Few modern slot mechanics have influenced game design as visibly as Megaways™. Its variable reel layouts replaced the predictable structure of a conventional fixed-payline game with a changing number of symbols and ways to win on every spin.
Bonanza played a central role in making that system famous, but the history is often oversimplified. Bonanza Megaways™ was not the first Megaways game, and not every modern slot with “Bonanza” in its title uses the mechanic. The story is better understood as two connected developments: the rise of Megaways™ and the transformation of Bonanza into a widely used naming convention.
The Megaways story began before Bonanza. Big Time Gaming identifies Dragon Born, released at the end of 2015, as its first Megaways™ title.
The game used six dynamic reels, with the number of symbols changing from one spin to the next. Multiplying the symbol counts across the reels created as many as 117,649 possible ways to win.
This was the central innovation: instead of presenting the same reel dimensions every time, the game could generate a different layout for each round. Big Time Gaming describes Dragon Born as the first game to use its Megaways™ system.
Dragon Born established the technology, but another release would turn it into a recognisable industry brand.
Big Time Gaming launched Bonanza Megaways™ on 7 December 2016. The game placed its dynamic reels inside a detailed mountain setting, using mining carts and reacting symbols to connect the mathematics with the theme.
Its main features included:
six vertical reels with changing symbol counts;
an additional horizontal reel above the main grid;
up to 117,649 ways to win;
reacting wins that removed paying symbols;
replacement symbols that could produce another reaction;
free spins with a multiplier that increased after each reaction.
The title was particularly well chosen. Historically, bonanza could describe a rich deposit of ore, so the word matched the mining environment as well as the possibility of uncovering a valuable result.
The game did not invent cascading symbols, nor was it the first Megaways™ release. Its achievement was combining variable reels, reactions, multipliers and a coherent theme in a format that proved easy to recognise.
In its original Bonanza launch announcement, Big Time Gaming also discussed the growing role of slot streaming. The company said the game had been designed to produce action that could be followed and discussed by an online audience. That detail would become increasingly relevant as gambling streams and recorded bonus rounds helped particular titles gain visibility.
Once Bonanza had demonstrated the potential of Megaways™, Big Time Gaming began applying the system to more experimental designs.
Released in October 2017, White Rabbit Megaways™ introduced extending reels capable of reaching up to 12 symbols in height. At their largest configuration, they could create 248,832 ways to win.
The game also introduced Feature Drop™, an option that allowed access to the bonus feature for a specified price. Coins collected during ordinary play could reduce that price. Big Time Gaming’s White Rabbit announcement described both Feature Drop™ and Extending Reels™ as new additions to the Megaways format.
Feature-purchase systems would later become common in online slots, although their availability now varies between games and regulated markets. They also increase financial exposure and do not guarantee that a purchased feature will return more than it costs.
Extra Chilli Megaways™ continued the reactive structure associated with Bonanza while moving the setting from a mine to a Mexican market. It added Feature Drop™ and a free-spins gamble through which the number of awarded spins could change.
The release demonstrated that Megaways™ did not depend on mining imagery. The reel system could be separated from the Bonanza theme and adapted to a very different visual identity.
In November 2018, Big Time Gaming also released Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Megaways™. This was an important step because it combined the mechanic with a major entertainment licence. Megaways™ was no longer limited to original slot themes; it could be integrated into an established television format.
The most consequential decision was not another individual release. Big Time Gaming began licensing its patented and trademarked Megaways™ system to other studios.
Blueprint Gaming was among the early licensees. Big Time Gaming’s partnership announcement allowed Blueprint to create its own games using the random reel modifier rather than merely distributing BTG titles.
This changed the scale of the mechanic. Megaways™ became a framework that different developers could combine with their own:
artwork and themes;
mathematical models;
bonus rounds;
licensed brands;
multipliers and collection systems;
RTP and volatility profiles.
As a result, the Megaways™ label stopped identifying one family of BTG games and began describing a licensed mechanic used across a much wider market.
Released in 2019, Monopoly Megaways™ showed how the variable-reel system could be combined with one of the world’s best-known board game brands. Big Time Gaming added reactions, free spins and a Reel Adventure feature based on movement around the Monopoly board.
Another influential release from 2019 took the Bonanza name in a different direction. Pragmatic Play launched Sweet Bonanza on 25 June.
Sweet Bonanza is not a Megaways™ game. It uses a 6×5 grid, scatter pays, tumbling symbols and multiplier bombs during free spins. Its importance to the broader Bonanza story lies in its branding: the word was no longer tied primarily to mines, Megaways™ or Big Time Gaming.
In Sweet Bonanza, “bonanza” suggests an extravagant abundance of fruit and confectionery. The game helped establish a second naming pattern in which developers paired Bonanza with sweets, fishing, fruit, gems and numerous other subjects.
