Ancient Island Megaways Slot Review

The Ancient Island Megaways Slot

Pragmatic Play doesn’t mention the region where this online slot takes players. So you’re allowed to guess an island location you’ve probably yearned to visit for a long time.

Ancient Island Megaways looks as if the ancient Aztec tribe inspired it. Or maybe another unknown civilisation, where industrialisation or technology didn’t penetrate, leaving it unadulterated and in its original form.

The 6-reel playing field looks as if it’s pasted against an overgrown shrine surrounded by pixies. A bay is the slot’s backdrop, where the turquoise waters lay bare under the scorching sun. A tranquil tribal melody and ambient sounds boost the beautiful scenery’s appeal.

In summary, the scenery isn’t entirely original. However, it’s well done to make the game as immersive as possible, and the user interface is friendly and easy to navigate.

Symbols and Payouts

The ten symbols in this slot are classified into lows and highs, depending on the payout values. Furthermore, the gameplay also has special symbols, which I’ll further explore below. As for now, let’s decode the regular symbols and how to generate the winning combinations.     

The slot offers up to 117,649 megaways, meaning wins are generated for left-to-right adjacent symbol combinations of any size. According to the paytable, the combinations are for 3 to 6 identical symbols.

Further, calculating wins should be straightforward. Simply multiply the paytable payout of the corresponding symbol combination by the currently selected bet.

The Ancient Island Megaways uses the daily 10, J, Q, K, and A poker card signs for its low-value symbols. These pay between 0.1x and 0.8x the stake for 3+ of the same!

Then, the high-ranking tier includes:

• Turquoise Chameleon & Purple Bird - 0.25x, 0.4x, 0.6x, and 1x bet.
• Blue Mask - 0.3x, 0.5x, 0.8x, and 1.5x stake.
• Green Mask - 0.4x, 0.6x, 1x, and 2x bet.
• Pink Mask - 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 5x the stake.

The special symbols here are the wild, which hits on reels 2-5 and substitutes for all regular symbols, and the scatter, which triggers the free spins.

Ancient Island Megaways Slot Bonus Features

The tumble starts after winning combinations have paid out. They remove the winning symbols, allowing the remaining ones to drop to the screen’s bottom, while new symbols from above replace the empty positions. The new symbols are of identical sizes, as the initial spin result, before the tumbles. The tumbles continue as long as more winning combos appear.

Wild & Top Modifiers

Whenever the wild symbol lands in Ancient Island Megaways, it expands vertically and fills all positions on that column. Meanwhile, an extra horizontal reel is above the main screen, where random modifiers can appear in random positions at any spin:

• Cash Prize - awards a random value between 2x and 100x bet.

• Multiplier - awards a random 2x to 50x multiplier applicable to all winning combos in that spin. If multiple wilds are on the same winning combination, their multipliers add.

• Max Ways - increases the number of symbols on all reels to the maximum possible amount by adding new positions and symbols at the bottom of every column.

• Replace Non-Winning Symbols - before win evaluations, non-winning symbols or symbols on a wild reel in the current configuration.

• Extra Wild Reel - a fully expanded wild is randomly added to reels 2-5, awarding the modifier above it.

You receive a modifier for the record when a wild expands below it.

Free Spins

Hit 4, 5, or 6 scatters anywhere on the Ancient Island Megaways screen to trigger 12, 14, or 16 free spins, respectively. Random modifiers fill all the positions on the overhead horizontal reel per free spin during this bonus.

One more modifier can appear during this feature: Extra Spins. It randomly adds +2, +3, +5, or +10 free spins when awarded.

Bonus Buy

You don’t have to wait until the free spins are triggered naturally. Instead, use the buy feature option from the base game to instantly activate the bonus game for 100x the current bet.

How to Win at Ancient Island Megaways Slot

Everything about this video slot, including the playing process, is simplistic. The primary 6 reels can have 2-7 symbols and up to 117,649 megaways. Further, an extra horizontal reel rests above the main one, having modifiers that can hit in random positions.

To generate a winning combination, aim for 3 to 6 of the same symbols aligned from left to right on adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost column. The wins are for identical symbols of any size.

A trip to the Ancient Island Megaways is worth between €0.20 and €240. So, once you’ve set your preferred amount, hit the Spin button to start a single game. Or, use the Autoplay to initiate several preselected spins automatically.

Use the Turbo/Quickspin options to gamble several spins automatically. Finally, the “i” button should give you access to the paytable and the game rules.

Ancient Island Megaways Slot RTP & Volatility

Although the slot has high volatility, which may not be ideal for low-rollers, it can pay up to a lucrative 10,000 times the stake! Further, its theoretical RTP is above average at 96.55%, even when using the buy bonus.

The Final Thoughts

The megaways payout engine was a major hit when Big Time Gaming released it. However, many industry players, including Pragmatic Play, adopted it over time, making it a conventional payout system.

Nowadays, most megaways slots are unoriginal, with only tumbles, a few multipliers, and probably free spins. However, they could adopt interesting add-ons that improve their appeal to online slot enthusiasts. For instance, the Ancient Island Megaways takes you on a discovery of win-enhancing modifiers.

Apart from the megaways and tumbles, you bank on the wilds to expand below a modifier to activate it on the primary reels. That way, you can enjoy cash prizes, multipliers, max ways, etc. Then, cross your fingers for the free spins, where another modifier comes to life.

So, you have several options to work with while enjoying the adventure to an ancient tropical island, searching for treasures 10,000 times your bet. To conclude, I’m glad this isn’t a reskinned slot, meaning it could give slots like Buffalo King Untamed Megaways (Pragmatic Play catalogue) a run for their money!