Unraveling the Inner Workings of Megaways Slots
Unlike classic slots where symbols simply land on set reel positions, Megaways slots feature cascading reels. This means that whenever you hit a winning combination, the symbols in that combination disappear to make way for new symbols that cascade down to fill the empty positions. If the cascaded symbols also make winning combinations, they disappear too and the process repeats.
Expanding Reels
In tandem with the cascading reels, Megaways slots utilize expanding reels. Most classic slots like those at Unibet have a fixed number of symbol positions or rows on each reel – usually 3 or 4 rows per reel. Megaways throws that concept out the window in favor of reels with a variable number of rows.
During each spin, every reel can display between 2 and 7 symbol positions. The exact number of positions per reel is randomly determined, leading to anything from 432 to 117,649 ways to win. That’s why Megaways slots can produce a different number of paylines on every spin. It introduces volatility but also allows for astronomical wins when you fill the reels with a high symbol count.
Megaways Paytable
Of course, all these cascading reels and expanding reels would be pointless if the paytable itself wasn’t lucrative. Luckily, most Megaways slots offer highly rewarding payouts across the board.
At the lower end, matching just 5 or 6 identical symbols can often award 1x to 5x your wager. Even combinations of just 3 or 4 matching symbols will typically pay out at least 0.2x to 0.5x your stake. This means that even hitting short combinations during the cascading sequences can contribute to hefty cumulative wins.
Then on the higher end, slots like Bonanza Megaways or Gates of Olympus can pay over 50,000x your wager for filling an entire screen! Even matching 8+ symbols awards payouts from 100x to 500x your wager. Thanks to the cascading reels continuously replacing symbols, hitting these bigger combinations is very feasible.
In summary, here is a comparison table highlighting key differences between classic slots and Megaways slots:
| Features | Classic Slots | Megaways Slots |
| Reels | Fixed reel grids | Expanding reels with 2–7 rows |
| Paylines | 20–50 paylines usually | Up to 117,649 paylines |
| Cascading Reels | No | Yes, new symbols cascade after wins |
| Volatility | Lower typically | Medium to very high |
| Max Payouts | 400-1000x wagers usually | 50,000-500,000x wagers |
Megaways Slot Features
On top of the base mechanics covered already, most Megaways releases also boast special features to make gameplay even more engaging. The following are among them:
- Free Spins – Landing 3 or more scatter symbols triggers the free spin round, with varying numbers of spins awarded based on the trigger combination. This allows you to enjoy the Megaways mechanics risk-free.
- Reactions – Landing reaction symbols like wilds or multipliers cause chain reactions that transform, remove or upgrade adjacent symbols. Reactions make cascading wins even more likely to occur.
- Multipliers – Many Megaways slots have multiplier symbols or tracker features, where payout multipliers incrementally increase after each cascade or trigger. This further enhances win potential.
- Bonus Buy – This feature lets you directly buy bonus rounds like free spins for an upfront cost, instead of waiting to trigger them organically through spins.
- Infinite Multiplier: Some Megaways slots remove the cap on payout multipliers during features. This means your win multiplier can climb infinitely high with each successive cascade!
As online slots continue to evolve, we’re sure to see even more creative bonus features incorporated into future Megaways releases. But the core cascading reels concept at the heart of these games provides more than enough excitement as is.
