Slot games have various themes and gameplay, but the basic game mechanics remain the same. No matter what slot you play, you can almost always get a maximum of 5 reels and a limited number of paylines. If you are looking for a game studio with a vision to change these basic mechanics, you should take a look at Big Time Gaming (BTG): this provider uses innovative features in almost every slot it develops, such as https://vulkanvegas.com/ca/category/slots. Below, we’ll take a look at all of these with examples.
The “Megaways” Feature
“Megaways” is the name of the first and most popular slot mechanic developed by BTG. After releasing a few slots with this feature, BTG started selling it to other studios as well, which is why almost every developer currently has at least one Megaways game. Even big developers like Netent, Microgaming, Pragmatic Play, and Yggdrasil have at least one Megaways slot in their collections and even released updated versions of their old games with this feature. So, what is Megaways, and how does it work? To answer this question, let’s take a quick look at the classic slot mechanics:
- The playing field usually consists of a 5×3 grid, which means that the game has 5 reels, and each reel has three symbol pockets. These numbers are fixed and do not change.
- For the same reason, the number of paylines in the game is also fixed. This number is mostly between 20 and 40, although in some games, it can rarely go up to 1,024.
Megaways primarily changes these two core mechanics, and for the same reason, the entire gameplay changes as well. The features of Megaways slots are as follows:
- The playground almost always offers a 5×4 grid in the beginning, but this is not a fixed value. With each spin and each bonus round, the grid can change. For example, when you activate the bonus round, it can become 7×6: this means that 7 reels with 6 pockets each can fit on the playing field.
- The number of paylines is also not fixed. They are determined randomly at each spin, and there is only a maximum limit: 117,649. You can get 50,000 lines on one spin and 100,000 lines on another: chance determines the outcome.
- The minimum bet limit is quite high in slots with a large number of lines, as the spin cost is determined by the amount of bet per line. In Megaways slots, the bet values are not determined by the number of lines, which means you can still play at a very low cost.
Other than that, the main goal is still the same: placing identical symbols next to each other on a payline. However, thanks to the dynamic paylines feature, this is easier to do, and higher payout values can be achieved. As we mentioned above, Megaways slots are very popular, and you can choose from many options. However, depending on the RTP values and how fun the overall gameplay is, we recommend starting with the following:
- Big Bad Wolf Megaways (QuickSpin)
- Gonzo’s Quest MegaWays (Netent)
- Golden Leprechaun MegaWays (Red Tiger)
- Hot Spin Megaways (iSoftBet)
- Christmas Carol Megaways (Pragmatic Play).
The “Megaclusters” Feature
Another mechanic developed by BTG is “Megaclusters”. Although not as popular as Megaways, we can say that it is much more creative because it also changes the basic rule we mentioned above: you do not have to place identical symbols on a line to qualify for a payout in these games. This is because Megaclusters slots do not have paylines: instead, you have to form “clusters” of identical symbols.
In this context, we can say that the gameplay is similar to match-3 games. Symbols collected in a cluster disappear, and new ones come in their place (without the need for a new spin). So, you have the chance to win multiple times with a single spin.
There are other studios using a similar system, so the cluster mechanic is not something BTG invented. There is even a category of slots called “Cluster Pays”. But what makes it “mega” is BTG: this means that clusters can be much larger and contain more symbols. So:
- Symbols in a 4×4 grid can turn into a “mega cluster”.
- When this happens, each cluster can cover 64 tiles.
- This means that you can remove 64 symbols from the playing field per spin. Thus, it is possible to obtain higher payout values.
Megaclusters games offer a completely different experience: they’re just as fun as classic slots and can be even more lucrative. Since their basic mechanics are more suitable for touch controls, we can say that they offer more immersive gameplay on mobile. Other studios aren’t developing games based on this mechanic yet, but we’re sure this will change soon.
