Everything about Big Time Gaming’s slots excites Mobile Free Spins reviewers. Big Time Gaming’s game engines are top class - just look at games such as megaways, megaclusters and megaquads which feature Big Time Gaming’s mechanics.
BTG’s game engine has become the most famous concept in the gaming industry since the mid-2010s. Now in the 2020s, many game manufacturers have started to collaborate with BTG. Today, alongside BTG, there are also a growing group of game manufacturers developing their own game engines. We bet you’ll find these video slot game engines powering one or more video slots at your favourite UK mobile casino.
The good thing about game engine competition is that, while there are some games that have clear similarities with BTG’s mega games, game manufacturers have also developed their own solutions - especially the biggest names in the industry.
The following is a list of different game engines, listed in alphabetical order by game developer. In this article about different game engines, under each heading there is a short summary of the game engine. You will also find games that include the game engine - which you might want to try on mobile, tablet or desktop PC.
Bad Dingo (Super Ways)
Australian slot game developer Bad Dingo was founded in 2020. At first, they only developed video slots for other game manufacturers, until we got the first details of Jaguar Super Ways. The finished version of Jaguar Super Ways which is officially a Bad Dingo collaboration with Yggdrasil gaming - a leading Scandi slot developer.
The Bad Dingo game engine is ‘Super Ways’ and in Jaguar Super Ways, each game round starts with the same 5×3 layout with 243 paylines. The number of lines and reels can increase from that up to nine, which puts the total number of lines in the hundreds of millions. The game board expands with custom special patterns that break the existing winning patterns.
Currently, there are a very small batch of Super Ways games available to play in the UK, but monitor your favourite mobile casinos Casino Games lobby pages for Bad Dingo slot game titles which are coming soon.
Wild jungle themes are very popular in the mobile slot world right now. The Jaguar SuperWays slot offers something different from the norm thanks to the SuperWays mechanic. Get on a good run using pawprints and the number of ways you can win rockets!
However, the max win of 22,457x your total stake per spin doesn’t quite top over 387 million ways to win. Also, the 94.3% RTP rate is very low, considering its Bad Dingo’s first release - something which should set teh sky alight.
Don’t get us wrong, the SuperWays mechanic has potential, and only a fool would suggest that Bad Dingo/Yggdrasil Gaming won’t release more with the SuperWays mechanic. Unfortunately, Jaguar SuperWays slot isn’t the hit game it should be.
Big Time Gaming (MegaWays)
Big Time Gaming’s offerings could be divided into many segments. Generally speaking, Megaways games together with Megaclusters and Megaquads games are BTG’s forte.
With 6-reels, 4-row slot with 4,096 ways to win Megaways games pack a punch with gamblers. Generally speaking, Megaways games have a fixed number of reels, while the number of lines varies from a few paylines to millions. Traditionally, the rule of thumb was that the payline range was 324-117 649, but this is no longer the case because of extreme growth in both directions.
Megaclusters games are Big Time Gaming’s take on grid slots or the equivalent of that genre of slots. At face value, the grid resembles grid slots, but the winning combinations are broken down into smaller ones and the various wilds play a huge part - with or without payout multipliers. Like Megaways games, Megaclusters games have been developed by other game developers in collaboration with BTG.
The range of Megaquads games is small by BTG standards, but one must take into account that Megaclusters games had a very slow start in terms of production volume before they got going. The number of Megaquads lines can be in the millions or even tens of millions. Only time will tell how best to summarise Megaquads games, but it is fair to say that Megaquads video slots are divided into four parts in a basic game plus two adjacent ones can be joined together. Regarding Megaquads free spins - all four squares or sections can be stacked together as one, in the same bundle.
ELK Studios (Nitro Reels)
The selection of Nitro Reels games from ELK Studios coming in hot out of Sweden need little intoduction to slot game engine experts. ELK Studios has created a number of interesting and highly rated video slots, including Black River Gold, Micro Knights and Katmandu Gold. However, these slots do not slot in under certain game engines, so let’s move on to the Nitropolis series of slots with a game engine which is hammered on.
Both the Nitropolis and Nitropolis 2 slot games are linked by the Nitro Reels game engine. Both Nitropolis games have a huge potential number of ways to win. This mighty slot engine which drives the ELK Studios Nitropolis series can push the line count into the hundreds of millions.
Nitropolis reels feature framed or otherwise highlighted Nitro Reels spots, which can be stacked with up to 12 identical winning patterns or wilds. The game screen can look confusing, but fear not because there are dedicated meters for both the total number of lines and the height of individual Nitro Reels.