This is why modern Bonanza catalogues contain games with unrelated mechanics. Some descend directly from the Megaways™ tradition; others share little more than the word in their title.
Gonzo’s Quest Megaways™ arrived in 2020 as a collaboration involving Red Tiger and NetEnt’s established character and game concept.
The release combined up to 117,649 ways to win with the Avalanche™ feature associated with the original Gonzo’s Quest. It was a clear example of how a licensed mechanic could be layered onto an existing slot identity without discarding the features that made the earlier game recognisable.
The official game listing identifies 2020 as its release year. The original article’s reference to a 2019 release was therefore incorrect.
Gonzo is also not a video game character. He originated as the central explorer in NetEnt’s slot series, while Monopoly came from a board game licence.
By 2021, Megaways™ had moved well beyond a single successful release. When Evolution announced its agreement to acquire Big Time Gaming, it said the mechanic had already been incorporated into more than 200 games from multiple providers.
The deal valued Big Time Gaming at up to €450 million and brought the Australian studio into the same wider group as Evolution, NetEnt and Red Tiger. Evolution announced the acquisition agreement in April 2021.
This milestone demonstrated the commercial value of creating a reusable game engine. The legacy of Bonanza was no longer measured only by the popularity of one pokie, but also by the licensing network built around its underlying mechanic.
In the mid-2020s, Big Time Gaming returned directly to the original property with Bonanza Falls. The sequel retained Megaways™ but introduced Megadozer™, a mechanic inspired by coin-pusher arcade games.
Gold bonus coins sit above the reels and can fall into the game area, where they reveal additional effects. The design connects a newer mechanic with the visual language of the original Bonanza mine.
Big Time Gaming described the release as its long-awaited Bonanza sequel and explicitly credited the 2016 game with popularising Megaways™. More details are available in the studio’s Bonanza Falls announcement.
Bonanza arrived as slot streaming was becoming increasingly visible. Cascades, changing reel sizes and growing bonus multipliers were particularly suited to video because a round could develop through several recognisable stages.
This helped establish a familiar style of slot content:
recordings of rare bonus rounds;
reaction videos centred on multipliers;
community discussions about unusually long cascades;
comparisons of new Megaways™ releases;
highlight compilations showing maximum or near-maximum outcomes.
These clips can create a distorted impression of normal play. Exceptional rounds are more likely to be recorded and shared than uneventful sessions or complete loss histories. A dramatic highlight therefore says little about the probability of achieving the same result.
The distinction is essential:
Megaways™ is a licensed random reel modifier created by Big Time Gaming.
Bonanza Megaways™ is the 2016 mining-themed game that popularised it.
Bonanza slots is an informal label covering many games with Bonanza in their titles.
Sweet Bonanza-style games often use tumbling or scatter-pay systems rather than Megaways™.
A Bonanza title does not guarantee 117,649 ways to win, cascading symbols, high volatility or a particular RTP. Those specifications must be checked separately for every game and version.
Big Time Gaming was founded and based in Sydney, giving the Megaways™ story a genuine Australian connection. That does not mean real-money online Bonanza pokies are licensed for Australian players.
Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, online casino services and online pokies are prohibited from being offered to people physically present in Australia. Offshore availability is not the same as Australian approval or consumer protection. Current information is available from the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The original prediction that virtual reality would drive the next stage of Megaways™ has not been supported by a clear industry shift. The more visible direction has been hybridisation: combining variable reels with collection features, bonus purchases, jackpots, branded content and newer systems such as Megadozer™.
Megaways™ is now one mechanic among several developed or licensed by Big Time Gaming, including Megaclusters™, Megapays™ and other evolving formats. Meanwhile, the Bonanza name continues to spread independently across games that may have no technical relationship with Megaways™.
Future releases are therefore likely to follow two separate paths. Megaways™ will continue to appear under many themes and brands, while Bonanza will remain a flexible word used to suggest abundance, spectacle or feature-heavy gameplay.
The history of Bonanza slots did not begin with Bonanza itself. Dragon Born introduced Megaways™ in 2015, while Bonanza Megaways™ turned the mechanic into a widely recognised format in December 2016.
White Rabbit expanded the reel structure and introduced Feature Drop™. Extra Chilli adapted the formula to a new theme. Licensing allowed other studios to build their own Megaways™ games, while titles such as Monopoly and Gonzo’s Quest connected the system with established brands.
At the same time, Sweet Bonanza helped transform Bonanza into a broader naming trend unrelated to any single mechanic. That is the lasting impact of the phenomenon: one word now describes both an influential individual game and a loose, diverse family of modern pokies.
Want to examine how the number of Bonanza releases changed over time? See the Bonanza slots popularity timeline.
