Big Time Gaming is definitely one of the most innovative companies in the space of online casino gaming. Their Megaclusters and Megaways systems have gained popularity not only amongst players but alike with other software developers. Both have been licensed for use across the whole industry. This development and success has not come overnight.
Here you will find all the interesting details about this company, their history, partners, most successful games, and obviously a list of top online casinos that offer Big Time Gaming slots. It’s worth noting that the success of this Australian company made it so prevalent that they were bought out by Evolution Gaming. Let’s have a closer look at how things have played out for the company before and since.
Starting Up in Australia
The story of Big Time Gaming began in 2011, when the company was officially established in Sydney, Australia. Truthfully, the roots of the core team operating the company goes way beyond that, all the way to the very first online casino gaming products to emerge in the global gaming markets. That is to say, there was plenty of experience and know-how directing the success from the very beginning.
The company soon aimed for expansion, acquiring a licence from Alderney Gambling Control Commission as early as 2012. This gave them access to the bustling European casino markets, and can be considered one of their most important steps in becoming a popular online slot producer. However, most of the innovation was yet to come. At this point, the team was mostly concentrating on producing standard online slots.
Innovation Leads the Way
It took until 2016 for the company to make their mark, with the launch of Bonanza Megaways. Though there were already some other methods, such as Way to Win, but these didn’t really bring out any drastic changes. It took a couple of years more for the trend to pick up, and today you can find the method in use with the vast majority of big casino producers. You can also find a dedicated Megaways tab in most online casinos. That should speak volumes for the popularity of these games.
At the same time, the company kept on increasing their own catalogue. Hard work has paid off, and although the company can not be considered on par with major producers when it comes to size, its reach is definitely in the big league. Further innovations like Megapays and Megaclusters cemented their position as a popular slot maker, to the point that the company was finally acquired by Evolution Gaming in 2021. They remain an independent brand, with a bright future ahead of them.
Concentrating on Online Slots
Big Time Gaming is the embodiment of quality over quantity, with half a dozen slots, or less, released each year. By the end of 2022, their catalogue finally reached 50 individual games. The good news is that this is more than enough titles to explore for quite some time. The selection is entirely made up of online slots, and that is something we don’t expect to change for quite some time. There is plenty of variation in the way these slots are built, though obviously some common characteristics also arise.
When it comes to themes the games take advantage of a variety of setups. It’s quite obvious though that the classics are a great source of inspiration. This means that you’re going to run across diamonds, jewels, riches, and of course those playing card ranks that make up the cadre of low-paying symbols in most games.
High variance is another thing that the company seems to love, and that is evident from their specialised systems too. We’re quite happy with the RTPs too, as they rarely ever dip below 96 %. Naturally, this is something that is affected by individual casinos, as slots always come with set possibilities for different markets.
Graphically the games have improved considerably over the years. The first few games, though not outdated, didn’t really bring anything on the screen in this regard that we could consider impressive. Later slots look good even on mobile devices. On that note, you can expect full support for touch screens too.
Online Big Time Gaming Casinos
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Megaways Explained
Megaways is definitely the invention that struck gold for this company. It was definitely something new and exciting for most players, especially as these games tend to bank on big wins and high variance. However, the biggest change was simply doing away with the traditional way that slot runs.
That is, normally you are looking for individual symbol combinations across pre-determined paylines. The bet you placed was generally divided amongst different paylines, capping the potential win at whatever the best combination of symbols would pay. Some features could of course increase this.
The game changed completely with Megaways games, which tend to pay rather low individual wins. At the same time, they got rid of divided bets, usually going with a single total bet that is applied to all wins. Though there are some variations to this, such as counting the bet as coins and wins in comparison to coin value.
Rather than aiming for those big individual wins, Megaways systems aim to create as many combinations as possible. The very first games to use this system had a limit of 117 649 different ways to win. Later titles have increased this over one million ways.
Once you get the hang of it this system is very simple. Usually, you have six reels, and in each of these, you have a different number of positions for symbols on each spin. The minimum is two, and the maximum is seven. Naturally, these limits change depending on how many Megaways winways you’re aiming for. Matching symbols simply need to be on subsequent reels to create winning combinations. More symbols on the same reels all count individually for more ways to win. And that’s it. Compare that to the standard paylines, in which the symbols need to be in exact positions, and you’ll see why this method has become extremely popular.
