Megaways is a game engine licensed to many studios. On each spin, the reels change height, and the number of winning combinations changes with them.
Where the number comes from
Six reels, each showing between two and seven symbols. When all six show seven:
7 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 = 117,649 ways.
That is the headline. It is arithmetically true and it tells you nothing about your expected return, which is governed entirely by the RTP and the paytable — both of which are built with the 117,649 already in them. The ways-count is the shape of the payout structure, not an improvement to it. See paylines.
What is actually distinctive
- Cascades. Winning symbols are removed and new ones drop in, allowing chained wins from one spin.
- High volatility, almost always. Long stretches return nothing. The RTP is concentrated in a rare free-spins round with an escalating multiplier.
- A high maximum win multiplier — often 10,000x to 50,000x, which is capped, and which the vast majority of players will never approach.
The thing worth knowing
RTP versions vary by operator. A Megaways title advertised at 96.5% by the studio may be deployed by a given casino at 94%, or lower. The name, the reels and the graphics are identical. The maths is not, and the operator picked it.
So check the RTP in the game's own information panel on the site you are playing on. Not the studio's press release. Not a review. The panel.