Megaways explained
Megaways is a reel engine invented by Big Time Gaming in which each reel displays a random number of symbols on every spin, so the number of ways to win changes spin by spin, up to 117,649 on the standard six-reel format. It is not a game; it is a licensed mechanic that now sits under hundreds of games from dozens of studios, which is why the logo appears everywhere from Bonanza to branded TV slots.
The math of 117,649
In a ways-to-win game, the count of ways is the product of the symbols visible on each reel. The standard Megaways layout uses six reels showing between two and seven symbols each. When every reel lands at the full seven, the calculation is 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 = 76 = 117,649. Land fewer symbols and the count drops sharply; a spin showing two symbols on each reel offers just 64 ways. The randomized reel heights are the engine's whole trick: the board itself becomes part of the gamble, and big-ways spins feel like events before a single symbol is evaluated. Many implementations add cascading reels, where winning symbols are removed and replaced, so one spin can chain several evaluations.
A licensing business as much as a game studio
Big Time Gaming rolled the mechanic out in 2016, with Bonanza turning it into an industry phenomenon, and began licensing Megaways to other studios in 2018. The engine now powers well over 200 titles from providers including Blueprint, Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play and iSoftBet, each paying to use the patented mechanic and branding. That licensing catalog is a large part of why Evolution agreed in April 2021 to acquire BTG for up to €450 million, and Evolution has continued licensing the engine to third parties since. For players the practical consequence is simple: the Megaways logo guarantees the reel mechanic, not the math. RTP, hit rate and win caps are set per game by whichever studio built it.
What it means for volatility
Megaways games skew medium-high to high volatility. The variable board adds a layer of variance on top of ordinary symbol randomness: your best outcomes need a tall board and premium symbols and (in most titles) chained cascades, and that conjunction is rare. Individual way wins are also small, because each of six reels must contribute a symbol, so the headline moments come from multipliers and free-spin rounds rather than single lines. None of this changes the average return. A 96% Megaways slot costs the same per dollar wagered as any other 96% game, a point our RTP guide covers in depth; the engine reshapes the ride, not the price.
Megaways and bonus buys
Because so much of a typical Megaways game's return is concentrated in its free-spins round, many modern implementations sell direct access to it through a feature buy at offshore casinos. The pricing logic is the same as for any other slot: the buy compresses hundreds of spins of turnover into one click, and unless the provider publishes a distinct buy RTP, there is no reason to assume the shortcut is cheaper per dollar. We work through that arithmetic in our bonus buy guide; it applies to Megaways titles without modification.
Reading a Megaways title before you play
Because the brand is licensed, quality and math vary widely between studios. Check the published RTP and remember that many providers ship multiple RTP versions of the same game, so the figure in your casino's paytable is the one that counts. Check the max win and the volatility rating, and treat "up to 117,649 ways" as a description of the board rather than a promise about payouts. You can compare RTP and volatility across the Megaways titles we track in our slot database, alongside the highest-RTP games overall if the price of play is your main filter.
Quick summary
- Megaways = variable symbols per reel; ways = the product across reels, capped at 76 = 117,649 in the standard format.
- Big Time Gaming owns and licenses the mechanic (Evolution-owned since 2021); each studio sets its own RTP and volatility.
- Expect high variance: small individual way wins, with the real payoff concentrated in multipliers and features.
- Judge each title on its own published math, not on the logo.
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