Megapays Jackpots
Jackpots are something that requires a fair bit of popular support in the form of participating players. At least progressive jackpots do. The Megapays system debuted in 2021 after the company had already gathered fame and reckon amongst players and casinos alike. This isn’t quite the revolutionary system as Megaways is, rather just an addition to the selection of progressive jackpot networks.
Like with all jackpots out there, the chance of scoring them is completely random. Basically, every paid spin has a chance to trigger the bonus games. This feature then determines which, if any of the Megapays jackpots you win. You’re far more likely to score one of the smaller pots of course, as the biggest pot can run into millions.
It’s pretty important to understand that this is still just a sort of an added bonus. It’s the base game that is going to deliver the real experience, and for that purpose Big Time Gaming has gone with a variety of setups. Together these two factors show promise, and we wouldn’t be surprised if this line of progressive slots would rock the existing balance of big jackpots.
Megaclusters Cluster Wins
Cluster wins is a system that abandons reels and paylines altogether. Aloha! Cluster Pays from Net Entertainment is usually considered the first one of its kind, followed by countless other similar games emulating success. There are plenty of different variations to choose from, but hardly any of these break out from the established formula.
That is until Big Time Gaming came out with their own Megacluster setup. Not quite as revolutionary as Megaways, but still quite interesting to the baseline that other companies offer. Whereas most other cluster games use the Avalanche feature, where symbols drop off the reels, Megaclusters instead increases the number of symbols. Simply put, each winning symbol breaks into four more symbols, which allows for more and bigger clusters to form
This is another system from the company that has been gradually gaining popularity since the first iteration was released in 2020. For anyone interested in cluster pay systems, or just looking for something new, this is an excellent choice.
Anything Else Extra Special?
Don’t expect every slot to come out with some groundbreaking mechanism. At the same time, you can expect them to feature a variety of bonuses and modifiers. Classic fruit games don’t seem to be part of the selection at all, which suits a company of this size and speciality a lot.
Now, besides those innovative new setups, these slots tend to come with plenty of other features too. For example, Megaquads combine several reels into one playing field. Win Exchange allows the player to switch their wins for a chance at bonus games, such as with bonus spins. Bonus Buy simply allows you to buy your way into bonus features.
Dual Reaction, ExtraWays, 4096 Ways to Win, Reel Adventures and many more similar popular bonuses, methods and features make sure that there’s always something new and exciting to enjoy. It’s also worth mentioning that there are quite a few slots that enjoy unique licensed themes.
Popular Games to Try
Where to start? That’s a good question that we’ll do our best to answer. If you’re looking for the biggest possible wins we suggest games like Lil Devil, with a maximum win over a hundred thousand times the stake. Wild Flower goes even beyond this. Many of the Megaways games are above 50 000 times the total bet when it comes to maximum wins, such as Queen of Riches Megaways, King of Cats Megaways, and Wheel of Fortune Megaways. The Megapays slots are naturally a choice, as the biggest pot is seeded at 300 000.
Star Clusters and Diamond Fruits are good choices when starting with Megaclusters. If you want to check the early games from Big Time Gaming we suggest Bonanza, Faeries Fortune, and Vegas Dreams. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Monopoly Megaways are good examples of licensed games.
These games cater to a wide variety of players, and are sure to enjoy an entertaining experience spin after spin. What’s more, they are pretty widely available in online casinos. Whilst new slots are not released every month, it’s certain that each new release is worth a look and a spin.
What About Software
Something that is mostly missing from the portfolio is dedicated software. That’s not to say these games aren’t easily integrated into different platforms. But what it does mean is that specialised tournaments, bonus offers, game history, and much everything like this that supports the gameplay is just not there.
Not from the producer itself at least. They do have an impressive list of partners, and on top of that, they are nowadays owned by Evolution Gaming. Most of the back office stuff is handled by the platform provider, or the online casinos themselves. Luckily, there is support for different languages and currencies built into the games themselves. A company of this size can’t do everything by themselves, and we’re quite happy that they’ve put their resources into good use where it matters the most: building awesome and innovative online slots.
The Legal Side of Things
The first licence the company got was from Alderney, and this has been followed by several others over the years. It’s quite an impressive list considering the size of the company. And quite fitting considering their reach and presence in most online casinos. These include UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority.
Something that also counts is their partners. Not just casinos and platforms, but all the other companies that are using their different innovations. For example, the Megaways system is used by the likes of Net Ent, Red Tiger Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Blueprint Gaming, Iron Dog Studio (under Microgaming), NextGen, and many others. All this alone ensures that these games are run under strict regulations and adhere to the rules of various different jurisdictions. Pretty much safe as gaming can get.
