Montezuma Megaways

Travel to Mesoamerica for an encounter with the last Aztec ruler on the slot from Scientific Games subsidiary Williams Interactive (WMS). Montezuma Megaways is a remake of the iconic Montezuma slot that was released online in 2014 and went on to become one of the most popular titles from this developer alongside Raging Rhino. Thanks to the Megaways engine, the game has now up to 117,649 ways to win instead of 30 paylines and comes with a host of new features to complement the existing free spins round with extra multipliers.

Earlier in 2019, WMS took on the challenge to give their most popular slot Raging Rhino the Megaways treatment which has done well since its release. However, WMS played it safe and did not venture away from the original concept and pay mechanics. That caution has been thrown overboard on Montezuma Megaways as the studio has gone all out and added more features that do justice to the mighty ruler. In addition to cascading reels, reactive wins and the free spins round with unlimited progressive multipliers, players can now look forward to a random respin feature, extra multiplier triggers in the free spins, a Bonus Buy option and a vastly increased win potential of up to 12,500 times your bet or 250,000 credits, whichever is reached first.

Slot Details

Montezuma Megaways is a video slot with six reels, two to seven rows and up 117,649 ways to win. Wins are awarded for two to six matching symbols on adjacent reels from left to right only. Playable on desktop and mobile, it comes with bet sizes from 0.20 to 20 credits per spin. The game has medium to high volatility with an RTP of 95.92%. The version with the Buy Pass option has an RTP of 96.17%.

In the 16th century, the Aztec empire and its civilization came to a collapse at the hands of the Spanish conquistadores. Before this, the very last independent ruler was Montezuma – a mighty man who ruled as a monarch and expanded the empire, which made him being considered as a God by his people.

WMS paid tribute to the mighty Aztec warrior when it created the original Montezuma slot. The Megaways version is keeping most of the graphics, visuals and pay symbols that have made the game so popular in the casino community. More elaborate animations will trigger on reactive wins as well as random feature and multiplier wheel activations

With that said, the entire pay symbol set has been transferred to the Megaways slot. At the low end are the card royals from J to A, awarding 0.2x to 0.25x your bet for a single six of a kind. They are complemented by dragons, masks, headdresses, hawks, an Aztec princess and an Aztec warrior. Hit six across the reels to win 0.25x to 25x your stake.

The Aztec pyramid temple is the wild symbol, appearing in the top reel only and substituting for all regular pay symbols. An Aztec-inspired wheel acts as the scatter.

Montezuma Megaways Slot Features

Core to most slots using the immensely popular Megaways engine from Big Time Gaming is the cascading reels mechanic with reactive wins. At the start of a spin sequence, symbols drop from the top onto the six reels based on the random selection. In addition, the extra reel at the top of the game window spins four symbols into view extending from reels two to five and thus adding an extra symbol position to those reels. A small display at the top shows the total amount of active ways for the spin which can be anywhere from 324 to the full 117,649.

Hitting a winner will see the symbols from the combination start a chain reaction called reactive wins. They will explode to make space for new symbols to drop into place and potentially leading to multiple winners within a spin sequence. The process is repeated as long as a new winning combination occurs after a reaction. Wins are accumulated from all cascades and paid before the next spin sequence starts.

The Montezuma Respin Wheel might trigger randomly after a losing spin in the base game. Only the top reel will respin once to potentially produce a winning combo. Should that happen, then the usual reactive win mechanic will come into play to carry on the spin sequence until no new winners occur.

The central part to the gameplay is still the Free Spins feature, only that now it has been further boosted compared to the original slot. You will need to have three or more Aztec wheel scatters in view at the end of a spin sequence to trigger the round. A large wheel will appear and spin once to award up to 30 free spins, which can be indefinitely retriggered when you land at least three scatters in a free spin.

There are few kickers in the bonus round that will have a significant impact on your potential winnings. First is the progressive win multiplier we know from other Megaways slots. It starts at x1 and increases by x1 after each reaction, no limits. The win multiplier can be further boosted when you hit two scatters on a free spin. The Montezuma Multiplier Wheel will appear, containing 12 segments marked with random multipliers between x4 and x100. It will spin once and the value stopping on the arrow will be added to the current round multiplier, potentially leading to insane win multipliers for the remainder of the feature. Plus, the random Respin Wheel can trigger on any losing free spin.

And there is more. Hitting two scatters on your final free spin will trigger the Mega Multiplier Wheel. A golden wheel will appear with multipliers from x2 to x25. It will again spin once only and the value stopping on the arrow will be applied to the entire winnings from the feature.

Had a poor bonus round despite all the extra boosters? Not to worry as the Bonus Guarantee we know from the original will activate to award a minimum win of 30x your bet.

Lastly, for all players where feature buys are not restricted, there is a Buy Pass option that will instantly award a free spins feature. It will cost you a one-time wager of 85x your bet. Alternatively, you can reduce the cost of buying the feature by activating the Bonus Bank, which will present you with two options to lower the standard Buy Pass amount. Please note though that adding wins to the Bonus Bank means that they are not added to your playing balance.

• Bank Wins Off – wins are not collected and Buy Pass cost is not reduced
• Bank All Wins – all wins are added to the Bonus Bank reducing the cost for the Buy Pass
• Bank Small Wins – only wins of 3x your bet or less are added to the Bonus Bank to reduce the cost for the Buy Pass

Final Verdict

To use one of William Shakespeare’s quote, “What’s past is prologue!”, Montezuma Megaways could ascend to much higher heights and popularity than the original Montezuma slot. WMS has gone all out to create an intense gameplay with ample features and plenty of heartstopper moments. Seeing those multipliers rise past x100 in the free spins round will instantly transform virtually any win into a mega win. The limit of 12,500 times your bet we stated earlier is derived from the maximum bet of 20 credits and restriction on the payout at 250,000 credits. However, we can see the game delivering higher results in terms “x bet win” for lower stakes.

Last Update: 14th October 2020

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