Every year, the Ontario iGaming watchdog, iGaming Ontario, releases cold numbers that show what players really enjoy. In the latest financial year, total wagers hit 82.7 billion Canadian dollars. Slots took the lion’s share at 73 percent of the handle. Inside that mountain of spins, Megaways titles are now responsible for roughly one in every seven clicks on a reel. The trend looks nothing like a fad.
Several reasons explain the growth:
A short timeline helps to understand the journey. In 2016, Bonanza introduced the engine with up to 117,649 ways to win. In 2018, Blueprint Gaming signed the first licence deal and added the mechanic to branded slots like Rick and Morty Megaways. By 2022, nearly every major content studio had at least one Megaways title on its roadmap. The result in 2025 is a Canadian lobby where Megaways sits beside classics such as Buffalo and modern crash games such as Spaceman.
Canadian-specific adoption is strong because the province of Ontario opened its market in April 2022. Suppliers only need one licence to serve every private brand in the province, and that licence lets them list the same build in the rest of Canada’s gray market as well. Low red tape compared with some U.S. states means studios ship Megaways to Canada first.
Traditional video slots rely on fixed paylines. Think of a payline as a path that symbols must follow on the grid. A five-line slot pays only when icons land on one of those five lines. Megaways scraps that idea and counts any left-to-right combination, as long as at least one symbol sits on each consecutive reel. The size of each reel changes with every spin, so the number of ways to win also shifts.
To read a Megaways info screen with confidence, learn the five terms below. Each term appears in almost every Megaways paytable published in Ontario.
| Term | Simple meaning | Impact on your budget |
|---|---|---|
| Ways-to-Win | Any symbol on adjacent reels counts | More possible wins than fixed lines, but individual wins are often smaller |
| Reel Height Range | Each reel can show 2 to 7 icons | Bigger reels create more winning ways and larger hit frequency |
| Cascades or Tumbles | Winning symbols vanish, new ones drop | One stake can create multiple wins in a chain, so volatility rises |
| Unlimited Multiplier | Multiplier climbs after every cascade, with no ceiling | Deep chains can land huge totals, especially in free spins |
| Configurable RTP | Studios ship 96 percent, 95 percent, and 94 percent builds | Ontario sites must display which build they use, so check before you spin |
A quick example makes these terms real. Suppose Big Bass Bonanza Megaways starts a base game spin with reel heights of 3-7-6-5-7-4. Multiply the heights (3×7×6×5×7×4) and you get 17,640 ways for that one spin. A cascade then removes the winning fish icons, the next drop adjusts the reel heights again, and the ways-to-win number flips to something new.
Beginners often rely on social media clips to judge a slot. That works for hype but not for facts. Three public sources help Canadians verify numbers:
Using these sources in tandem protects your bankroll. First, read the supplier PDF so you know how volatile the maths model is. Next, open trackers and see how close actual Canadian sessions come to that theoretical curve. Finally, check the AGCO catalogue to confirm the casino offers the full 96 percent build and not a trimmed version.
Ontario supports more than fifty licensed brands, from global powerhouses to local names. Forty-nine of those brands list at least one Megaways game in the first two pages of the slot lobby. Visibility matters. Industry retention data shows players are 23 percent more likely to return the next day if they engage with a Megaways title on day one.
Several metrics illustrate current momentum:
The table below shows the standouts for the last twelve months.
| Rank | Title | Studio | Tracked spins in Canada | Default RTP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dog House Megaways | Pragmatic Play | 12,000,000 | 96.55 % |
| 2 | Bonanza | Big Time Gaming | 9,400,000 | 96.00 % |
| 3 | Rainbow Riches Megaways | Light &, Wonder | 7,200,000 | 95.90 % |
| 4 | Divine Fortune Megaways | NetEnt | 6,800,000 | 96.09 % |
| 5 | Raging Rhino Megaways | Light &, Wonder | 5,100,000 | 96.18 % |
Most new players notice the aggressive house-trained dogs first because every casino seems to feature that kennel on the landing page. The evergreen BTG gem Bonanza is next, proving that simple graphics can survive when the maths model delivers excitement.
Pragmatic Play launched the original Big Bass Bonanza in December 2020, then upgraded the lake with Megaways reels in 2021. Canadian influencers latched onto the sequel because the fishing theme pairs nicely with local culture and the game runs on modest stakes.
Key specifications:
Community numbers add context. Users recorded 300,000 spins in 2024. Realised RTP came in at 83.18 percent, a reminder that any volatile slot swings hard below the long-term curve in short sample sizes.
Big Bass Bonanza Megaways combines mechanics that newcomers sometimes confuse, so let us strip them down.
Many players ask why the max win is only 4,000× while other titles soar beyond 20,000×. The answer lies in the cash-on-reel feature, which triggers more often than high-line multipliers in other games. Frequent medium-size wins offset the lower ceiling.
Pragmatic Play launched five major Megaways titles between 2020 and 2024. Comparing their specs side by side shows how Big Bass fits into the portfolio.
| Title | Max Win | Default RTP | Volatility | Signature Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bass Bonanza Megaways | 4,000× | 96.70 % | Very high | Cash fish plus progressive multiplier in bonus |
| The Dog House Megaways | 12,305× | 96.55 % | Very high | Choice of Sticky or Raining Wilds |
| Great Rhino Megaways | 20,000× | 96.58 % | Very high | Ante Bet option doubles scatter frequency |
| Power of Thor Megaways | 5,000× | 96.55 % | Very high | Hammer Wild turns two full reels wild |
| Wild West Gold Megaways | 5,000× | 96.44 % | High | Sticky Wilds with multipliers in free spins |
Big Bass offers the highest default RTP in the series, even though its top payout sits at the bottom of the list. Players looking for longer bankroll life often give up the chase for a 20,000× dream in return for a slightly better payback curve.
Studios sometimes assume that a successful release in Europe can launch in Canada overnight. Ontario regulations demand several extra steps.
Skipping any line on this list risks a full game suspension across every partner brand. Studios that plan a simultaneous global launch often send the Ontario build to the lab first, then use the approved files for other markets because the Canadian standard is so strict.
A Megaways slot can run cold for two hundred spins and then explode with a win that wipes out the deficit and more. Managing that swing is the difference between an afternoon of entertainment and a frustrated cash-out.
The checklist below comes from responsible gaming coaches who train customer support teams.
The casino lobby never stands still. Two mechanics already compete for attention in Ontario.
Other suppliers chase fresh angles too. New mechanics are emerging, helping players diversify risk and avoid boredom.
Learning any slot engine works best with structured practice. The roadmap below can turn raw curiosity into confident play.
Players who follow these steps often find that variance no longer feels random. Patterns emerge, bankroll decisions improve, and the entertainment factor climbs.
Spin smart, verify every number you read, and enjoy the evolving world of Megaways and beyond in Canada. For more information, check out Big Bass Bonanza Megaways.
