The historical Gautama Buddha was all into ‘The Golden Middle Way’, and we can only wonder what this enlightened Avatar – famous for his ‘4 noble truths’ – would think of something like Buddha Megaways. Gambling is hardly part of the ‘Noble Eightfold Path’ as far as we can figure, although it can certainly teach people a sense of self-discipline. You’ll need both discipline and a non-restless mind to stay with this game very long however, as it gets boring real quick.
The audiovisual presentation is pretty generic, although a tad better than the ‘communist grey’ stone tiles that fills the screen in Booongo’s Megaways debut effort,Aztec Pyramid Megaways. The cascading win multiplier leads mostly to top-up wins in the base game, if even that, and the 12,500x potentialis most likely to be cracked when the unlimited multiplier only keeps building in the bonus round.
You get between 2 and 7 symbol positions randomly for all 6 reels per spin, and this generates between 64 and 117,649 ways to win. You need matching symbols on at least 3 adjacent reels starting from the uttermost left to win, and the premium animal icon symbols pay between 2 and 10 x your stake. The goldenBuddha statue Wildsteps in for all pay symbols to help complete winning combos, and it appears on reels 2 to 5 only.
The Wild holds no value of it’s own however, but each win triggers theCollapsing Symbols feature.This means that all winning symbols are removed from the grid, leading to new and/or existing symbols cascading down from above to fill the gaps. This process repeats as long as you keep winning, and theprogressive win multiplier increasesby+1 per cascade. The multiplier resets between base game rounds though.
Landing3+ golden temple scattersanywhere in view in the same collapsing sequence triggers the Free Spins round. More precisely, you’ll win10, 15, 20 or 25 free spinswhen you land3, 4, 5 or 6 scattersin the same cascading sequence, and the progressive win multiplier does not reset between bonus round spins.
You can choose togamble for extra spinsup front if you wish, andup to 30 free spinscan be won at the most. If you land on the losing segment of the bonus wheel on your first or second attempt, the bonus round is lost. Losing after reaching the top 2 tiers simply bumps you down to a tier that awards fewer free spins.
Finally, non-UK players, and anyone living in an eligible jurisdiction, may take advantage of theBonus Buy feature. This will set you back100xyour stake, and it guarantees 3+ scatters to land on the spin that follows.
You get to see a few base game cascading wins, before we purchase the bonus round at 0:45 into the 2-minute highlights video. We decided to try the gamble for extra spins system, and we succeeded to get 15 free spins. We didn’t dare push our luck any further than that though, and you can see for yourself how we fared by hitting the play button below.
While Buddha Megaways is a tad more colorful than Booongo’s less-than-memorable Megaways debut, Aztec Pyramid Megaways, it comes with several drawbacks in comparison. The max megaways feature has been removed from this second effort, and the 50,000x potential from the first release has been reduced to12,500x your stakehere. What you get instead is a collapsing/cascading reels multiplier that’s active also in the base game.
You’ll mostly collect top-up wins in the base game grind though, and the bonus round would be textbook Megaways if it wasn’t for the up-front gamble for extra spins option. It’s a risky feature to say the least, but it might appeal to certain daredevils out there. The free spins round itself plays out with a non-resetting and unlimited progressive win multiplier, which increases your odds for larger payouts.
Pros
Cons
Thai Flower Megaways- takes you to the land of smiles and buddha, and this is a beefed up version of Reel Time Gaming’s original exotic release. It comes with up to 15,625 ways to win, and the bonus round plays out with 3 randomly pre-selected symbols for payouts up to 50,000x your stake.
Aztec Pyramid Megaways- is the first ever Megaways release from Booongo, and it comes with similar exploding stone tile symbols that can generate up to 117,649 ways to win. The megaways can be maxed out at random times, and the collapsing wins feature increases the win multiplier per spin with no upper limit in the bonus round. This can lead to 50,000x payouts at the most.
Fu Fortunes Megaways- is a volatile, oriental-themed dynamic reels release from iSoftBet, and the licensed feature comes with up to 46,656 win ways in this installment. All the low-paying symbols are removed in the bonus round, and wilds can trigger up to x20 multipliers. There are jackpots up to 1,000x up for grabs as well, and the overall max win is 25,000x your stake.
