How One Slot Can Have 117,649 Ways to Win on Each Spin
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Bonanza Megaways slot Readers of a certain age might well remember the time when slot machines were rather simple. You had maybe three reels and only one payline upon which the symbols had to match up for you to win. Those symbols were likely basically drawn versions of fruits like melons, cherries, and oranges, or bars, and a lucky number 7.
Fast forward to today, and the slot games you find in land-based or online casinos couldn’t be any more different. Think of how the early-day computer games are unrecognizable compared to today’s games.
One incredible development was the introduction of the Megaways mechanic, which made it possible for you to have a jaw-dropping 117,649 ways to win from a single spin of the reels.
Megaways Mechanic Explained
Australian software developer Big Time Gaming invented the Megaways Mechanic, and the company licenses the software to other mainstream slots machine developers.
To explain the system simply, first imagine a “normal” modern-day slot, with perhaps five reels and four rows. You have a fixed number of paylines, perhaps 20, which is a big step up from those old games with a single winning opportunity.
What Megaways does is change the number of symbols that can appear on any of up to six reels. It might be two, but it could be seven. This is where the giant winning possibilities arise because you don’t have to land winning symbols in a specific payline (or win line). Instead, the identical symbols need only land anywhere on successive reels, beginning on the left.
Now, imagine if each of the six reels is filled with seven symbols on each – you can see how more likely it is for you to land a winner.
Some Megaways games have an added mechanic where another line of symbols appears across the top of reels two through six, and these can also be input into a winning combination. While we should note that you won’t get the full 117,649 winning chances on each spin, there is usually a counter total that updates with your winning chances after every spin of the reel.
But that’s not all. Megaways games very often include the Avalanche feature that was first introduced with NetEnt’s popular Gonzo’s Quest slot game around ten years ago. In this case, when you make a winning line, the winning symbols disappear and are replaced by new symbols dropping down from above. These might then make another winning combination, meaning you can win more than once from the same spin.
Examples of Megaways Slot Games
The Megaways slots are usually video slot titles, utlilizing modern graphics, and booming cinematic sound like all modern slot games. This provides an all-around exhilarating experience that is so far removed from early day slots that the two cannot really be compared!
Here are some of the most common games you will find at a typical site with Megaways examples:
Bonanza Megaways
The Bonanza Megaways slot is perhaps the most popular around. It puts you in the heart of the United States Gold Rush as you seek your fortune from the dusty mining community.
Monster of Rock Megaways
The world-famous Monsters of Rock Festival inspires this Megaways slot from Storm Gaming. As well as the 117,649 ways to win, there are cascading reels, mystery cards, free spins, and much more.
Starz Megaways
Starz Megaways
This game offers the chance to win up to 10,000 times your original bet via the base game or with the free spins generated by landing three or more bonus symbols. The game is developed by Pragmatic Play but looks similar in some ways to NetEnt’s all-conquering Starburst slot.
Plenty of Choices
If these Megaways titles look a little confusing (and they can appear quite overwhelming at first), then you can try out hundreds of other games at your typical land-based or online casino.
There are more traditional slots, of course, and even those single-line, three-reel ‘stepper’ slots, known as classic slots for a good reason, are still popular today. You might even find ones with retro graphics and sound effects.
If you want to play something other than slots in a casino, then you can look at having a go at one of the more traditional table games like blackjack, baccarat, or roulette. There are also live dealer tables in online casinos, where real dealers and equipment from a casino setting is streamed live to a user’s device, and they can then bet on the action and interact with the dealers.
As you can see, things have certainly moved on in the casino industry, and Megaways slots are just one key example.
