Slot of the Week: Monopoly Megaways

Whether you love it or hate it, Monopoly is one of the most well-known board games in the world and thanks to Big Time Gaming, it’s available in a unique slot version too. Join us as we tour the properties of our Slot of the Week, Monopoly Megaways, to see what old Pennybags has in store.

The original board game’s New Jersey roots are not the only reason this slot is a popular one amongst Garden State residents. Monopoly Megaways is jam-packed with win-boosting features that draw on both the unique Megaways slot mechanism and the board game’s various elements, resulting in a fascinating, enjoyable, and potentially quite lucrative experience!

In Short:

• Monopoly Megaways is a 117,649-ways online slot by Big Time Gaming.
• It is available to play at 17 New Jersey online casinos including Golden Nugget, SugarHouse, Unibet Casino and Pala Casino.
• Features of this slot include win reactions and free spins with increasingly multipliers.
• The maximum payout of a single line in Monopoly Megaways is 50x your bet.

The Basics

Monopoly Megaways is a 6-reel, 117,649-ways slot that was launched in late 2019 by Big Time Gaming, the developers of the unique Megaways mechanism. The slot is of course based on the popular board game, Monopoly, with the reels serving as a sort of die to determine your progress along the various positions of the board.

Did you know that the first version of Monopoly as we know it today was based on the streets of Atlantic City back in 1935? Although the slot is based on the London version, it still contains all the familiar features of the board game that’s famous for sometimes resulting in upturned tables and slamming doors! Luckily, since Monopoly Megaways is just a single player game, you won’t have such issues. In fact, you could find this slot a markedly more positive and infinitely more lucrative experience!

First Impressions

The first thing that strikes you about this slot is how closely it resembles the actual board game, from the various play pieces to the properties themselves. Even the game’s mascot, Rich Uncle Pennybags (or simply Mr. Monopoly), plays a role as your game token, moving along the line of properties with each winning spin.

The setup is a little different to the typical square board game, however. All the properties are lined up along the bottom of the screen, which you’ll cycle through as you play, with Mr. Monopoly serving as your play piece in this game.

Right above the properties is the reel set, which consists of six reels in Big Time Gaming’s trademarked Megaways design, meaning that each reel can hold anything from two to seven symbols, resulting in a different number of ways to win on each spin.

At the top of the reel set is a collection of three small sections. The left section shows a row of Monopoly houses, the right section lists the electricity and water utilities and all the train stations, and the center section shows you how many ways to win are in play on your current spin.

Finishing off the Monopoly theme is the cash bill green city skyline in the background and the familiar red and white logo at the top.

In terms of sounds, whenever you spin the reels, you’ll be treated to a triumphant outburst of brass instruments as part of an energetic jazzy number. Each win results in a whooshing sound as Mr. Monopoly is propelled along the property line and payouts are announced with a monetary kaching. You’ll even hear the rich guy talk when he lands on certain positions such as the Chance and Community Chest spots, the utilities, and train stations.

And that much-feared Go To Jail spot? No need to worry about that as it does nothing to impede your progress in this game!

Symbols

We’ll explain the Megaways mechanism in a little more detail in the features section below, but basically, wins are triggered by lining up three (two for the top hat!) or more matching symbols in any position along consecutive reels. The symbol set includes the most popular play pieces from the board game as the high-paying symbols, namely, the top hat, ship, car, and dog. Interestingly, in this slot, the play pieces are gold, not the typical silver as in the board game.

Completing the base game set are 9 to A card values, each of which features a gem-like colorful design.

One of the most important symbols in the game is the gold M on a multicolored background. This is the slot’s wild symbol, which appears on all reels except the first and substitutes for all other symbols to help you make up winning lines.

Monopoly Megaways Features

Monopoly Megaways has a pretty unique setup that introduces elements of the board game such as the Chance and Community Chest cards, each of which has its own unique and beneficial effect on the reels. In addition, a free spins feature is waiting to further boost your profit potential.

Before we get into the slot’s main features, we’ll take a closer look at the Megaways mechanism, which not only gives you the chance to score additional wins from a single spin, it also plays an important role in helping you trigger the lucrative free spins feature.

Megaways

Big Time Gaming is the developer behind the unique Megaways setup, which is featured in numerous popular slots and sees a move away from traditional set paylines. Instead of wins being triggered by matching symbols lined up along specific paylines, Megaways wins are landed by matching symbols in any position, as long as they’re on consecutive reels.

Every one of the six reels in this game can hold anything from two to seven symbols at once, with the capacity changing every time the reels spin. This results in a variable number of ways to win, up to an impressive 117,649 at the top end of the scale!

Mr. Monopoly Moves

You’ve probably already noticed Mr. Monopoly perched on the property directly underneath reel one, waiting for action, but what drives him? The answer soon reveals itself the moment you trigger a win. Doing so results in Mr. Monopoly moving along the same number of properties as your win extends along the reels. For example, in the image above, the win extends to reel three, so Mr. Monopoly zips along to the property directly underneath it.

Once Mr. Monopoly has made his move, the line of properties shifts to the left so that the main man is lined up underneath reel one again.

