What are megaways slots and why are they so popular?

In the world of online slots, one of the biggest innovations in recent years has been the introduction of megaways games. An adjustable layout mechanic provides many winning combinations. Online casinos love Megaways titles for their huge payouts. The megaways mechanic was developed and patented by Australian slots maker Big Time Gaming. Their first megaways game, Dragon Born, debuted in 2016. The slots use an adjustable layout system that randomly generates a different number of symbols on each reel during every spin.

This provides effectively unlimited payline combinations compared to fixed payline slots. While the reels and rows remain constant, the symbols positions change with each spin. Some spins have just 2 symbols on a reel while others have as many as 7. With 6 reels standard on megaways slots, this lead to millions of possible ways to win per spin based on the symbol positions. The minimum is typically 117,649 ways on a low variance spin and the maximum an astonishing 117,649 ways!

Top megaways releases

The first branded megaways title was Bonanza, released by Big Time Gaming in 2016. It was a breakout hit due to its mining theme. The megaways mechanic was then adapted to other high profile slots like Wolf Gold and Monopoly Megaways.

Some of the most popular current megaways slots include:

• Bonanza Megaways
• Extra Chilli Megaways
• Lightning Link Megaways
• Piggy Riches Megaways
• Sherlock Megaways
• Starlight Princess Megaways
• Buffalo Rising Megaways

These games come from leading developers like Big Time Gaming, Red Tiger Gaming, Blueprint Gaming and Relax Gaming among others. Each applies the adjustable megaways reel system to different game themes and math models for fresh experiences.

Megaways = Mega payouts

The biggest appeal of situs slot online is clearly the huge payout potential from having so many winning combinations in play on every spin. Megaways games frequently pay out wins 5,000x to 20,000x your bet or even bigger. Even on low volatility titles designed for smaller but more frequent wins, the megaways mechanic pushes payout potential way up. While a 200x or 500x win a big deal on fixed payline slots, that’s just an average result on many megaways games. Four and five figure wins happen far more regularly when playing slots with 100,000+ ways versus just 25 or 50 paylines. Megaways slots are highly popular because of their mega payouts.

Massive jackpots

In addition to the base game payout potential, many top megaways slots also include hefty progressive jackpots for another shot at life-changing wins. Games like Buffalo Rising Megaways and Genie Jackpots Megaways are linked to jackpots that triggered from the bonus round. Prizes from these megaways jackpots frequently reach into the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions. The combination of huge base game payouts and big linked jackpots gives megaways slots some of the highest winning upside you’ll find. Megaways slots are also loaded with bonus features like free spins, re-spins, locked wilds and more.