With 85,155,840 ways to win, it’s much more polished graphically and offers better bonus features than rival games with winning game engine mechanics. Although, the max win of 10,000x stake is much lower than say Jaguar SuperWays so there is a lot to weigh up before you hang your hat on which game to play.
Foxium game engine (Wonderways)
Boom Pirates by Foxium, which is officially a Foxium and Microgaming collaboration, was the first video slot sporting a game engine called Wonderways.
Today, the sample of slots with the Wonderways game engine is very small, although in the Boom Pirates slot game the grid is by default five reels wide and four rows high, from which it can expand up to the ninth row.
Off the back of this, the number of winning lines increases from 1,024 to over ten million. In Boom Pirates cannonballs fill the game screen, which is directly connected to the theme. So is it safe to say that future game releases will offer up other similar features which will affect the number of lines.
High Flyer Games (Bonus Ways)
High Flyer Games are very much in the shadows compared with the bulk of the list of game engines makers, but the High Flyer Bonus Ways game engine is worth a mention.
Bonus Ways is cut from the same cloth as Bad Dingo’s Super Ways and is a collab between High Flyer Games and ReelPlay. In the slot, dynamite or other special patterns feature on the game screen. Needless to say, the dynamite explodes reels adding three lines to the game…
The default number of lines can be, let’s say 729, and the maximum can be in the hundreds of thousands. Dynamite Mine Explosion is our Bonus Ways signature slot to date.
So why not go digging for riches in the Dynamite Mine Explosion slot, a 6 reel slot from High Flyer Games and ReelPlay, that uses the Bonus Ways game engine to the max!
Leander Games (Dynamic Ways)
Leander Games’ game engine is Dynamic Ways by name which is dynamic by nature! In a nutshell, it is similar to megaways functionality.
Gem stone runs of the Dynamic Ways game engine and is quite similar to megaways games. Although with Dynamic Ways, all lines tend to be visible at all times. Dynamic Ways lines are compressed either from the top, bottom or both directions into stacks of different heights.
Microgaming (NobleWays)
Microgaming has very much jumped on the MegaWays badwagon, entering the MegaWays market with a number of slick slots running off the MG NobleWays game engine. The Mayan Eagle NobleWays slot started the series, with a few sequels to date. All Microgaming NobleWays slots have become household names thanks to the popularity of Microgaming slots in the UK and worldwide.
The NobleWays game engine is reminiscent of megaways in multiple ways. When comparing NobleWays video slots with Megaways games, apart from the fixed number of lines, they are in essence very similar under the hood. Comparable breakable combinations, scatter symbols like Bonanza Megaways, and multipliers that increase on winning combinations in the free spins feature.
In future we hope that top game developers like Microgaming take the NobleWays series further with different special features to make it stand out from the classic Megaways mechanics.
NetEnt (InfiniReels)
Circa 2010, NetEnt created almost everything new that was seen in the gaming industry, and other game manufacturers then followed suit. Now the tide has turned a bit, or rather the competition, namely smaller games studios such as No Limit City, have closed the gap.
NetEnt adds to the game engine party with InfiniReels games. InfiniReels is the name of NetEnt’s massively rewarding engine which allows you to add infinite reels to the game board.
We heard about InfiniReels for the first time at the turn of 2019-2020. The launch of InfiniReels created a bit of an issue with ReelPlay, who released around the same time – actually a little earlier, the Infinity Reels mechanic.
NetEnts InfiniReels and ReelPlay’s Infinity Reels were not only linked by names, but by the same underlying principles, where new reels are added as a continuation of the winning combinations without an actual upper limit.
Luckily, an agreement has been reached on this issue which you can read about till you are blue in the face, or if you want more interesting slant you can play Gods of Gold which is a InfiniReels slot powered by NetEnt that plays out on a 3x3 grid with 27 ways. In Gods of Gold InfiniReels slot, free spins are unlocked by landing three sun scatters anywhere on the reels.
Nolimit City (xWays)
Since 2020, Nolimit City has been one of the most interesting names in the gaming industry. A small specialist games studio, recently acquired by Evolution, No Limit City’s focus has been on high volatility video slots with high max wins and associated free spins features.
Most No Limit City slots are played out on Nolimit City’s game engines such as xWays, whose licenses are already used by a couple of other game manufacturers.
