What are paylines and ways to win?
The very first mechanical slot machines featured three revolving reels and just a single payline, where lining up three matching symbols awards a prize – the first ‘way to win’.
Nowadays, the addition of more reels and rows has created more potential winning combinations, with paylines coming in various patterns. Meanwhile, in ‘ways to win’ slots, the paylines aren’t fixed, so matching symbols can just appear on consecutive reels, rather than lining up in a specific pattern. Then there are pays anywhere and cluster pay slots where symbols simply need to appear anywhere on the grid, or in a group, to award a prize.
While the way symbol combinations need to land may vary from slot to slot, what most classic reel games tend to share is a fixed number of rows – that is to say that the number of symbols that can land on each reel and across the entire grid is the same on any spin, and so are the possible ways to win. So, how about with Megaways™ games and what makes them so… Mega?!
Megaways™ vs paylines
With the development of Megaways™, Big Time Gaming took the idea of fixed rows and grid configurations and broke the mould.
While the number of reels that appear in a Megaways™ slot stays the same throughout, the reels are designed to be dynamic, carrying symbols of varying sizes. It means that the number of symbols that can appear on each reel differs on every spin, which in turn changes the potential number of winning combinations.
As with classic ways to win slots, wins come by way of landing matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left, but the changeable reel structure and randomised paylines of Megaways™’ make every spin unique.
In classic Megaways™ titles, the mechanic varies the number of symbol positions on five reels from two up to seven, which creates up to a potential 117,649 ways to win on every spin.
Different configurations diversify the experience and elevate the max ways even higher, from featuring an extra horizonal reel on top of the reels to upping the maximum number of symbols per row to eight.
Pragmatic Play Megaways™ games
Pragmatic Play’s first foray with the Megaways™ mechanic was in Great Rhino Megaways™, a safari-themed sequel to fan-favourite Great Rhino offering a mammoth 200,704 ways to win. We’ve since created multiple successful Megaways™ titles, officially licensing the Big Time Gaming tech while making our own mark. Here are just some top titles to look out for:
5 Lions Megaways™ - Classic Asian-styled slot has been a king of the Megaways™ jungle for years, while its superb sequel roared just as loudly.
Buffalo King Megaways™ - Renowned Wild West style adventure has also been popular on the prairies for years.
The Dog House Megaways™ - Introducing Megaways™ action into the hit quirky canine series, The Dog House.
Madame Destiny Megaways™ - One of Pragmatic Play’s most played Megaways™ games of all time, starring s mysterious clairvoyant alongside expanded grid and a wheel of fortune.
Zombie School Megaways™ - The new kid on the block is acing it, introducing a unique adult theme alongside thriller dynamic reels and monster potential ways to win.