Where 117,649 comes from
A conventional slot has fixed paylines — twenty, twenty-five, whatever the game specifies — and a win has to land on one of them. Megaways slots throw that away. Every reel can show between two and seven symbols, redrawn on every spin, and any matching symbols on consecutive reels pay regardless of position.
So the number of ways to win is simply the reel heights multiplied together. All six reels at maximum: 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 = 117,649. All six at minimum: 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 64. Both happen, and everything in between happens too.
Here is the part the banner leaves out: more ways to win does not mean more winning. When the reels are seven high, each individual way is worth proportionally less, because a six-symbol match is a smaller share of a much larger grid. The maths balances. What you get is not a better game — it is a different-shaped one.
Cascades are the real feature
Nearly every Megaways game includes cascading reels, and this is where the format earns its reputation rather than in the headline number.
When symbols form a win, they disappear. The ones above drop into the gap, new symbols fall in from the top, and if the new arrangement makes another win, it pays too — and cascades again. A single spin can pay four or five times before it finishes.
Which is why a Megaways session feels the way it does. Most spins produce nothing at all, and then one erupts into a chain that runs for fifteen seconds and pays sixty times the stake. That is high volatility, and it is baked into the format rather than being a setting on the side.
What that means for your balance
Take two slots at an identical 96% RTP: one ordinary, one Megaways. Over a hundred thousand spins they return the same. Over your two hundred spins on a Tuesday evening they behave nothing alike.
The ordinary slot pays something small every few spins. The balance drifts down gently, with regular small recoveries, and €20 lasts a while. The Megaways game gives you long stretches of nothing — thirty, forty spins with almost no return — and then a cascade that puts a chunk back. On €20 at 20c a spin you have a hundred spins, and there is a real chance the dry stretch outlasts your money entirely.
So the practical rule is about stake sizing rather than game choice. Megaways needs a smaller bet per spin than you would use on an ordinary slot, precisely because you need to survive long enough to reach the part that pays. Playing them at the same stake as a low-volatility game is the single most common mistake with the format.
The free spins round is the game
In most Megaways titles the base game is a waiting room. The bonus round is where the multipliers appear — typically an unlimited progressive multiplier that rises with every cascade and does not reset between spins. That is where the large wins come from, and it is why the max win figures are so enormous.
Which brings up the bonus buy button, offered by many of these games: pay 80 to 100 times your stake and go straight into the feature. The RTP on a bonus buy is usually similar to the base game, so it is not a swindle. What it does is compress your session — one purchase at €1 a spin costs €100, and if the feature falls flat, an evening's budget is gone in a minute. Speed is what costs money in a casino, and the buy button is speed sold as convenience.
Who the format suits
Megaways suits someone playing small stakes for a long session who does not mind long empty stretches, and who is there for the chance of a big cascade rather than steady returns. It suits almost nobody playing a small balance at a normal stake.
If you want the balance to move gently and the evening to last, a low-volatility game at the same RTP does that far better — the RTP guide explains why the percentage is only half the picture. And if you are chasing a genuinely life-changing number rather than a big cascade, that is a different format again: see jackpot slots.
Bonus wagering, briefly: slots including Megaways titles normally count 100% towards wagering. The catch is the maximum bet while a bonus is live — usually a few euro a spin, and one spin over it, including on autoplay, voids the bonus and anything won with it.
Common questions
What does 117,649 ways to win mean?
It is the reel heights multiplied together. Each of the six reels shows between two and seven symbols, redrawn every spin, so all six at maximum gives 7 to the power of 6, which is 117,649. All six at minimum gives 64. More ways does not mean more winning — when the grid is large, each individual way is worth proportionally less, and the maths balances out.
Are Megaways slots high volatility?
Almost always, and it comes from the cascades rather than the ways-to-win count. Most spins return nothing, and occasionally a chain of cascades runs for several seconds and pays heavily. Two games at the same RTP, one ordinary and one Megaways, return the same over a hundred thousand spins and behave nothing alike over two hundred.
What stake should I use on Megaways?
Smaller than you would use on an ordinary slot at the same balance. The dry stretches run to thirty or forty spins, so you need enough spins to reach a cascade — playing a Megaways game at the same stake as a low-volatility one is the most common mistake with the format, because your money runs out before the game gets to the part worth playing.
Is the bonus buy worth it?
The RTP on a bonus buy is usually similar to the base game, so it is not a swindle — but it compresses your session dramatically. At €1 a spin a buy costs around €100, and if the feature falls flat that is an evening's budget gone in under a minute. Speed is what costs money in a casino, and the buy button is speed sold as convenience.
What is the RTP of Megaways slots?
Typically 95.5% to 96.5%, so broadly in line with ordinary slots — the format changes the shape of the returns, not their size. As with any slot, the same title can be deployed at different figures by different operators, so check the game's own info panel at the casino where you are playing.
