Light & Wonder
Montezuma Megaways
Slots · Released January 1, 2021
A 2021 Megaways release with the horizontal top reel that early implementations used and later ones dropped, and one of only four games in this catalogue still paying by ways. Light & Wonder adds a wheel bonus on top. The 96.17% return is marginally above the studio's 96.15% median, the ceiling 12,500x.
Montezuma Megaways at a glance
96.17%
RTP
High
Volatility
12,500x
Max win
Megaways
Pays by
Play the Montezuma Megaways demo
Virtual credits only, nothing wagered.
Where to play for real money
Parimatch
CAD depositsAccepts players from across Canada and takes deposits in Canadian dollars.
Ontario licenses its own operators through iGO and AGCO . Check what applies where you live.
How Montezuma Megaways pays
Montezuma Megaways is rated high volatility. Against the 5 Light & Wonder titles here, its 96.17% return runs 0.02 points above their 96.15% median, and the 12,500x ceiling is close to their 12,500x median.
The ceiling is 12,500x the stake, so a $1 spin caps at $12,500.
It is the 5th of 28 2021 releases from Light & Wonder that we track.
Light & Wonder has no public page for Montezuma Megaways; what it does list is in its own catalogue at lnw.com.
What Montezuma Megaways actually does
Montezuma Megaways pays by megaways, the format on 11 of the 221 games in this catalogue.
The published ceiling of 12,500x is reached by compounding: paying symbols clear, the gaps refill and the multiplier carries across the chain instead of resetting between drops.
Buy Bonus shortens the wait at a higher stake. That widens the swing on a high-volatility game without moving the 96.17% return, and several regulated markets switch the option off entirely.
Ways is the unusual one on this card: 4 of the 221 games here carry it.
| Mechanic | What it does |
|---|---|
| Megaways | Ways change every spin |
| Ways | Adjacent matches pay |
| Wild | Substitutes for regular symbols |
| Scatter | Pays or triggers from anywhere |
| Free Spins | Spins awarded without a stake |
| Multiplier | Multiplies the win it applies to |
| Tumble | Winning symbols vanish and refill |
| Buy Bonus | Pay to enter the bonus round |
| Wheel Bonus | A spun wheel decides the prize |
| Bonus Game | A separate round with its own rules |
Megaways
The number of symbols per reel is redrawn each spin, so the count of winning ways changes constantly, often up to 117,649. Wins pay for matching symbols on adjacent reels from the leftmost reel, without fixed paylines.
Ways
Any matching symbols on adjacent reels pay from the leftmost reel, with no fixed line pattern required. A 5-reel game with three rows gives 243 ways in this format.
Wheel Bonus
The bonus is decided by spinning a wheel divided into prizes, multipliers or entries into further rounds. Wheels with multiple tiers move you inward as you land the right segments.
Bonus Game
The bonus game moves play to a distinct screen or mode with mechanics the base game does not use. It is triggered by its own symbol combination and pays out before returning to normal play.
Setting and presentation
Adventure. Expedition and exploration framing, with the bonus round usually presented as reaching a destination or uncovering a find.
Mythology. Gods, heroes and creatures from ancient legend, most often Greek or Norse, with deities as the top paying symbols.
Also tagged: Historical.
Games like Montezuma Megaways
| Game | Provider | RTP | Volatility | Max win | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kronos Unleashed | Light & Wonder | 95.86% | high | 50,000x | 2019-05-22 |
| Raging Rhino Megaways | Light & Wonder | 96.18% | high | 12,500x | 2019-06-25 |
| Gates of Olympus | Pragmatic Play | 96.5% | high | 5,000x | 2021-02-25 |
| Duel at Dawn | Hacksaw Gaming | 96.3% | high | 15,000x | 2024-11-21 |
| Epic Ze Zeus | Hacksaw Gaming | 96.22% | high | 50,000x | 2026-08-14 |
| Gates of Olympus 1000 | Pragmatic Play | 96.5% | very-high | 15,000x | 2023-12-14 |
Kronos Unleashed is the nearest match of the 6: they share Wild, Scatter and Free Spins, and it runs 95.86% against its 96.17%.
5 of the 6 published returns above beat 96.17%, topped by Gates of Olympus at 96.5%, and Kronos Unleashed sits lowest at 95.86%.
Its 12,500x ceiling is close to the 15,000x middle of that set, where Kronos Unleashed reaches 50,000x.
5 of the 6 rated games there share its high volatility; Gates of Olympus 1000 is the exception at very-high.
2 of the 6 come from Light & Wonder as well; the rest are Pragmatic Play, Hacksaw Gaming and Hacksaw Gaming.
4 of them are newer than it, and it landed 19 months after Kronos Unleashed.
Every one of them carries Free Spins, Multiplier as well. Ways is the one only one of them shares.
Montezuma Megaways questions
What does the top reel do in Montezuma Megaways?
It runs horizontally above the six main reels and adds symbols to the columns below, raising the ways count. Recent Megaways titles usually omit it, so it marks the earlier generation of the licence.
How does it compare to Raging Rhino Megaways?
Both are Light & Wonder, both use the top reel, and both cap at 12,500x. Montezuma returns 96.17% against Raging Rhino's 96.18%, so the difference is theme rather than maths.
What is the RTP of Montezuma Megaways?
96.17%, as published by Light & Wonder, which has too few pages on this site to have a median of its own. Against the 220 published returns across the whole catalogue it is 0.03 points below the 96.2% median. 120 of those pages publish a higher figure and 98 a lower one, with 1 matching it exactly.
Can I play Montezuma Megaways for free?
Yes. The build above is the one Light & Wonder ships, at the same 96.17% return and the same 12,500x ceiling; only the credits are virtual, and there is no deposit or signup. The same 10 mechanics are tagged on it: Megaways, Ways, Wild and 7 more.
What is the maximum win on Montezuma Megaways?
The ceiling is 12,500x the stake, so a $1 spin caps at $12,500. Across the 219 published ceilings the median is 10,000x, and 83 of them reach further than this one, while 4 stop at the same figure. At a $5 spin that is $62,500.
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Written by Tasho Tashev
Slots & Crypto-Casino Editorial Author