A Guide To the Megaways Slots Mechanic

Slot games in the modern era are a product of technological advancements and natural evolution that began in the late 1800s. Since their early days, slot games have evolved significantly, resulting in what we see today. Some things have stuck with slot games throughout their evolution, while others have come and gone. Many modern slot mechanics have been introduced over the years, that can be found in places like an Irish online casino. One of these mechanics introduced to the industry was the Megaways mechanic, which has since become a genre in its own right. The Megaways mechanic brought something fresh to the industry, with many slots implementing it shortly after its debut, a testament to the unique gameplay it enables.

What is the Megaways Mechanic?

The Megaways mechanic is a unique gameplay feature which impacts how many symbols can land on the reels and, therefore, how many active paylines are available. Prior to the introduction of the Megaways mechanic, all slot games were operated with structured playgrids, with a fixed number of symbols landing on each reel, for every spin. As a result of all reels featuring the same number of symbols on every spin, there was a fixed payline count, which would remain throughout the base gameplay.

The introduction of the Megaways mechanic changed the iGaming industry significantly, enabling dynamic playgrids. Megaways slots differ in gameplay mechanics, working by having each reel feature a different number of symbols on each spin, usually between 2 and 7. With each reel featuring a unique number of symbols, players may see a lesser payline count, although if all reels feature a higher number of symbols, the paylines count will reflect this. It is common for Megaways slots to feature a maximum payline count of 117,649, significantly more than the average slot release, which usually has around 10-50 lines.

The Role of Cascading Reels

Whilst not solely a feature of Megaways slots, many releases in the genre feature the cascading reels bonus mechanic, which can be triggered during gameplay. For most Megaways slots featuring cascading reels, the feature is triggered when players form matching combinations on the reels. It is common for matching combinations to occur in Megaways slots if 3 or more identical symbols land in adjacent reels, beginning at the leftmost reel.

When matching combinations occur in these Megaways slots featuring cascading reels, the participating symbols will be removed from the reels. Prior to the involved symbols being removed from the reels, the base game prize associated with that symbol combination will be awarded. Once the base game prize is awarded, the symbols are removed from the reels, and those located in the positions above will fall. The fallen symbols will leave empty positions in their places, allowing for new symbols to enter the reels from above.

The Originator

Big Time Gaming was the development studio that introduced the Megaways mechanic to the online casino industry with the release of the Bonanza slot. The title was released in 2016 and, since its debut, has set the standard for the Megaways slots industry, with the same layout and mechanics used across numerous subsequent slots. This slot game showcases a mining theme well, with the gameplay set at the heart of a mine. Since the release of this slot, the developers have tried and tested the Megaways mechanic under numerous different themes.

The gameplay on this slot title would set the industry standard, with action taking place across 6 reels. In the Bonanza slot title, between 2 and 7 symbols may appear on any of the reels on each spin, which is operated by a Random Number Generator. In the Bonanza slot, if all reels feature their maximum number of symbols, there will be 117,649 paylines active, all beginning at the leftmost reel.

The developers have added a selection of bonus mechanics into the Bonanza slot, including cascading reels as mentioned earlier. The main bonus that can be activated here is the free spins feature, which can be triggered if the word ‘GOLD’ is spelt anywhere on the reels. In this feature, a set of free spins is awarded, during which multipliers can grow.

Final Thoughts

The Megaways mechanic has become a category of slots in its own right, a testament to its innovation and the unique gameplay it enables. The heightened number of paylines provides players with more chances to land matching combinations, which will ultimately depend on the number of symbols landing per spin. Big Time Gaming was the development studio that introduced the mechanic to the industry with the Bonanza title, which has since seen numerous subsequent releases by Big Time Gaming and other studios. Their main difference from traditional slot games is that the number of symbols on each reel changes with every spin, which in turn changes the active paylines. As the online casino industry matures, it is expected that more Megaways slots will be released, with the potential of even more paylines to be added.