Merry Megaways: Slot Review and Free Play Demo

Merry Megaways Review

It feels like every other slot we review these days is a Holidays release, and it’s therefore refreshing to try a Christmas installment that offers somewhat original gameplay. Iron Dog Studio delivers solid stuff with their Xmas contribution this year, as Merry Megaways comes with a sturdy math model and features that make it stick out somewhat from the run of the mill Megaways releases.

The visuals are hardly super original, but the explosion sound you get from each tumble mechanic win goes a long way. It’s a satisfying spectacle to behold, and Santa himself will add to the fireworks, literally, as he throws a firecracker onto the grid when such a symbol is present on the top reel. This can prolong winning streaks, and the progressive multiplier bonus round comes with a somewhat original Santa’s Sacks wild transformation system.

Merry Megaways Slot - Reels Screen

Merry Megaways Slot Features

The premium symbols pay between 1.3 and 5 x your stake for 6 of a kind wins, and regular Wild symbols can appear on any reel but reel 1 during base game play. Wilds step in for pay symbols to help complete wins, and regular wilds are removed via the tumble mechanic. The tumble mechanic removes all winning symbols in an explosion, and this allows for indefinite extra wins per round as the feature goes on until you land a non-winning tumble.

Christmas Crackers slide in on the top horizontal reel only, and these are a special kind of wild symbol. They step in for pay symbols as well, but are not removed when part of a win. If there is no win, or at the end of the tumble sequence, the firecracker explodes itself and a random amount of symbols from the regular grid below. At least one symbol per regular reel is exploded, as well as 2 extra positions.

You need 4 scatters in view to trigger the Bonus Round, and this awards between 6 and 11 free spins randomly assigned via a bauble pick. You get a progressive win multiplier in the bonus round, and it starts at x1 and increases by +1 per tumble win. Another bonus round twist is the Santa’s Sack feature, and this symbol slides in on the top horizontal reel to act as a wild.

Landing one Santa’s Sack wild also awards 2 to 4 wilds on reels 2 to 4, as well as +2 extra spins. Landing two Santa’s Sack symbols gives you 4 to 8 wilds on reels 2 to 4, and +4 extra spins. Landing a win on the final free spin triggers a Lucky Last Spin feature, and it gives you indefinite extra spins as long as you keep winning.

Finally, non-UK players, and anyone eligible, may purchase the bonus round from the Bonus Buy menu. It comes with 2 options. You can pay 200x your stake to get between 6 and 11 free spins randomly, or you can pay 45x, 150x, 300x, 400x, or 500x your stake to get 7, 9, 11, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively.

The 200 Spins Merry Megaways Slot Experience

You get to see a lengthy tumble sequence that literally ends with a bang, as Santa throws the Christmas Cracker onto the reels. We purchase the top-tier bonus round right after, at 0:40 into the 5:20-minute highlights video to be precise. You can see for yourself how our 20+ free spins played out by hitting the play button below.

Review Summary

How different developers, and different releases, incorporate the Tumble mechanic is always interesting to see. Sometimes it makes the game feel sluggish and slow, while at other times it’s done in a highly satisfying manner. We’re glad to report that the latter is the case for Iron Dog’s Merry Megaways, and when the Xmas Cracker lands on the top reel you have something to look forward to.

Santa waits patiently until the end of the tumbles, before he throws the firecracker onto the grid, possibly prolonging your winning streak. The bonus round comes with a non-resetting progressive multiplier, as well as plenty of wilds, and we have no complaints about the 20,000x potential. The theme is fairly standard Xmas stuff, of course, but Merry Megaways avoids coming across as too glossy and “commercial” in that sense.

If you appreciate Merry Megaways Slot you should also try:

Santa's Great Gifts - is a volatile Christmas release from Pragmatic Play, and it comes with a scatter pays system on a 6x5 grid. Multiplier symbols can combine up to x100, and these are collected to get even better multipliers in the bonus round. The max win is 5,000x your stake.

Santa’s Stack Dream Drop - is Relax Gaming’s Christmas contribution this year, and it comes with a cluster pays system on a 8x8 grid. Sticky mystery clusters eventually reveal the same random symbol in the Secret Santa Respins round, and you get more of the same in the bonus round. This can lead to 20,000x payouts.

Christmas Bonanza - takes you back to the roots of the Megaways engine, and the iconic Big Time Gaming release has finally been given the Xmas overhaul. You get cascading reels and wilds in all stages, and you get the classic bonus round with a progressive win multiplier. The max win is 26,000x your stake.