Megaways slots: how the ways are counted and what they cost

A Megaways slot shows a random number of symbols on each reel, usually 2 to 7, and multiplies those numbers together to get the ways to win for that spin. On six reels that tops out at 117,649. The counter is the loudest thing on the screen and the least important: the game's RTP and your stake stay the same whether you get 64 ways or 117,649. What Megaways really changes is volatility, how your money behaves over a session. That is the part I will put into dollars below. For the basics of RTP and slot types, see our online slots guide.

How are the ways counted?

Each reel shows between 2 and 7 symbols on a spin; Big Time Gaming says so on its Monopoly Deluxe page, and most of its Megaways titles work the same way. A win needs matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left, in any position on each reel. So the maths is plain multiplication:

Many Megaways games add a horizontal reel above the middle four, which drops one extra symbol onto each of them. Most also use cascades: winning symbols vanish and new ones fall in, so one paid spin can produce several wins. Big Time Gaming calls its version reactions.

117,649 is a common ceiling, not a rule. White Rabbit runs 16,807 ways in the base game and up to 248,832 in its feature. Fishin' Frenzy Megaways from Blueprint Gaming stops at 15,625.

Who makes Megaways, and what is not Megaways

Big Time Gaming is an Australian studio, based in Surry Hills, New South Wales, founded in 2011 by Nik Robinson and owned by Evolution since 2021. It calls Megaways a patented system and describes Dragon Born as "a world's first" built on it. The breakthrough came with Bonanza in 2016, which the studio calls a pivotal moment.

Big Time Gaming says it has licensed the mechanic to numerous developers. Blueprint Gaming prints "Under license from Big Time Gaming" on its Fishin' Frenzy Megaways page; Pragmatic Play's The Dog House Megaways page does not mention the licence at all, it simply carries the name.

Here is the fine print most guides skip. Casino lobbies file other variable-reel games under the same tab. Spinit's Megaways category, for example, also lists Elvis Frog TRUEWAYS, Legacy of Kong Maxways and Book Of Realm Jumboways. Those are other studios' mechanics with their own rules, not Megaways. If the name matters to you, check the title, not the tab.

More ways, same price

A game has one RTP per version, and it already covers every reel layout the game can produce, the 64-way spins and the 117,649-way ones together. Your stake per spin does not change with the counter. Lots of ways mostly means lots of small chances, each paying a fraction of the stake.

The published figures, from the studios' own game pages, and what each means per $100 staked over the long run:

That is the same band as ordinary video slots. The one row worth a second look is Fishin' Frenzy: the same game in its 92% version costs about twice as much per $100 as in its 96.10% version. Casinos choose which version to run, so open the game's info screen at your casino and read the RTP there before you trust any table, including this one.

A $50 session: what volatility does to your money

Evolution labels Bonanza "High" volatility: long dry spells, rare big hits. The other game pages we read for this article leave volatility blank, so treat a famous Megaways title as volatile until its info screen says otherwise. To show what that means, we ran a simulation. It is an illustration, not a model of any real game.

Assumptions. $50 budget, $0.50 a spin, 100 spins (or until the balance cannot cover a spin). Both games return exactly 96%. The calm slot pays 2x on 35% of spins and 5.2x on 5%. The volatile slot pays 1.5x on 22% of spins, 10x on 2%, 100x on 0.25% and 500x on 0.036%. Both paytables are invented. We played each 200,000 times.

The averages are identical, about $2 lost, which is exactly 4% of $50 staked. The experience is not. On the calm slot nearly everyone finishes between $39 and $57. On the volatile one the typical player walks away with $29, one in three loses more than half the budget, and a lucky 6% double up. The volatile slot is not more expensive. It just hands the same $2 average to very different people.

Bonus buys in dollars

Many Megaways games let you buy the free spins instead of waiting. Big Time Gaming's prices are stated in stakes: Monopoly Deluxe sells 12 free spins for 90 times your stake, Max Megaways 3 sells 10 free spins for 100 times stake or 15 for 200. At a $0.50 stake, a 100x buy is $50, the whole session above in one click.

Does buying cost more? Not per dollar. Blueprint publishes a separate RTP for the Fishin' Frenzy Megaways buy: 96.60% in the high version, against 96.10% in the base game. So a $50 buy loses $1.70 on average, about the same as 100 normal spins. What changes is concentration: one decision, one outcome, and no 100 spins of entertainment around it. White Rabbit's buy price drops as you collect coins, which feels like a discount but is already part of the game's RTP.

Evolution also notes that bonus buys may not be available in all jurisdictions, so whether the button appears depends on the casino and where you play.

Where Canadian players find Megaways

Lobbies change, so I only name games we saw in a casino's public lobby on 26 Oct. Spinit has a Megaways category with 24 titles, including The Dog House Megaways and 5 Lions Megaways 2. Slotoro lists 12, including Buffalo King Megaways and Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways. For bonuses, see the current offer on Spinit's page or Slotoro's page. SpinsPilot Canada covers casinos for players outside Ontario and Alberta.

Before you spin

Megaways games are fast and volatile, so a budget runs out quicker than it feels. Decide the amount before you start, set a deposit limit in your casino account, and stop when it is spent. A dry spell does not mean a win is due: every spin is independent. You must be 19 or older to gamble online (18 in Quebec and Manitoba). Free, confidential help for every province and territory we serve is on our responsible gambling page, and self-exclusion in Canada explains how to take a break.