Buddha Megaways

Buddha Megaways Overview

It is ironic to have designed a game about chasing ever bigger monetary prizes and themed it around Buddhism. Indeed, the central philosophy around Buddhism is that you are supposed to rid yourself of desire and detach yourself from the eternal hedonic treadmill on which most modern humans spend their lives. A slot game is the very embodiment of chasing pleasure.

Therefore, either 3 Oaks Gaming is tone deaf or simply enjoys the aesthetic of Buddhism and hasn’t thought much about the moral underpinning of this faith. We suspect it is the latter. Mechanically, this is a straightforward Megaways slot with some decent features and an average top win.

The main feature action for this game is built around the free spins game, triggered by landing between three and six scatters on the reels simultaneously. These free spins will begin with a 1x multiplier; however, each cascading win that falls will grow this multiplier by 1x. The feature can also be retriggered. Before the spins begin, you are given the option of gambling for more spins. This involves a wheel spinning game. This game also has a bonus buy option, which allows players to buy their way into the free spins round.

Theme and Symbols

Although this game may be called Buddha Megaways, the theme is pretty loose. It is more of a general Asian theme, with the central character being the Buddha. Although he appears here and there in the title and as the wild, Buddha isn’t seen much. Instead, there are depictions of Asian animals such as the crane and the koi fish – which are actually Japanese. Yet more evidence to suggest there isn’t too much accuracy in the specifics of this game. The theme is simple and cartoonish, and if we are honest, not the most interesting or well-executed.

The background for Buddha Megaways is a green kaleidoscopic Asian-inspired pattern comprised of floating clouds and delicate patterns in various textures. The design is reminiscent of something you might see on an ornate temple door in Japan or China. The patterns are quite busy and clashing; however, because the background comprises different hues of the same colour, the image doesn’t become too distracting from the playing window itself, which is full of colour.

The playing window is a traditionally styled frame populated by different coloured mahjong-like tiles which contain each icon.
The symbols for this game are split into low-value, high-value and special symbols. The low-value symbols comprise the 9, 10, J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The A and K are the most valuable of these, paying out at 1x the stake for the top combination. On the other hand, the more valuable symbols are comprised of animals. These are the fish, lion-turtle, crane and red lion. The lion is the most valuable symbol, paying out at 10x the stake for the top combination. The specials are the golden temple scatter and the Buddha wild.

Game Play

Buddha Megaways is played on a 6-reel, Megaways machine with up to 117,649 pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.

The betting range for Buddha Megaways is 20p to £20 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.
Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the high range. The return to player percentage for Buddha Megaways is 95.58%, which is below average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 12,000x your stake.

Features

The first quick thing to explain about this game is that it is a Megaways slot, meaning that the number of icons per reel changes with every spin. There can be between two and seven symbols in each.
The first main feature is the free spins game triggered when players land between 3 and 6 scatters on the reels at the same time. The more scatters that you land to trigger the bonus, the more spins you will be granted. The free spins round begin with a 1x multiplier attached. However, every time you score a cascade, this multiplier will grow by 1x. You can also retrigger the feature, topping up your spins by landing an additional three scatters from within the game.
Before the start of your spins, however, players will be given a chance to gamble for more spins. You can do this by clicking the gamble button, which will bring up a prize wheel. Landing on winning segments will boost your spins. Landing on non-winning segments will lose you spins.
If you can’t wait for the free spins to trigger naturally, you can buy your way into them using the buy bonus feature. This allows you to buy access to the bonus for a fixed multiple of your stake.

Conclusion

This is by no means the most impressive slot that 3 Oaks Gaming has ever produced, yet there is a certain colourful addictiveness that you can’t quite put your finger on. Statistically, there isn’t that much to get excited by here, especially considering the low RTP and poor top prize. This deserves a mediocre rating when all things are considered.