Megaways, Bonus Buy and the new mechanics

April 29, 2026 • Reading time: 4 minutes • Written by: Elisa Karjalainen, Gaming Technology & Payments Expert

Megaways, Bonus Buy and cluster pays are the most visible new mechanics of recent years. They genuinely change how a game feels – but not what playing it costs. This article separates those two things.

What the mechanics actually do

Mechanic	What it changes	Does it affect the return?
Megaways	The number of ways to win changes every spin	No – RTP sits in the model
Cluster pays	Wins form from groups of symbols, not lines	No
Bonus Buy	Bonus rounds can be purchased directly	Yes, and often downward
Cascades	Winning symbols vanish and new ones drop in	No
Multiplier trails	The multiplier grows during the bonus	No

One row in that table is unlike the others, and it is worth reading closely.

Bonus Buy: the one mechanic that changes the price

Buying a bonus round means paying at once a sum equivalent to dozens or hundreds of ordinary spins. In many games the return on a purchased bonus is stated separately, and it is often lower than the base game's. The difference appears in the info panel where the studio discloses it – and where it does not, nobody knows it.

The other half is volatility. Buying a bonus compresses the game: a single purchase can lose what ordinary spins would take an hour to spend. That is not inherently bad, but it is worth knowing before the first purchase.

Why ”ways to win” is not an advantage

Megaways games advertise hundreds of thousands of ways to win. The figure sounds impressive, but it is an internal technical property of the model: when there are more ways, each hit pays less. The total return stays whatever the info panel says it is.

The same game in several RTP versions

The least discussed change is not a mechanic at all but a matter of distribution. Many popular games exist in more than one version with different returns: same name, same artwork, same bonus feature – different number. Which version runs depends on what the studio supplied to that particular site.

The difference is not cosmetic. Two versions can be several percentage points apart, which means a multiple difference in what a thousand euros wagered costs on average. The only place the running version is visible is the game's own info panel – not a review site and not the title.

A jackpot takes its own share

In a progressive jackpot, part of every stake goes into the pot. That share is part of the game's stated return, but it comes back only to whoever eventually wins the jackpot. In practice this means the base game of a jackpot slot returns less than usual even when the headline figure looks normal.

In many jackpot games the pot is also reachable only at full stake or with a separate side bet. If your stake is smaller than that, you are funding the jackpot without any chance of winning it. This is stated in the rules, and it is one of the few places where your own choice changes the price of the game directly.

What regulation brings

In some European countries buying bonus rounds and using autoplay are prohibited, and some limit the maximum stake and the minimum duration of a spin. These limits are visible to the player directly in the game interface: if a function is missing, the reason is usually in the rules rather than in the game.

Questions

Do Megaways games have better returns?

Not systematically. RTP varies from game to game regardless of the mechanic, and each game's figure is in its info panel.

Is buying bonus rounds worth it?

Only if the return on the purchased bonus is stated and is at least equal to the base game's. Otherwise you are paying more without knowing what for.

Do the new mechanics change expected value?

No. Expected value is a property of each individual stake and stays negative for the player. Free support for keeping play under control is available from BeGambleAware.