Big Time Gaming Software Review

A Bit of History

Big Time Gaming is the success story of three people: Nik Robinson, Ian Schmidt, and Huw McIntosh. Their visionary approach, technical know-how, and creative genius ensured the company was set for triumph when it launched in 2011. Even in the early days, the developer tried to create memorable and unique games and found moderate success. However, it wasn’t until 2016 and the launch of the world-famous Megaways mechanic that Big Time Gaming became a household name.

In 2021, Evolution Gaming bought Big Time Gaming, and the company continues to thrive under its wing. We’d go as far as to say BTG is the best developer to follow if you want to experience new mechanics. They got it right with Megaways, and they’ve been trying all sorts of new game engines and features ever since, though none got to that level of popularity so far. Whether it’s MegaClusters or MegaQuads, or any other unique experience they propose, it will be something new and potentially highly rewarding.

Their most significant contribution to the gambling industry, the Megaways engine, has been licensed to dozens of other developers. There are now hundreds of Megaways pokies available for players to choose from, including versions with 4 to 6 reels, with or without the extra horizontal reel at the top, typically with above-average rewards. Many look better than those available from Big Time Gaming, at least in design. Of course, BTG has quite a few such games, over two dozen releases.

Their gaming license comes from UKGC, making their software one of the safer options available right now for Kiwi players.

Frequent Themes and Bonus Features

The short version is that Big Time Gaming’s pokie machines are designed to be different from everything else you might find out there. That seems to be the goal with most of their new releases, as they continue to innovate at a rate that no other developer has matched. They came out with Megaways first, then tried to recreate that success with Megaclusters, Megaquads, and various other minor features and game mechanics. None got to the Megaways level of success, but BTG online pokies are great fun nonetheless, and they usually come with huge rewards that match the high volatility.

One of the reasons the Megaways pokies had such success was that they could pay exceptionally well. It wasn’t typical of most pokie to pay 26,000x the stake, which is what Bonanza Megaways offered. The game actually gave big wins, and players saw that it wasn’t just in theory.

One more area where Big Time Gaming is doing better than most is the return rate. The Return to Player percentage is at 96% or higher in most of their pokie machines. White Rabbit Megaways is the champion of high RTP Big Time Gaming slots, with a 97.72% RTP.

If you want regular paylines, look for their older slots, such as Feathered Frenzy (20 active lines, 97% RTP, released in 2013). Paylines are not typical for their games, though; they tend to try new mechanics.

Their features tend to be powerful once you manage to trigger them. Cascading reels, increasing multipliers, free spins, and various other mechanics and features have all contributed to the fun while spinning the reels of BTG pokies.

The developer likes to offer powerful but tough to trigger features. Cascading reels, increasing multipliers, free spins, and various other mechanics and features make these pokies more exciting and complement Big Time Gaming’s more unique additions.

The design quality is good, though it won’t appeal to everyone. BTG video pokies tend to have a particular design style that relies heavily on royals (the usual 9 to A) and gemstones. Though some effort is put into stylizing these icons, it can sometimes feel like the art team phoned it in.

Big Time Gaming loves classic stories, and that is reflected in their pokies. Several were inspired by gold mining, others by treasure hunts, Ancient Greece, gold in general, and even Ancient Egypt. However, there are some that you can only get in their collection, like branded pokies (Survivor Megaways, Monopoly Megaways, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, etc.).

Some of the ones that make Big Time Gaming online pokies so impressive are discussed in detail below.

Megaways

The Megaways engine became widely popular with Bonanza, a pokie machine that was released in 2016, but the first game to use it was called Dragon Born.

Bonanza incorporated a 6-reel setup, with an extra set of symbols spinning horizontally at the top of the four middle reels. With each of the 6 reels getting 2 to 7 symbols randomly, the number of ways to win varied from a few dozen to 117,649.

Over two dozen Megaways pokie machines are available in the provider’s collection, but that’s only a tiny portion of the 350+ titles available on the market overall. They’ve licensed the Megaways engine to various developers, so most games with this system are available in collections belonging to other brands.

Megaclusters

The Megaclusters engine is another one that innovates. The Cluster Pays pokie machine is enhanced with the help of reactions that follow after wins since the winning positions are replaced with four smaller symbols. This basically increases the game area, giving you many more symbols to form new clusters.

We’ve seen this engine used in pokies with smaller game areas, with just 3 or 4 reels, but even those can get to decent layouts if all their symbols expand (you go from 16 symbols in a 4×4 game area to as many as 256).

Suppose you want to check out this system in action. You can do so in pokies from Big Time Gaming (Star Cluster, Cyberslot) or Relax Gaming (Kluster Krystals Megaclusters).

Megaquads

The third game engine we’d like to talk about is Megaquads. You start with a game area that delivers ways to win (256 if you start on 4×4 reels) over four different sets of reels. They spin individually, but they can unite during certain features, and at that point, you can get up to 8 reels of 4 symbols each.

Suppose you want a shot at playing in a game area with more than 16 million potential combinations. In that case, a game like Slot Vegas Megaquads is one option, while a licensed version called Rainbow Riches Megaquads (from Barcrest) is another.

Megapays

Megapays is the name given to their range of progressive jackpots, available in four of their most popular pokies. You can experience this engine in Bonanza Megapays, Who Wants to be a Millionaire Megapays, Star Clusters Megapays, or Danger High Voltage Megapays.

There are four progressive jackpots available, but the one you want to go after is the Mega version (the others are called Major, Midi, and Mini). Its value can quickly go in the 7-figures range and make the lucky winners millionaires.

Reel Adventure

Reel Adventure is a mechanics included in Holy Diver Megaways. It’s described as a side-scrolling adventure combined with a Megaways engine. The hero goes on an adventure and may randomly open a bonus chest, where modifiers are found. A total of three levels are available initially, with a boss level you can reach along the way.

The provider claims there is an infinite number of ways in which you can play the game, thanks to the huge variety of these modifiers (up to 343x multipliers, random Wilds, regular to Wild transformations). Overall, it’s an adventure!

Heartstopper

Another new mechanics from BTG, Heartstopper, is available in two of their slots, called Lil Devil and Royal Mint Megaways. It allows you to collect hearts whenever you get only two Scatters on the reels. With 40 hearts collected, you get free spins enhanced either with sticky Wilds or bigger multiplier Wilds.

Our Thoughts on Big Time Gaming

Based on everything we’ve discussed so far, the conclusion is that the appetite for innovation helped Big Time Gaming get big, and it continues to be their primary strength. Highly volatile pokie machines, with huge potential rewards and a constant stream of new game engines and features, all help make their collection stand out.

Over the last couple of years, Big Time Gaming has demonstrated a willingness to experiment and innovate. None of the other developers come close, though Nolimit City does a pretty good job.

BTG is one of just a few developers of online pokie machines that we would follow no matter what. Every game they release tends to have something unique, from new game engines to unique features.

On the other hand, BTG pokies often have uneventful stories and lower-quality visuals. They choose not to put much effort into these, yet it seems like most players don’t care, provided everything else is on point.

Overall, Big Time Gaming is one of the best developers of online pokies out there. If you’re okay with high volatility and can take the heat, you should always give their new releases a chance.