How Megaways Slots Took Casino Sites by Storm
What’s great about online casinos is that they have a huge selection of games for players to enjoy. The typical site has hundreds or even thousands of games lined up, most of which are slots. Unlike other casino games, slots can vary greatly in not only their theme and design, but also their core mechanics and special features.
One of the biggest, most successful features to be developed in recent years is Megaways. It’s exciting, unpredictable and can enhance the slot experience by making the gameplay more engaging. Thankfully, this slot feature works in a straightforward way and is easy to understand.
How Megaways Slot Games Work
So how exactly do Megaways slots work? They typically have six reels and on each of them, the total number of symbols ranges from two to seven. The number of symbols on every reel changes with every spin you make. The slots use the all-ways-win system, which means that all paylines across the reels are active.
The more symbols there are, the more ways to win you have. If a Megaways slot has seven symbols on all six reels, the number of paylines is a huge 117,649. This is worked out as 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 7. It’s completely random how many symbols there are on the reels. On one spin, there could be just three or four on each reel; on the next, you could have six or seven on most of them.
The fact that there’s no telling how many symbols there’ll be on each spin makes Megaways slots thrilling and hard to predict. They’re not repetitive like most other slots, which adds to their appeal.
There are loads of online casinos with Megaways slots. With a bonus such as a Fresh Casino no deposit bonus you can sample these slot games and see for yourself what the Megaways mechanic is like. Spin the reels and watch as a random number of symbols lands on the reels.
When Did Megaways Slot Games First Come Out?
The very first Megaways slot, Bonanza, was released in 2016. It was developed by Big Time Gaming, a provider that took a risk with its new slot mechanic. Bonanza is a highly volatile mining-themed slot with features including free spins with a multiplier that can increase and cascades.
Every time you win, a cascade takes place. All of the winning symbols disappear and symbols of the same size fall from above to fill all empty spaces. This can create new wins, which in turn triggers another cascade. There’s no limit to the number of cascades that can be triggered by a single spin of the reels.
Bonanza was an experimental slot that wasn’t like anything else available at the time. It was released to many online casinos, including $10 deposit casinos that accept low deposits. This was to give the slot as much exposure as possible and help it become a success.
Megaways Slots After Bonanza
It’s safe to say that Bonanza was a major hit for Big Time Gaming. The slot went down very well with players and reviewers alike, with many loving its Megaways mechanic. Keen to make the most of this successful new slot feature, Big Time Gaming started creating more Megaways slots. Some of these were original titles, while others were based on pre-existing slots.
The thing is, other providers wanted their own Megaways slots. Big Time Gaming agreed to license the Megaways mechanic to other slot creators to use in their own games. This resulted in the number of slots with the Megaways feature increasing dramatically. There are now hundreds upon hundreds of them, with plenty of new ones currently in development.
Megaways is arguably the most successful online slot feature to be developed in the last decade. Players have loved it, which is why Big Time Gaming and a growing number of other providers have continued releasing slots with the Megaways feature.