The Complete Manual for Megaways Slot Machines
Megaways is a trademarked term that, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past five years or have just recently started playing online slot games, you’ve undoubtedly come across. It appears that more and more slot machines are incorporating the Megaways mechanism, with some online casinos going so far as to create specific categories for all of their Megaways games.
However, I’m still unclear as to the Megaways mechanism. Who made it, and what is it used for, exactly? What we care about even more is whether or whether the players see any change.
If you have ever wondered any of these things, you can rest assured that they will be answered in this post. We’ll also showcase some of the top played Megaways slots so you can see how the mechanic improves games across the board.
Can you explain what Megaways is?
When slot machines first appeared, they typically had a predetermined number of reels, rows, and pay lines. There could be 15 win ways on a game with 5 reels and 3 rows, and 243 win ways on another game with the same number of reels and rows. Both have a set amount of paylines that does not change with each spin.
To remedy this, the Megaways mechanism was developed. It’s a function of the slot machine’s software that chooses at random how many paylines a player will be playing on each spin. It accomplishes this by enabling a range of reel row counts. The more rows there are on the reels, the greater the player’s potential payouts.
Whose Idea Was It To Make Megahighways?
Big Time Gaming is responsible for developing the Megaways mechanism. It was first shown in the January 2016 game Dragon Born, developed by Big Time Gaming.
There were 6 reels in that game, and every particular spin may reveal anywhere from 2 to 7 rows of symbols. A minimum bet spin on a slot machine with 6 reels and 2 rows would provide 64 ways to win. On the other end of the spectrum, a spin that awards 6 rows of 7 rows each would provide an incredible 117,649 opportunities to win. There are, of course, a wide range of possibilities in between those two poles.
Big Time Gaming has launched a slew of new Megaways games since 2016, and the business has also licensed the Megaways gameplay mechanic to other studios. They were onto something here, as many game studios took them up on the offer, helping to propel Megaways to prominence as a staple of today’s online gaming experience.
Why Everyone Loves Megaways
Megaways games are extremely well-liked, and for good cause. The first is that players are never sure of what will happen on the next spin because to the Megaways function. Will there be a few hundred, a few thousand, tens of thousands, or even more opportunities to win for the player? The thrill of not knowing whether you’ll win or lose is one of the main draws to gambling, so it stands to reason that a gaming mechanic that amplifies that feeling of suspense would be popular with players.
Slot players that enjoy large payouts are another demographic that gravitates toward Megaways games. If 25 ways to win is considered good and 243 ways to win is considered 10 times better, then the possibility of 117,649 ways to win blows away most other games. Of course, the RTP is unrelated to the amount of ways to win, but that’s an other discussion.
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