and Mastercard. Deposits and withdrawals.
- Skrill and Neteller. Fastest route out once verified.
- Trustly. Bank payments without card details.
- paysafecard. Prepaid deposits only.
Megaways on a phone
Six reels of up to seven symbols is a tall grid, and the games are built for portrait screens: reels fill the width and the ways counter sits above them. No app is needed; the same login carries balance, bonus progress and limits between desktop and phone. The bet and feature buy controls sit behind a menu icon on small screens, so confirm the stake before the first spin.
Safer play
Megaway Slots is for adults of legal gambling age. Deposit and loss limits, session reminders, time-outs and self-exclusion are in account settings, with lower limits taking effect at once and higher ones after a cooling-off period. High-band Megaways games run long without a trigger; set the deposit limit for the long run, not for the round you hope for. Independent support is available from Gamblers Anonymous (https://www.gamblersanonymous.org).
Loyalty and support
Loyalty points at Megaway Slots accrue on real-money turnover across every Megaways game at the rate on the promotions page, and cashback, where offered, is calculated on net losses for the stated period with its own terms published beside it. Neither alters a game's RTP. Support is reached from the help icon in the lobby and the account menu; the help centre answers the recurring questions about triggers, verification and limits, and the support team handles the rest by chat or contact form for the verified account holder.
Frequently asked questions
What does 117,649 ways mean?
It is the maximum number of winning ways when all six reels show seven symbols: 7 multiplied by itself six times. Most spins show fewer.
Is Megaways one game or many?
An engine, licensed by Big Time Gaming to other studios. Each studio builds its own games on it with its own paytable and bonus rules.
Do all Megaways games have the unlimited multiplier?
No. Bonanza and Extra Chilli do; some licensees cap the multiplier or use a ladder. The game notes at Megaway Slots say which.
Can I buy the bonus?
Where feature buy is permitted in your market: 50x in Extra Chilli, 100x in Pragmatic Play's Megaways titles.
Are the games playable in demo?
Yes, every one, without an account and at the same RTP version as real play.
What currency does Megaway Slots use?
EUR throughout.
Open Bonanza in demo, watch the ways counter change for a few dozen spins, then set a deposit limit and play. Megaway Slots adds new Megaways releases to the lobby as studios ship them.
