What are Megaways?

Online slots fans will often see online slots games with the word ‘Megaways’ next to them. Ans a lot of online slots fans world like to know what that means.

Megaways is actually the name of certain type of online slots game, like progressive is the name for linked online slots games that have huge jackpots. While slots have been around for hundreds of years, and the online casino world brought new technology and options to the slot machine industry, not much has changed. Reels got bigger. More reels were added. The games became interactive and more sophisticated. Bonus games and wilds and scatters were introduced.

And then not too much changed.

Until Australian game provider Big Time Gaming decided to up their game and up the slots game with Megaways – an innovation in the online slots gaming industry that keeps getting more and more popular by the day.

What are Megaways?

Megaways is a random reel modifier that takes the fanciest 5-reel multi-payline system and turns it completely on its head to bring you thousands of ways to win – literally thousands – hence the name Megaways as in ‘there are Megaways to win’. The most popular Megaways online slots games offer up to 117,649 ways to win.
There is even a Megaways slot called Holy Diver that offers up to 586,971 (FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY ONE!) ways to win if you unlock the bonus game.

These online slots games are provided by different games companies but they are all licensed to Big Time Gaming, the original creators and disruptors of the online slots world.

How do Megaways work?

It looks complicated but is actually quite simple. Although having the game software work out the wins does help for those who do not speak math as a language.

In a standard Megaways game there are five or six reels. Each reel can have up to seven symbols. ‘Up to’ is very important as you will soon see. Some Megaways games also have an extra line at the top or bottom of the reels.

The number of symbols on the reels changes with every spin. One reel might spin and stop with two symbols, the next stop the same reel may have seven symbols.

Calculating your ways to win

At the top of the screen you will see a (usually golden) box with a Megaways number that changes with each spin. This is the number of ways you can win at the stop of each spin.

To work out how many ways you can win you just multiply the number of symbols on each reel. For example: Reel 1 has 7 symbols. Reel 2 has 3 symbols. Reel 3 has 6 symbols. Reel 4 has 7 symbols. Reel 5 has 4 symbols. Reel 6 has 3 symbols. Multiply them together: 7x3x6x7x4x3 = 10,584 ways to win!

What makes Megaways so popular?

Megaways is incredibly fast and incredibly exciting. With the addition of so many thousands of ways to win, it is also incredibly lucrative. When you add in the cascading reels, wilds, unlimited win multipliers and the bonus games, Megaways is probably one of the most exciting and fun online slots games available at online casinos.

Plus, there are some pretty interesting feature drops and buy-in bonuses on offer.

Where can I play Megaways online slots?

For South African players you need go no further than these top rated online casinos for Megaways slots:

PlayLive Casino

Europa Casino

Casino.com

What are the best Megaways online slots games?

Personal preference aside (White Rabbit!!) the three most popular Megaways online slots games around the world are:

Bonanza

Extra Chilli

Buffalo Rising