Video slots with more than 100,000 ways to win

Slots

For more than 40 years, the UK has had a love affair with slot machines – commonly known as fruit machines on our side of the Atlantic.

Back in the 1980s, virtually every pub across the country had at least one fruity tucked away in the corner. One of our favourites was Luxor with its five nudge feature and a stellar jackpot of £6.00 if you lined up three Super 7s on the one payline.

As the classic mechanical reels were replaced by electronic video, the possibilities for increasing the number of paylines multiplied. Furthermore, instead of merely having three reels, video slots with four and five reels became the standard, and so the slot machine industry had jumped from games with 1 payline up to slots with 20 to 30.

However, innovation never sleeps in this niche. Evolving from the set ‘payline’ structure, video slots emerged with a ‘ways to win’ mechanic. This did away with paylines as winning combinations were formed simply by matching symbols on the following reel(s) regardless of their position. Using this concept, five-reel slots with 243 ways to win started to take hold.

But still, developers pushed the boundaries looking for more. A company by the name of Big Time Gaming (BTG) decided to think outside of the box. It began developing MegaWays video slots. These games had more reels (usually six or seven) and more rows, which equated to more symbols and therefore more ways to win.

Suddenly, 243 ways to win became 4,096, and that was followed by a mind-blowing 117,649 ways to win. Games such as Bonanza MegaWays and Extra Chilli MegaWays became instant player-favourite. In fact, MegaWays has been so successful, many other software developers have purchased a licence from BTG, so they can produce their own MegaWays titles.

But the story doesn’t end there. BTG has now patented a new game mechanic, known as Reel Adventure. This (mechanic) combined with MegaWays can increase the number of ways to win even further. One of its latest online video slots, Holy Diver has an astronomical 586,971 ways to win.

Please note: Just because a slot offers more ways to win; it does not mean that players will win more money. Always gamble responsibly. These slots are excellent fun and a great form of entertainment – and that’s how you should view them.