The idea of xWays is to add more winning patterns to one or more reels, thus making the row higher. xWays is actually the only thing in Nolimit City’s selection that can be considered an actual game engine. But as a continuation of xWays No Limit City have also created xNudge and xBomb functionality, both of which are related to wilds.
Top slots which utilise xWays include San Quentin xWays and Warrior Graveyard xNudge.
Novomatic (Win Ways)
Novomatic is one of the oldest names in the gaming industry, mostly associated with video slots featuring a small number of lines, but super high volatility. Basically all Novomatic slots have the same or very similar soundtrack. However, they also feature in our list because of the Novomatic game engine dubbed Win Ways.
Unfortunately, Win Ways is a direct clone of the megaways game engine, so we won’t elaborate. Our go to Novomatic Win Ways slot is Strike It Gold Win Ways.
Play’n GO (Payways)
Ask a seasoned UK slot player about Play’n Go and Egyptian and book games will feature in their answer. Play’n Go’s signature grid slots will also get a mention.
Play’n Go’s tight release pace is also legendary, but many may forget that the cunning Scandi slot experts have also created their own game engine called Payways.
Payways, not to be confused with Megaways, is a cunning invention. It has been used in Play’n GO releases quite a few times already, but the name of the Play’n GO game engine is not flouted in same way as other rival game engines.
When playing Payways games, a winning pattern or wild is usually selected during the game round, and the corresponding patterns are split into two parts, thus increasing the number of rows and lines.
Shimmering Woods is a Payways classic made by Play’n Go with all the love, care and attention to detail you would expect from this Scandi gaming powerhouse.
ReelPlay (Infinity Reels)
There’s a reason why Australia isn’t considered the number one country for online gambling. Boomerang Studios is still in it’s infancy, although the Connecta Ways mechanic as seen in the Valkyrie Wild Storm slot looks promising. ReelPlay’s game engine, Infinity Reels, is ok but no great shakes.
The Infinity Reels games engine was basically covered with NetEnt’s InfiniReels, but we’ll do a quick spiel nevertheless…
When you spin Infinity Reels games on mobile or PC, reels are added to the right side and in the latest releases also to the bottom side. Any winning patterns or wilds suitable for the previous winning combination appear on the right side.
The winning lines do not have values according to e.g. three, four or five reels, but the winnings are multiplied by the number of winning patterns, the value of a certain winning pattern and possible winning coefficients, which again grow at the same rate as the number of reels.
Bananaz 10K Ways Infinity Reels game leads the pack in our opinion. Age of Beasts Infinity Reels comes a close second and is an epic fantasy adventure that will take you to a high mountain where mystical beasts can help you earn great prizes. The default layout is 3x4 in size, but can expand with each consecutive win. The high volatility is paired with an RTP of 95.57%, and you can hope to win up to 3,953x the stake. 10,000 Wonders 10K Ways is another classic Infinity Reels game but the list could go on and on…
It is worth noting that many other game manufacturers have also use the Infinity Reels game engine in heir video slots so there is nothing very exclusive about infinity reels games.
Yggdrasil Gaming (PopWins & Splitz)
Yggdrasil Gaming, along with ELK Studios, are one of those game manufacturers who do not beat around the bush, and their video slots do not feature echo other game manufacturers in any way, shape or form.
Together with Avatar UX, Yggdrasil have already released a long series of slot games that utilise the PopWins game engine. In Popwins slots, the winning combinations are split into two parts, or in other words, each winning combination is broken and their places are filled with two patterns.
In addition to Popwins, Yggdrasil Gaming is also responsible for the Splitz game engine. These games have special Splitz patterns, where common stacks of winning patterns are revealed.
This function or game engine is similar to the linked reels of NetEnt’s Twin Spin games, but the number of rows and lines can vary between reels.
Syncronite Splitz is our lead game demonstrating Yggdrasil’s game engine prowess. Feel free to check out other Splitz games as well, because there are some variations between them and fun eccentricities to discover.
Review of video slot game engines: Summary
Whilst this is not a definitive list of game engines it covers the main players. Of course, one can list, for example, Relax Gaming’s or Push Gaming’s most popular video slots with their special and free spin functions. Or Evolution Gaming’s Game Show games, but these do not have mechanics that are licensed.
Not all of these attract interest like, for example, Big Time Gaming or Nolimit City, but it’s nice to be aware of inventions by smaller game developers.
Watch out for new game manufacturers springing up like Aussie wild fires and you can bet your last free spins that the bigger names in the industry such as NetEnt will come up with new game mechanics engines so the party is far from over!