Megaways Slots Explained: How 117,649 Ways Work

By Jake Morrow · Published 2026-09-12

Megaways is a licensed slot mechanic, not a game itself, built around one gimmick: the number of symbols on each reel changes randomly every spin. That randomization is what produces the famous 117,649-ways figure you’ll see plastered across slot lobbies, and it’s also the number most players misunderstand. I’ve spent enough time around the math behind these games to know the headline number gets more attention than what actually determines your results, which is the RTP sitting quietly in the rules menu. Let’s break down what’s really happening under the hood.

What Does Megaways Actually Mean?

Megaways was created and patented by Big Time Gaming (BTG), an Australian studio that first used the mechanic in its 2016 release Bonanza. Since then, BTG has licensed the mechanic to dozens of other studios, which is why you’ll see “Megaways” branding on games from multiple developers, according to Big Time Gaming’s official site.

The core idea: instead of a fixed grid with the same number of symbols on every reel every spin, each reel displays a random number of symbols, usually between 2 and 7, reel by reel, spin by spin. On a standard 6-reel Megaways template, that randomness is what generates the shifting ways-to-win total.

How Do Megaways Slots Work, Reel by Reel?

Picture six vertical reels. On a normal slot, each reel might always show 3 symbols, giving you a fixed 3x6 grid. On a Megaways slot, a random reel modifier decides how many symbols land on each reel before the spin resolves, anywhere from 2 up to 7 per reel depending on the game’s build.

Ways to win are then calculated by multiplying the symbol count on each reel together. If reel 1 has 4 symbols, reel 2 has 6, reel 3 has 3, and so on across all six reels, you multiply those six numbers to get the total ways available for that single spin. When every reel happens to land at its maximum (7 symbols across 6 reels), you get 7^6, which equals 117,649. That’s a ceiling, not a guarantee, and it only shows up when every reel maxes out at once.

Where Does the 117,649 Number Come From?

This is the part that gets oversimplified in a lot of slot marketing. 117,649 is simply 7 multiplied by itself six times, matching a specific template: 6 reels, 7-symbol maximum per reel. It’s a mathematical ceiling for that particular reel configuration, not a universal Megaways constant.

Different studios have built variants with different maximums. Some cap reels lower, some add a 7th reel, some restructure the grid entirely. The number changes based on architecture, so a game marketed as “Megaways” isn’t guaranteed to hit 117,649 specifically. Always check the paytable for the actual maximum stated for that title.

The takeaway: the specific number is a byproduct of grid design, not a signal of quality or better payout potential.

Does More Ways to Win Mean Better Odds?

No, and this is the myth worth killing outright. Ways to win is a structural feature that determines how many symbol combinations can form a payout on a given spin. It has no direct relationship to the house edge, which is set by the game’s Return to Player (RTP) percentage. A Megaways slot with 117,649 ways and a published RTP of 94% will, over a large enough sample, pay back less than a fixed 25-payline slot with a published RTP of 97%.

More ways to win can mean more small wins land more often, which changes the feel of a session, but the math that determines what you get back over time lives entirely in the RTP figure and volatility design, both set independently by the developer. If you want to sanity-check what a given RTP actually implies over a set number of spins, our /tools/rtp-calculator/ walks through the math without the marketing gloss.

Megaways vs Fixed Paylines: What’s the Real Difference?

A fixed-payline slot has a set grid size and a set number of paylines every single spin. If it’s a 5x3 grid with 25 paylines, that never changes from spin to spin. Megaways swaps that consistency for variability: the grid height shifts reel by reel, so the ways to win total is different almost every spin, sometimes dramatically.

Neither structure is inherently better for a player’s bankroll. They’re different ways of packaging the same underlying random number generator. Fixed paylines are easier to predict and understand at a glance; Megaways feels more chaotic and, for a lot of players, more entertaining to watch unfold, especially when combined with cascading reels.

What About Cascading Reels and Multipliers?

Most Megaways titles pair the mechanic with a tumble or cascade feature: winning symbols disappear, new ones drop in, and the ways-to-win calculation refreshes on the same spin. Chain enough cascades together and many games escalate a multiplier, which is usually where the bigger single-spin outcomes come from. This is a design layer added on top of Megaways, not a requirement of the mechanic itself, and it’s a big part of why volatility varies so much game to game even within the same “Megaways” label.

If you’re weighing whether paying extra to trigger a bonus round upfront is worth it on these builds, that’s a separate math question covered in are bonus buys worth it, and it applies just as much to Megaways titles as any other slot with a buy-feature option.

A Few Popular Titles Worth Knowing

Bonanza, from Big Time Gaming, remains the reference point for the mechanic. Since the license opened up, other studios have released their own takes across a wide range of themes, some far more volatile than others. For side-by-side comparisons of specific titles and their published specs, our big bass bonanza slot review and book of dead slot review cover two very different builds worth comparing against a Megaways title’s numbers, and the broader /slots/ hub has more reviews if you want to compare RTPs across game types before picking what to play.

Megaways is a genuinely clever piece of slot engineering, and understanding how the ways-to-win figure is built makes the marketing a lot less mysterious. But the number on the loading screen was never the number that matters for your bankroll. That’s the RTP, buried in the rules menu, the same as it is on every other slot in the lobby.

This is 18+ entertainment math, not a strategy for making money, and the house edge is built into every spin regardless of how many ways are on the table. If gambling stops feeling like entertainment, visit /responsible-gambling/ for resources.

Jake Morrow — Writes about compounding, trading and building income streams. Started with a $2k account in 2018 and still checks every number in a spreadsheet before publishing.