Special Properties and Positions

Special effects are released depending on the property or position that Mr. Monopoly lands on after a win. Let’s check them out:

• Utilities/train Stations: The first time Mr. Monopoly lands on one of these, they become owned and will appear highlighted in the section at the top right of the reel set
• GO: Just like in the board game, the GO position carries a reward. In this case, Mr. Monopoly landing directly on GO results in your next spin being played at Max Megaways, that is, the maximum number of ways to win, ie. 117,649!
• Community Chest: If the rich guy lands on a Community Chest position, he’ll be sent to a random property on the board, as revealed by the card. Up to four houses may also be added to the property.
• Chance: If Mr. Monopoly lands on a Chance spot, you’ll be awarded either a Max Megaways spin, the free spins feature, or relocation to a random property, potentially with the addition of up to four houses, as above.

Reactions

Every time a win is triggered, all involved symbols disappear and are replaced by those above, which fall into place and could potentially result in additional wins. When this happens, it’s called a reaction. Reactions are generally regarded as being beneficial during gameplay as they can result in more wins from a single spin. However, reactions play an additional role in Monopoly Megaways…

If Mr. Monopoly lands on a property immediately after the third reaction, a house will be added to that property. Every extra reaction awards an additional house. Just like in the board game, if you manage to get five houses on a single property, they’ll be turned into a hotel, which leads us to our next feature.

Free Spins

The free spins feature can be triggered via either the Chance card or by landing five houses on a single property. This results in the awarding of eight free spins to begin with. One additional free spin is awarded for every train station and utility you own and the win multiplier is increased by one for each utility you own.

During your free spins, landing on the various positions will have the following effects:

• Properties: Your win multiplier will increase by one for each house on the property you land on. In addition, every house beyond the fifth on a property will trigger one extra free spin.
• Train stations: You’ll get one extra free spins for every train station you own if you land on an owned train station
• Utilities: Your win multiplier will increase by one if you own one utility or two if you own both, when you land on an owned utility
• Chance: Land on this spot and you could be sent to a random position, get your next spin at Max Megaways, or get five extra free spins

That win multiplier is unlimited, which could see your profits soaring during this feature. Even better, repeating the feature trigger during your free spins — that is, landing a fifth house on a property — will add an extra three free spins. That means you could find yourself free-spinning and winning for a while!

Monopoly Megaways Payouts

Since this is a Megaways slot, the payouts work slightly differently to what you might be used to. The amount you can expect to get back for triggering a win depends on your stake, which symbols you’ve lined up, how many of them you’ve got in a row, and how many are on each reel.

The last variable there, how many symbols are on each reel, is used as a multiplier. Here’s an example… Imagine you land four J in a row, but they’re arranged as two on reel one, one on reel two, three on reel three and one on reel four. These numbers are multiplied together to give 2x1x3x1 = 6. As you’ll see in the payout table below, four J in a row pays 0.25, but since we effectively landed six four-in-a-rows, we multiply that 0.25 by the six to give 1.5. Multiply that by your stake (eg. $1) and you’ve got your final payout (eg. $1.50).

Here are the payouts of the various symbols in Monopoly Megaways:

Symbol	2x	3x	4x	5x	6x
Top hat	2x bet	5x bet	10x bet	20x bet	50x bet
Ship	–	0.4x bet	0.8x bet	1x bet	5x bet
Car	–	0.25x bet	0.5x bet	0.8x bet	1.5x bet
Dog	–	0.25x bet	0.4x bet	0.6x bet	0.9x bet
A/K	–	0.2x bet	0.3x bet	0.5x bet	0.6x bet
Q/J	–	0.15x bet	0.25x bet	0.4x bet	0.5x bet
10/9	–	0.1x bet	0.2x bet	0.3x bet	0.4x bet

As you can see, the most you can win from a single spin in Monopoly Megaways is 50x your bet. However, the more lines you get, the more you’ll win, as described above. Don’t forget the extra win power of those reactions and, of course, the free spins feature!

Monopoly Megaways RTP and Volatility

How do the payouts of Monopoly Megaways compare to those of other games? The best way to make such a comparison is using the industry standard measurements of Return to Player (RTP) and Volatility (or Variance).

RTP is defined as the percentage of played funds that is paid out to players over the long term. In other words, it’s the opposite of the house edge. Monopoly Megaways has a stated RTP of 96.5%, which is half a percent more than the industry average, making it a pretty attractive game to play.

Volatility, on the other hand, is where on the scale of small, frequent wins and large, less frequent wins the payouts of a game will fall. Low volatility slot payouts tend to be more stable, whereas those of high volatility slots can be much more unpredictable, varying from small and frequent to very large and less frequent. The volatility of Monopoly Megaways is rated as high, making it a very exciting slot to play.

Spin To Win With Pennybags!

Monopoly Megaways reignites the fiery passion for the original board game by combining it with the much-loved Megaways mechanism and, of course, the opportunity to win real cash just for spinning the reels.

The slot’s setup is very unique, adapting the original design of the game just enough for it to perform optimally but without losing the board game’s appeal. You’ll have lots of fun following Mr. Monopoly as he whooshes from one property to the next and discovering what each position on the board will trigger.

Tying the win reactions to the addition of houses on properties was an ingenious move, especially since those houses will eventually add up to a hotel and trigger the slot’s main feature for even bigger rewards.

Ready to explore the slot version of everyone’s favorite board game for yourself? You’ll find Monopoly Megaways at almost all of New Jersey’s online casinos including Golden Nugget, SugarHouse, Unibet Casino and Pala Casino.

Simply click any of the NJ online casinos linked above to check out our detailed reviews, then join the one you feel suits you best. Claim their welcome bonus then open the slot and spin your way up the property ladder!