Megaways Slots: New Gaming mechanics by Australian provider BTG
Big Time Gaming is an Australian software provider specialised in the production of online video-slots. They have a reputation in the online gaming industry for being at the edge of innovation, constantly inventing ground-braking mechanics that revolutionise the world of online slot machines. They have already released three different slot engines, of which Megaways Slots is surely the most famous. After a huge worldwide success of these games, they have also released Megaquads and Megacluster slots, two new series of games which might also have an impact on the world of online slots. Let’s have a look at their invention and the influence they will have in further developments in the world of online gaming.
Among the best Megaways Slots is Bonanza, the first game in the series, now a cult title among slots fans all over the world. This slot is revolutionary in many aspects. At first look it might seem like a normal video-slot with 6 reels, shining symbols, a funky soundtrack and many flashy colours. What is different here is the math and the engine powering the video-slot. Those who love online video-slots only have to start spinning in order to recognise the difference between Bonzanza and any other videoslot released before it. In Bonanza, and in all other Megaways Slots coming after it, the number of symbols appearing on any given reel is constantly changing. It varies between 2 and 7 symbols, resulting in a dynamic configuration at the end of each spin. Wins are calculated with from left to right with adjacent symbols and the new slot offer sup to 117.649 winning ways, depending on the actual number of symbols appearing on the reels. Playing this sort of slots, players have more substantial possibilities of hitting a win, since the conformation of pay lines is so fluid.
On top of offering this singular way of functioning, Megaways Slots are very appealing to players because they offer extra special features, like reel modifiers and bonus rounds. During any spin many special features can activate randomly, for example cascading reels, mystery symbols, earthquake functions and so on. These features make base game more interesting and allow for a better gaming experience and extra wins. As well as base-game, free spins bonus round is also designed to make the gaming experience even better, with the introduction of the unlimited win multipliers function. At the beginning of the bonus feature players will start with a x1 multiplier, which increases its value with each winning reaction, cascades included. This helps players cashing in on higher wins.
After the success of Megaways Slots, a series which now counts almost 100 releases and is at the top of every slot ranking concerning online casinos worldwide, we could have expected Big Time Gaming to just sit down and count the cash coming in. The reality is they have never stopped working and have now releases two more engines for slot machines. The first is MegaClusters, a new cluster pays slots engine which offers up to 256 Megaclusters during free spins. Here there is no payline to be talked about, the whole system is based on clusters, combinations of 5 identical symbols placed in adjacent positions. When the magic happens, the symbols involved turn into smaller ones, creating a new grid within the slot and increasing the chinches of hitting a new win. At the end of the cascades, the grid goes back to its original setting. There are more changes in store when the free spins feature activates. The grid changes to a 8×8 setting, allowing for up to 256 megaclusters per spin. The only release in this series is now Star Clusters Megaclusters, but we expect many more titles to follow.
Finally, Big Time Gaming has invented MegaQuads, their latest online slot machine engine. Megaquads, as the name suggests, is based on the number four. In fact there are four small slot machines running at the same time during any spin. Each of them offers 256 ways to win, but thanks to a special Rainbow Wild, the number can reach 65.536 winning ways. This is thanks to the special symbol, which merges two slots horizontally and allows for more wins. In this new series of games, free spins is again a privileged space for extra wins, thanks to the chance of hitting up to 16.777.216 ways to win.
What we can learn from the experience of BTG is that innovation is key for online games. The more innovative a game is, the more it will be appreciated by players. There are of course more factors to it, but it sounds clear that using cutting edge mathematics models has helped this company achieving a great success worldwide. As long as they will continue innovating they will be at the top of their game.
