Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Megaways Slots
The popular TV game show from the UK has finally made it onto the slot reels. Big Time Gaming has been the lucky game provider to sign a licensing deal with the rights owners to produce an online slot that will excite players with the potential for them to become millionaires. BTG’s blockbuster slots such as Bonanza, Danger High Voltage and Starquest are all capable of wins in excess of 10,000x the bet. WWTBAM comes with a top win potential of up to 50,000x bet, which means at the maximum bet of 20 coins it could indeed produce the first millionaires on a non-progressive slot.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has been on the air for some two decades, and there is no sign that it has lost any of its popularity or attraction. Over time, it has been licensed to over two dozen countries, including Germany, the USA and India. The show sees candidates answering 15 multiple-choice questions to climb up a ladder of increasing cash prizes. Answering the last question correctly is rewarded with 1 million in the local currency. Along the way, contestants can make use of three jokers – 50:50, phone a friend, and ask the audience – to help them overcome potential stumbling blocks. After every question, they can decide whether to carry on or walk away with the amount they have won so far.
The Millionaire’s Slot Reels
Ever since the first news broke about the licensing deal, we have been waiting to see what the slot would look like. And we have not been disappointed. The atmosphere of the show has been transferred beautifully to the slot reels. The background is an artistic take of the show set in mostly blue colors. Spotlights similar to those in the show illuminate the game window, adapting to the color of the pay symbol in a winning combo. The soundtrack is almost identical to the original, and it’s exactly synchronized with what’s happening on the reels. The show logo sits to the right of the game window on top of the controls and stake window.
The slot has 10 pay symbols, one wild symbol and one scatter symbol. At the low end, there are the 9s to As suits, while on the medium level in ascending order of value are green, blue, and red gems. The top-paying symbol is a diamond, while the wild is a question mark on a rainbow-colored round tile. This appears on the extra reel at the bottom of the game window only. The scatters are in the form of the slot logo.
The Megaways Stats and Numbers
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is built on the patented Megaways game engine with six reels and up to 117,649 ways to win. On every spin, the game selects the number of positions for each reel. These can be anything from two to seven for reels one and six, and two to six for reels two to five. In addition, the game features an extra reel at the bottom of the grid with four positions extended from reel two to five, where more symbols appear on every spin. The full amount of ways to win is achieved when all reels display their maximum reel positions.
The slot features symbol cascades, wild substitutions, reactive wins, as well as a bonus game with up to 50 free spins and unlimited win multipliers. The RTP of this medium-variance game is set at 96.24%, with stake sizes ranging from 0.20 to 20 coins. Pays for a single six of a kind start at 0.8x and peak at 50x the bet. According to the provider, the top win potential peaks at a massive 50,000x the stake. The game is in HTML5 format and can be played on desktop, mobile, and tablet across any OS platform.
Extra Reel and Reactive Wins
At the start of every spin, symbols drop from the top onto the six reels, based on the random selection of reel positions. A display at the top shows the total amount of active ways to win for the spin. In addition, the extra reel at the bottom of the game window will spin four symbols into view across reels two to five, adding an extra symbol position to those reels. Wins are paid for adjacent symbols from left to right. Multiple symbols on one or more reels will multiply the win – for example, two green gems on reel one, one on reel two, and two on reel three will pay four times a three-of-a-kind green gem combination.
The symbols in a winning combination are part of a reaction which will see them explode to make room for new symbols to drop into place. This continues as long as a new winning combination occurs after a reaction. Wins are added from all reactions and paid before the next spin starts.
The Hot Seat Free Spins Gamble
A minimum of three scatters in view on any reel after one or multiple reactions will trigger the bonus game on this slot, with initially 8 free spins. Due to the reactions, scatters can appear stacked on the same reel. The maximum number of scatters in a spin is limited to eight. Triggering the bonus game with more than three scatters will start the Hot Seat Free Spins Gamble at one level up for each scatter. For example, four scatters will see the gamble start at 10 instead of 8 free spins.
The Hot Seat Free Spins Gamble is a bonus game reminiscent of the questions and the lifelines used in the TV show. Players have to choose whether to lock in one of four answers and climb up the free spins ladder if they select the correct answer, or walk away with the amount they currently have. Only the first gamble from 8 to 10 free spins can result in losing the free spins round. Two safe levels at 10 and 20 free spins ensure that after the initial step, players will always win free spins – even when they select the wrong answer at some point in the game.
At the start, the slot leads to a second screen displaying a free spins ladder with 8 to 50 free spins on the right and the three lifelines – call a friend, 50:50, and ask the audience – on the left. At the bottom are four answers – A, B, C, and D – together with a “walk away” and a “final answer” button. The game now randomly chooses one of the lifelines and displays which answer has the highest probability to be the correct one. The 50:50 lifeline will remove two answers.
Players can now choose an answer and lock it in by pressing the “final answer” button. After a few seconds of suspense, the game will reveal whether it was the correct answer. If it’s correct, then the player advances one level up on the free spins ladder. If not, the player drops to zero if the gamble was between 8 or 10 free spins, and to between 10 and 20 free spins if those safe levels were reached during the gamble. The gambles at 10 and 20 spins are therefore risk-free since the game will always award the number of free spins respective to the safe levels.
The bonus game ends once a wrong answer is selected, and it awards the free spins according to the ladder. During the free spins, there is an unlimited multiplier which starts at 1x and increases by 1x after each winning reaction. For example, it will increase four times by 1x if one spin has four reactions. More free spins can be won during the feature when scatters appear on the extra reel at the bottom of the game window. Three and four scatters will add 4 and 8 free spins respectively.
Other Megaways Reels
The first game with the Megaways engine was released in December 2016. Megaways slots have since advanced to become the most-played games at online casinos. Initially they were all from Big Time Gaming, but since 2018 the engine was licensed to Blueprint Gaming, which has released its own Megaways slots in the meantime. Some great examples of such slots include Bonanza from BTG and Genie Jackpots Megaways from Blueprint Gaming.
Our Millionaire Verdict
This was indeed one of our few “WOW” moments in two decades of slot playing and reviewing - a solid reason to add the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Megaways slot to our Top 7 TV-Themed Slots 2023. Winning one million or more was until now reserved to progressive jackpot slots, but Big Time Gaming has done it again and surprised with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, just like it had just over two years ago with its first Megaways slot Bonanza.
The maximum win potential of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is probably remote, but it is clearly achievable with a win of over 50,000x the bet on the maximum stake of 20 coins. The theme of the game show is beautifully executed down to the smallest detail, such as with the synchronization of the lighting and the sounds with the action on the reels. People will line up to play the slot when it is released towards the end of 2018. Will you be one of them?
