Megaways Slots What 117,649 Ways Really Means

What the mechanic actually does

Megaways is a reel engine, not a genre. Big Time Gaming built it and licenses it out, which is why you'll find it across dozens of studios on games that otherwise have nothing in common.

The idea is straightforward. Instead of fixed reels each showing three symbols, every reel shows a variable number — typically between two and seven — and it re-rolls on every spin. Ways to win are calculated by multiplying the symbol counts together, so a spin with four symbols on every reel gives 4,096 ways, and one with seven on every reel gives 117,649. Wins pay left to right on adjacent reels rather than along fixed lines, and most implementations pair the engine with cascading symbols, where winners disappear and let new ones drop in.

117,649 is a ceiling, not a normal spin

The headline number does an enormous amount of marketing work and it's worth understanding what it describes.

To reach 117,649 ways, all six reels have to land at maximum height simultaneously. That is a rare configuration. Reel heights land across the full range, so a typical spin sits far lower — if reels average four or five symbols, you're looking at somewhere around 4,000 to 15,000 ways, a fraction of the advertised figure.

That gap is not a flaw. It's the mechanic working as designed, and it's precisely the source of the excitement: the moment the reels expand to full height is the moment a Megaways game becomes worth watching. But it means the number on the box describes an outcome you'll see occasionally, not the game you'll usually be playing.

More ways doesn't mean better odds

The instinct is that more ways to win must mean more winning. It doesn't, because the maths compensates.

When a spin delivers 100,000 ways, the payout attached to each individual way is correspondingly tiny. The engine balances itself — a slot's RTP is set independently of how many ways any given spin produces, and the ways count changes the shape of the return rather than its size. What you get from a big ways count is the possibility of a very large cascading sequence, not a better chance of an ordinary win.

The mechanic makes these games volatile

This is the practical consequence. Variable reel heights plus cascades produce exactly the pattern that defines high volatility: most spins are unremarkable, and the value is concentrated in rare configurations where the reels expand and a cascade chain runs.

Megaways games are not universally high volatility, but the engine pushes hard in that direction, and most of the well-known titles sit at the volatile end. That matters for two reasons. First, budget: these games generally need a bankroll of 150 to 200 times your stake to reach the features where the value lives. Second, RTP: volatile games require more turnover to get to the bonus, so the gap between a good build and a reduced one is applied to a larger amount of money. Our bankroll simulator will show you what that variance actually looks like across a session.

A Megaways badge tells you nothing about RTP

Because the engine is licensed rather than owned, the badge is a statement about mechanics and nothing else. Quality varies enormously between studios, and so does return to player — Megaways titles span the same rough range as the rest of the market, and some run considerably below average.

Check the deployed figure on the game you're considering rather than assuming the mechanic implies anything. Use the filters on this page to narrow by provider if there's a studio whose Megaways implementations you already get on with.

18+. Gamble responsibly. RTP is a long-run theoretical average calculated across millions of spins and does not predict any individual session. Support is available at BeGambleAware.