Invaders Megaways

Megaways games continue to be released thick and fast, and the beauty of these games is in often in the detail. This year, Light and Wonder are bringing us Invaders Megaways, an intergalactic addition that takes us through outer space on the journey to some huge wins. Visually, Invaders Megaways is apt, with a floating UFO in the forefront and some crop circles in the background, alongside a farm house, amongst the hazy atmosphere full of shooting stars. The visual approach showing the curvature of the earth gives the impression of looking down on this scene, perhaps from a spaceship, and this is backed up by synth audio tracks with a space-y beat running throughout, immediately casting the mind towards outer space. Volatility is high and RTP is a standard 96.30%.

invaders Megaways Base Game

Invaders Megaways takes place across 6 reels, adopting the cascading mechanic that has almost become necessary in Megaways releases now, for fear of appearing lacklustre. Wins are formed by matching symbols across a minimum of 3 reels, beginning at the leftmost reel. Between 2 and 7 symbols can appear on each reel as standard, allowing for a maximum of 117,649 ways to win, however a special feature is in play to allow up to 1,000,000 ways.

Lower paying symbols consist of 9, 10, J, Q, K and As, paying between 0.20 and 0.28x stake f0r 6 of a kind, and at the higher end of the pay table premium symbols bring the outer space theme into life. Ray guns, cows, a scientist and aliens pay between 0.80 and 2x stake for 6 of a kind. The Invaders logo pays 4x bet for 6 of a kind. Don’t be discouraged, however, by the seemingly low payouts from these symbols, as there is a variety of features to boost these wins. There are no standard wilds in play in Invaders Megaways, and instead each symbol can become wild. Finally, there is a Bonus Symbol, reminiscent of the red planet Mars, required to trigger Free Spins.

invaders Megaways Pay Table

Invaders Megaways Base Features

At the top of the 6 reel grid, there is an extra section displaying each of the pay symbols, whilst reels 2-5 of the main reels are highlighted with green lights. At the beginning of every spin, the UFO picks one of these symbols at random, and this chosen symbol will then be made wild in every place it lands within the highlighted reel area. Wilds replace every symbol except the Bonus Symbol.

invaders Megaways Chosen Wild Symbol (10)

On any spin, it is possible for the Mythical Unicow to appear in a UFO, causing all reels to show between 7 and 10 symbols. This allows for the possibility of between 168,070 and 1,000,000 Megaways. A random symbol will still be selected to be a wild during the Unicow Feature.

invaders Megaways Unicow Feature

Invaders Megaways Bonus

Landing 4, 5 or 6 Bonus Symbols awards 7, 10 and 15 Free Spins respectively, where we take a trip to the Red Planet. During the Free Spins feature, only the five highest paying symbols are in the selection area at the top of the reels. Much like the base game, the UFO will select one symbol at random at the beginning of every spin. However, instead of simply turning the symbol into a wild, each symbol activates a different modifier for the spin:

• Invaders Logo: All logo symbols expand to fill the reel, act as a wild, and can have multipliers attached, as high as x7. This multiplier will remain for the duration of the spin.
• Scientist: Until the end of the spin, the win line multiplier doubles after every cascade. This multiplier continues up to a maximum of x256.
• Alien: Each Alien symbol increases the reel height by 1 for its’ own reel, and adjacent reels, increasing the number of ways. Ways can increase up to a maximum of 1,000,000.
• Cow: All Cow symbols become x2 wilds, counting as two wilds when calculating wins.
• Ray Gun: For every Ray Gun symbol in view, 1 wild is randomly added to the reels. Ray Gun symbols which cascade into view do not count towards this feature.

Each spin within the bonus can have a different modifier, although you could have the same modifier on every spin. It is a random feature, with no one feature guaranteed. Landing 3, 4, 5 or 6 Bonus Symbols during Free Spins retriggers with 4, 7, 10 or 15 extra spins respectively.

Free Spins will end when no spins remain, or when the maximum win of £250,000 has been achieved, however this is not possible at every stake.

invaders Logo Feature Within Free Spins

First Impression

Invaders Megaways offers players a host of features both within the base game and Free Spins to keep things interesting. Although the pays seem quite low, this blow is softened by the wild feature at the beginning of every spin, however this didn’t stop extended periods of play without much happening. At the time of writing this review, we only managed to witness the Mythical Unicow once, meaning it is perhaps even rarer than we first thought, however with 321,489 ways and the addition of a wild symbol, we were rewarded with over 150x stake from this feature.. The Free Spins feature doesn’t seem the easiest to land, but from the provider who brought us Beetlejuice Megaways, should we be surprised?

alien Feature Within Free Spins

That said, Invaders Megaways is a slot with a lot on offer. The addition of a feature at the beginning of every free spin during the bonus certainly keeps things interesting and we did reach heights of 238,140 ways during Free Spins thanks to the Alien Feature. However, the host of features aren’t any guarantee of huge wins, as even with a variety of cascades and wilds in the base game the wins aren’t much to write home about. No doubt the big wins are buried beneath the surface though, and the design definitely ticks all the boxes. Light and Wonder have kept things fun in Invaders Megaways, with slick design and fantastic graphics, set for release 15th June 2021.

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.