Montezuma Megaways Slot - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction

This classic slot from WMS has undergone an incredible makeover and now offers 117,649 ways to win and a top prize of 12,000x your stake. With breathtaking Aztec themed graphics and fast moving gameplay, this stunning slot is designed to saturate your senses with bonus action galore. Players can expect 95.92% RTP and the high volatility that Megaways players love.

Graphics & Theme

If you played the original Montezuma slot then the general look and feel of this game will be familiar to you, but this Megaways makeover has definitely improved the game for the better.

Who Was Montezuma?

Montezuma was the last emperor of the Aztecs before they were conquered and enslaved by the Spaniard Hernan Cortes. The great Aztec emperor ruled over the empire at its height, stretching from Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua. Aware of the threat posed by the Spanish, Montezuma welcomed Cortes into the capital city Tenochtitlán, but the Spaniard fearing a trap took him prisoner. He died soon after, some say murdered by the Spanish, others that he was attacked by his own people.

Incorporation into the Slot Design

The picture symbols tell the story of Montezuma at the height of his powers - the snake represents creativity and rebirth, and the mask and elaborate headdress for use in rituals where men of high status represented gods. The eagle represents strength, loyalty and honour.

Montezuma had two wives and many mistresses, but perhaps the beautiful woman on the reels is his daughter Dona Isabel Montezuma, the last Aztec Empress. Finally, we have Montezuma himself, resplendent in his headdress and looking to the skies, perhaps for the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl one of the most important gods in the Aztec pantheon.

Montezuma vs Montezuma Megaways

The original Montezuma slot featured 5 reels and 30 paylines with identical paytable symbols - although these have been spruced up for the reboot and are much sharper and more finely detailed than they were. The sounds have also been replaced by a slower and more atmospheric theme.

Where the traditional payline slot offers staking options from 0.30 to 150 per spin over those 30 lines, the Megaways version lets players cover every ways win with stakes from 0.20 to 20.00. One big difference between payline and any ways pays slots is that the paytabel wins are higher in payline slots but the overall wins are bigger the more winning ways you play.

One feature that might sway you is the introduction of the Bonus Pass, which allows you to buy your way into the lucrative free spins bonus for a set amount 85.5x your stake. You can also opt to bank none, some or all of your wins in the bonus bank.

Montezuma Megaways RTP & Volatility

Megaways slots are renowned for their high volatility and decent RTP to players over the long run. The theoretical return to player for a stake of 100.00 is 95.92% which is around average and relates to the average return from hundreds of thousands of games.

But what returns can you respect in the short term? This is where the volatility of a slot comes into play, locating the potential RTP in the risk/reward ratio of your chosen game. With 117,649 ways to win on any spin it’s not surprising that the Megaways version of Montezuma offers such high volatility, especially when you can win 12,500x your stake on any spin.

How To Win

In Montezuma you could have as few as 64 ways to win if just 2 symbols appear on each reel to the maximum 117,649 ways for 6 reels of 7 symbols. Don’t worry, this dynamic game calculates the possibilities for you and displays the figure on the top right of the screen.

In this slot, the mechanism works in the following way:

• There are 6 main reels and reels 1 and 6 can each have between 2 to 7 symbols per spin.
• The remaining reels can show between 2 to 6 symbols per spin.
• The Montezuma Wheel atop the reels which consists of 4 rows that spins horizontally, which contributes to winning combinations on the main reel set by acting as an extra row for reels 2-5.

Montezuma Megaways Game Rules

• - There are up to 117, 649 ways to win on any spin
• - Wild symbols substitute for any other symbol except Scatter symbol
• - Only highest winner paid per winning combination
• - Wins occur on adjacent reels, beginning with the far left reel
• - Wins on multiple ways are added together
• - All awards are multiples of the total stake
• - Wins are awarded on left to right adjacent symbols regardless of the size

Bonus Pass

Montezuma Megaways is packed with incredible features including free spins and multipliers that combine in exciting ways to deliver wins up to 12,500x your stake. But instead of waiting for the Temple Scatters to land and trigger the free spins, you can opt to buy the bonus pass and guarantee yourself anywhere between 12 and 30 free spins, all played out with an unlimited increasing multiplier. The only difference between buying the feature and landing it naturally is that you won’t receive a payout for the triggering spin. This function is only available in some jurisdictions.

So how does it work? To the left of the reels you’ll see the blue Buy Pass button and the Bank button. Between the two is a widget that displays the size of the payment for the Buy Pass feature which is 85.5x your line bet. This feature can’t be activated during free spins or autoplay. Once you click you’ll need to confirm the feature by clicking on the green tick. You’ll then watch a winning spin where three Temple Scatters land and the Montezuma Wheel spins to award your free games.

Demo Play / Free Play

Montezuma Megaways is quite a complex slot to play, with the new Montezuma wheel randomly activating to add bonus features and the strategic decision whether or not to use the Buy Pass feature.

Pro players as well as newbies benefit from playing some free play spins and some players actually prefer them, even though the wins on offer are virtual rather than real money.

If you play slots for relaxation and pleasure rather than cash prizes, Montezuma Megaways has loads of great features that combine in some truly unique ways. If you play for the adrenaline rush of winning a fortune you’ll be glad you assessed this slot before unleashing Montezuma on your bankroll!

Hints & Tips

Smart players, even the high rollers, always play conservatively. If that comes as a surprise then it’s worth remembering that all slots are based on RNGs that are designed to completely randomise the result of any spin. In effect that means you can’t influence the result of any game - whether you win or lose is purely a matter of luck.

One other feature that should factor into your strategy for this slot is the Buy Pass feature. It’s worth deciding whether it’s worth paying an additional 85.5x your stake to buy your way straight to the free spins, even with the Bonus Guarantee active.

Mobile

Where the original Montezuma game was a somewhat static affair, this dynamic reinvention is made for a razor sharp screen. It’s not just the redesign of the reels but the newly sharpened graphics - the rich detailing really pops off the reels.

The developers have optimised this slot for mobile play using HTML5 technology. The result is an all-action slot that loads ultra fast when you open your favourite browser making this the user friendly way to enjoy mobile gaming across multiple platforms. Whether you prefer handheld gadgets powered by Apple iOS or Android you can enjoy your slots without the need to download any software - just spin and go.

Montezuma Megaways  Review & Rating

We were impressed by the original Montezuma slot with its but the reboot using the Megaways engine licensed from Big Time Gaming has truly taken this game to another level.

There’s also the Bonus Guarantee which ensures that players walk away with a minimum bonus prize of 30x their stake. This seems to be active in the Buy Pass feature so you’ll need to factor that into your strategy.

We enjoyed playing Montezuma the first time round and we’ve enjoyed playing this version even more. What we particularly like is that players now have the option to enjoy the game in the tougher payline version or the more forgiving Megaways iteration, like the two versions of Game of Thrones. For us, thanks to the high volatility and bigger overall prizes, Montezuma Megaways has the edge and with its lower staking options is a safe bet for all players.

Disclaimer: Montezuma Megaways trademark / license is owned by WMS. This site is not endorsed by WMS.