Money Megaways Review
Every slot player hopes for that elusive 'Big Win', and a potential lifestyle upgrade. We can’t all be whisked around the world in private jets, but we can certainly dream, and slot developers are keen to give us a glimpse into another world. This is an exclusive market though, so games need to offer something special to stand out from the crowd.
Design
Most slot developers like to include tried and tested symbols denoting fabulous wealth when creating slots with a luxury theme. The reels are usually dripping in diamonds and expensive watches while fast cars and cocktails all help to give a glimpse of the high life.
The designers at Light & Wonder have turned their back on all the usual symbols and focussed their attention on cold, hard cash. It’s a nice premise, but it might have worked a little better with bundles of money or gold coins perhaps.
Spinning up 5 cents, 10 cents and quarters doesn’t give the feeling of incredible wealth, and even the notes look like basic Monopoly money. There’s an obligatory jazz backing track, but it looped around endlessly and quickly became irritating – at least, we thought so!
Gameplay
Money Megaways offers most of the standard mechanics you’d expect, including Cascading Reels after every win. There’s an extra, horizontal reel above the game too, giving extra ways to win. The double-width Vault symbol can randomly spin up on the horizontal reel, triggering a symbol upgrade. One symbol is randomly chosen on the grid to be upgraded, while that same symbol replaces the Vault icon, potentially leading to a win.
Free Spins
You’ll need to land 4, 5 or 6 Free Spin Scatters to activate 8, 10 or 12 free spins respectively. Throughout the feature every cascade adds +1 to a global multiplier, so big wins are possible. Landing 4 more Scatters awards 4 additional spins. Each additional Scatter keeps awarding 4 extra spins.
Hold and Spin Bonus
Spin up 4 or more gold ingots in view to activate the respin bonus round. All gold ingots remain Sticky throughout the feature, with all other symbols removed from the reels. Only gold ingots and blanks can land during this feature, with new ingots resetting the respin counter back to 3.
Win potential
Coin symbols pay a maximum of 0.5x – 2.5x the bet, depending on their value. Notes all pay up to 100x their face value for six-of-a-kind matches, so big wins are possible during the base game. The multipliers during the free spins round increase the winning potential, but you’ll need to land 4 Scatters to access the feature.
Gold ingots in the respins bonus come with values worth between 0.05x – 100x your current wager. And there are three fixed Jackpot prizes, which can be triggered at any time by landing three or more Bitcoin symbols on the reels:
- Silver Jackpot – 50x
- Gold Jackpot – 500x
- Crypto Jackpot – 5,000x
Our Verdict
Any slot called Money Megaways is bound to get plenty of attention just for its name alone. Who wouldn’t want the chance to spin up big money prizes from reels filled with cash? The problem is, the game just didn’t really do it for us – we found the symbols slightly nonsensical, if we’re being honest – they certainly didn’t give us any feelings of luxury, but maybe we’re being picky.
The high volatility didn’t give us the best gaming experience, to be fair. Once we hit the hold and spin bonus our enjoyment ramped up considerably, but it took us a long time to get that far. If we’d landed the free spins bonus sooner, we might have taken a more positive view of the game. With all that said, the top prize is worth a respectable 7,000x, so don’t let us put you off trying the game out for yourself!
Marianne's interest in slots was sparked by a win on a one-arm bandit at an old-fashioned seaside arcade. These days she's turned her back on classic games, and has made it her mission to track down the most exciting slots offering innovative bonus features - and a great soundtrack!
Learn more about Marianne here