The countdown to 2020 has begun and, as the decade draws to a close, Return to Player has been looking at the crème de la crème of the online gaming landscape. This time, we’re focusing on the best Megaways slots, so this list is comprised entirely of games running on the popular Big Time Gaming engine.

Megaways Explained

Before we start listing the games, it’s probably a good idea to have a quick recap of what the Megaways mechanic does. It’s essentially an alternative to the fixed payline method of deciding winning combinations. It does this by offering a different number of available symbols on each spin and some also have flexible reels. This means that every time you spin the reels, the number of ways to win will increase or decrease randomly, which adds another element of unpredictability to the games. The maximum available depends on the game, but most offer up to a whopping 117,649 ways to win, so the chances of landing a payout increase exponentially.

There is another benefit this mechanic has too and that is the ‘Cascading Reels’ feature. This isn’t exclusive to Megaways by any means and is known by other names too, such as ‘Tumbling Reels’ or ‘Collapsing Reels’. Its main attraction is that it allows the player to continue landing wins immediately after forming a successful combination. It does this by removing the symbols involved in the original win from play, before generating new ones to take their place. These have the potential to create new winning combinations and the cycle will continue as long as you keep landing wins. On its own, it can be quite a rewarding feature, but add Megaways to the mix and the potential rewards only get better.

Rainbow Riches Megaways

One of the best things about the system, is that it can give years’ old classics a much-needed revamp. In the catalogue of games under the Megaways brand, there is perhaps no finer example of this than Rainbow Riches. The iconic Irish-themed slot has been a huge hit in the online gaming world for years now, but this latest version adds a fresh dimension to the formula that has been successful for so long. For those players that haven’t played Rainbow Riches, firstly, where have you been?! and, secondly, it’s an Irish-themed slot that has been around for yonks. It might not be the prettiest slot, but it’s a still a hugely enjoyable game, mainly thanks to its engaging gameplay.

There are a couple of features that can be rather rewarding if you’re fortunate. We’ll start with the Super Gem bonus, which is a special symbol that can fall at any time. If it does, base game symbols will then transform into a single icon, which could form a new winning combination. After that, there is the free spins round, which will trigger after you’ve landed the bonus pot at least four times in a single spin. This will award 12 spins for minimum requirement, but you will get an extra five for every extra scatter you landed. There’s an unlimited win multiplier in this round too, so you could potentially reach some huge payouts, if you’re lucky.

Dragons Luck Megaways

You’ll notice as we go through this list that the vast majority of Megaways slots are reworked versions of games that have already been quite successful. That’s certainly the case for our next title, which was one of Red Tiger Gaming’s best properties when it first released. We’re talking about Dragon’s Luck Megaways, a feature-filled funfest, with some great graphics to boot. It is a fantasy-themed slot that centres around the mythical, scaly beasts referenced in its title. As such, all the images and symbols are styled after this theme, with dragons, jewels, and plenty of pixelated flames. There are loads of animations too, which is a nice touch, and adds that little bit more to the aesthetic.

Along with the boons that come with Megaways, Dragon’s Luck has a fair few features to boast about. The first of these is the randomly triggering Fire Blast, which will see the dragon fly onto the reels, dispensing wilds or scatters as it does. The second is the Dragon’s Egg Multiplier, which will trigger when a Cascading Reels reaction occurs. Every time this happens, the multiplier will go up by 1x to a limit of 50x, though there is a chance the game will randomly up it by 10x. Finally, there’s a free spins round, which is unlocked by landing the scatter at least three times. You will be given three dragons to choose from, which will determine how many spins you’ve won. The multiplier will be in effect for the whole duration and will carry over to the base game when it’s finished.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire Megaways

Have you brushed up on your general knowledge? If not, you might have to use one of your lifelines if you’re to make it to the later rounds. Ok, this game won’t ask you any trivia questions, but it does feature many things that are directly lifted from the television show. If you’ve never seen Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, it’s a quiz show where contestants must work their way through a series of rounds, slowly increasing their prize pot as they move up the ladder.  Credit where it’s due, Big Time Gaming has managed to faithfully translate much of the show’s format to the reels, and these take the form of gameplay elements for the most part.

There is just the one bonus outside of Megaways in this slot, but it is quite a comprehensive one. You’ll have to land there or four of the scatter symbols to trigger it, for which you will receive four or eight spins respectively. You can gamble to win more though, and this is delivered in a multiple-choice format. You are given four options, A, B, C, and D, before being asked to pick one. There are multiple rounds to this with the number of spins greatly increasing each time you go up a tier. You can use lifelines like the ones on the show to help with these questions too.

Return of Kong Megaways

A game about an anthropomorphic ape named Kong who throws barrels at you, where have we heard that one before? Well, you won’t find any moustached plumbers in this slot, but there are more than a few features to compensate. If you’re wondering what the theme of this game is, you’ll have to give us a moment to explain, as it’s pretty out there. It’s about Kong, a primate king who lives on a tropical island, who apparently spends his days hanging around ancient visuals, helping would-be adventurers find buried treasure. It’s got a bright display, with plenty of exotic elements too, so it’s quite easy on the eyes.

There are a couple of bonuses to talk you through in this game too. The first is the Mystery Kong Bonus, which will trigger randomly. This mechanism will see an animated Kong jump onto the side of the reels, before throwing several barrels onto them. They will fall into random positions and then transform into an identical symbol, which could potentially lead to a new win. Then there is the free spins round, which is triggered by landing four scatter symbols to spell out the name KONG. Initially, this will award 12 spins, though this can be increased by landing another scatter for five more spins. Also, there is a multiplier in effect that will increase each time there is a Cascading Reels reaction. If you’re really lucky, you could also increase the minimum number of available paylines, thus making the Megaways aspects even better.

All of the games we’ve spoken about here are available to play on our featured casino Kerching, so be sure to take advantage of their welcome offer if you’re new to the site.