Megaways Slots: What they are and why Brits abroad keep coming back to them
Nearly 6.3 million British visitors came to the Canary Islands last year, more than 40% of all international arrivals. Whether you are based here full-time, spending winter in Tenerife, or midway through a fortnight in Lanzarote, evenings and quieter afternoons tend to follow a familiar pattern: a walk, dinner, maybe a bar, and then some time back at the apartment scrolling through whatever entertainment your phone or laptop can offer.
Online slots have become a standard part of that mix for a large number of British players, and within that category, one format has dominated play for close to a decade.
Megaways slots account for some of the most-played games across every major UK-licensed platform, and for anyone who has not tried them or wants to understand what the mechanic actually involves, this is the format worth knowing about.
You can browse all Megaways games, including free demo versions, at Online-Slot.co.uk.
Where Megaways Came From
The Megaways mechanic was created by Australian studio Big Time Gaming and first appeared in a game called Dragon Born in 2016, before being popularised the same year by Bonanza, the gold-mining slot that became a defining title of the era.
The concept was straightforward but genuinely novel: instead of fixed paylines, the number of symbols on each reel changes randomly with every spin.
On a six-reel Megaways game, each reel can show between two and seven symbols per spin. When all six reels show seven symbols simultaneously, you get 117,649 ways to win in a single spin. On the very next spin, those reels might show far fewer symbols, dropping the ways to win considerably.
That constant shift is what makes the format feel different from anything that came before it.
Bonanza: the Game That Started It All
Bonanza remains one of the most played slots on UK-licensed platforms nearly a decade after launch. The gold-mining theme gives it vividly coloured gemstones as symbols, and a horizontal cart track above the main reels delivers extra symbols to each reel on every spin, adding further winning possibilities.
The cascading reels feature means winning symbols disappear and are replaced by new ones dropping from above, which can generate consecutive wins from a single spin. Free spins are triggered by spelling out the word GOLD across the base game reels, and an unlimited multiplier builds with every cascade during the bonus round.
That combination of accumulating multiplier and cascading wins is what produces the occasional very large payouts the game is known for.
Extra Chilli and White Rabbit: Two BTG Classics Worth Knowing
Big Time Gaming followed Bonanza with Extra Chilli Megaways, which uses the same 117,649 ways to win structure on a six-reel grid but adds a different visual identity and a free spins feature where extra chilli symbols can extend the bonus.
It shares the cascading reels and unlimited multiplier that made Bonanza popular, and the two games are frequently recommended together.
White Rabbit Megaways takes the Alice in Wonderland source material and does something genuinely unusual with it. In the base game, the setup is five reels with up to 16,807 ways to win, but in the Down the Rabbit Hole free spins feature, the grid expands up to twelve reels, increasing potential ways to win to 248,832. It is one of the more visually distinctive Megaways games and carries a high 97.24% RTP.
Gonzo's Quest Megaways and Fishin' Frenzy Megaways: Familiar Titles Rebuilt
Several established slot franchises have been rebuilt using the Megaways engine, often with significantly increased win potential compared to the originals.
Gonzo's Quest Megaways takes NetEnt's classic Aztec explorer slot and expands it to up to 117,649 ways to win. The Avalanche mechanic from the original, where winning symbols shatter, and new ones fall into place, combines naturally with the Megaways format and delivers multipliers that build across consecutive wins.
Fishin' Frenzy Megaways takes Blueprint Gaming's popular fishing slot and amplifies it. The original had five reels and ten paylines. The Megaways version has six reels and up to 15,615 ways to win, with a maximum win of 10,000x the stake in the free spins round.
The fisherman wild symbol collects all cash fish on the reels when it lands, which is the key bonus mechanic and the reason the game generates large swings in its bonus rounds.
Primal Megaways and Blood Suckers Megaways: Volatility Worth Understanding
Primal Megaways from Blueprint Gaming is one of the more extreme entries in the format. Its wild multipliers stack multiplicatively: if a 6x wild appears on every reel simultaneously, the combined multiplier reaches 7,776x.
It is a high-volatility game where long losing stretches are the norm, and the bonus round is where the most significant wins occur. Knowing the volatility profile before you start is the difference between a frustrating session and one where you understand what you have signed up for.
Blood Suckers Megaways from NetEnt adapts a long-standing vampire slot into the Megaways format with a 97.66% RTP, making it one of the higher-returning Megaways titles available. Four separate bonus features can be randomly triggered, including super wild reels with multipliers and a free spins mode. The high RTP makes it a reasonable starting point for players who want the Megaways mechanic without the extreme volatility of games like Primal.
Playing From the Canaries
All of these games are available on any device with a browser. Whether you are on holiday at a Canaries apartment in Playa de las Americas, at home in Los Cristianos, or spending an afternoon in a cafe in Las Palmas, UK-licensed platforms are accessible and fully functional on mobile. The games are optimised for smaller screens and load quickly on standard hotel or apartment wifi.
Share:
