Megaways is the mechanic behind hundreds of the most-played slots of the last decade — a licensed engine that turns a standard six-reel slot into one offering up to 117,649 ways to win on a single spin.
- Megaways is a licensed mechanic created by Big Time Gaming, used under licence by other studios
- Each reel shows a random number of symbols per spin (typically 2–7), changing the total ways to win every time
- Six reels at maximum height (7 symbols each) produce 7⁶ = 117,649 ways to win
- Most Megaways titles pair the mechanic with cascading reels and an escalating multiplier trail
Where Megaways came from
Big Time Gaming (BTG) developed and patented the Megaways engine, first releasing it in Dragon Born in 2016. Rather than keep it exclusive, BTG licenses the mechanic to other studios — Pragmatic Play, Blueprint Gaming, and Red Tiger among them — which is why you'll see “Megaways” branded titles across many different providers' catalogues, all using the same underlying reel mechanic under licence.
How the mechanic works
A standard slot has a fixed number of symbols per reel — typically 3 rows across 5 reels, giving a fixed number of paylines or ways. Megaways changes the reel height randomly on every single spin, usually within a range of 2 to 7 symbols per reel, across 6 reels. Because the ways-to-win calculation multiplies the symbol count across all reels, a taller spin produces dramatically more ways to win than a shorter one.
| Reel height (each of 6 reels) | Ways to win |
|---|---|
| 2 symbols per reel (minimum) | 2⁶ = 64 |
| 4 symbols per reel | 4⁶ = 4,096 |
| 6 symbols per reel | 6⁶ = 46,656 |
| 7 symbols per reel (maximum) | 7⁶ = 117,649 |
That maximum — 117,649 — is the figure most Megaways marketing leans on, but it only occurs when every one of the six reels lands at full height simultaneously, which is itself a fairly rare event. Most spins produce a ways-to-win count well below the maximum.
Cascading reels and multiplier trails
Almost every Megaways title pairs the variable-reel mechanic with cascading (or “tumbling”) reels: winning symbols are removed after a win, remaining symbols drop down, and new symbols fill the gaps from above, potentially creating additional wins from the same spin without staking again. Many titles attach an escalating multiplier to each successive cascade within a single spin sequence, which is where the largest single-spin wins on these titles come from.
A higher ways-to-win count changes how often small combinations land, not the underlying RTP of the game, which is set independently by the paytable and volatility design. Always check the published RTP separately — see our RTP explainer.
Megaways and volatility
The combination of variable ways, cascading wins, and multiplier trails tends to produce medium-to-high volatility titles: frequent small cascades punctuated by occasional large multiplied wins. If you're choosing a Megaways title, check its specific volatility rating — it varies meaningfully between titles despite the shared mechanic. See our volatility guide for how to match that to your session budget.
The bottom line
Megaways is a genuinely distinct mechanic, not a marketing label — a licensed, patented system that recalculates ways-to-win on every spin based on randomised reel height. It changes how wins are structured, not the game's underlying fairness. Check RTP and volatility independently of the ways-to-win headline before choosing a title.