On this page
Start with the arithmetic, because it is simpler than it looks and it is where the marketing gets its number.
Variable symbol counts: where 117,649 comes from
In the Megaways framework, six reels each display between two and seven symbols, and the count is redrawn every spin. The number of left-to-right paths through the grid is the product of the six reel heights. When every reel shows seven, that product is 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 — 117,649. That is the maximum, not the typical case, and the typical case is far smaller: a spin showing 3, 4, 2, 5, 3, 4 symbols offers 1,440 ways.
Two consequences follow immediately, and both are counter-intuitive:
- More ways does not mean more return. The paytable is scaled to the framework. A game with 117,649 possible paths pays a fraction per path of what a 20-line game pays per line. The certified return figure is set independently of how many paths exist.
- The big number is a variance statement. A grid that can be tall and dense, combined with symbol removal and refills, produces long stretches of nothing and occasional cascades. That shape — not the ways count — is what you feel.
Reel expansion: where there is no fixed number at all
In an expanding-reel framework such as ReelPlay's Infinity Reels, the reel set grows: land a win and another reel is added, with the round continuing while wins keep arriving. There is no maximum path count to print, so the marketing shifts to the multiplier or the theoretical ceiling instead.
The structural difference matters: in a variable-symbol game each spin is independent and self-contained, while in an expanding game a single spin can become an open-ended sequence. That changes where the game's money lives. Expansion frameworks concentrate outcome in rare long chains; variable-symbol frameworks spread it across cascades that end quickly.
What the numbers cannot tell you
Neither a ways count nor a reel-expansion promise answers any of the four questions that decide a session:
- The certified return of the build you were served — which varies by operator, see one slot, several RTP builds.
- The hit frequency — how often anything at all is paid, rarely published and never implied by a ways count.
- The maximum win — a cap, and frequently a cap that truncates the very sequences the framework is sold on. See what a max-win multiplier means.
- Whether features were removed for your market — see where bonus buy is not available.
A fair way to compare two games in a lobby
Ignore the headline integer entirely and read four lines from the information screen, in this order: return figure, maximum win, bonus trigger description, and how wins are evaluated (lines, ways, clusters, or scatter pays). Those four describe the game. Everything above them on the promotional tile describes the framework.
One honest note about the frameworks themselves: both were genuine design advances, and both were adopted because they made the reels legible again. A grid that changes shape and a reel set that grows are easier to read as "something is happening" than a 243-line evaluation nobody can follow. That is a real improvement in the product, and it is independent of whether the maths is good for you.
Framework ownership and licensing are covered in licensed mechanics vs house mechanics. The whole section is indexed in Slot Math.
Sources
- Big Time Gaming — Bonanza — six reels showing 2–7 symbols, up to 117,649 ways to win
- Infinity Reels game list — ReelPlay's mechanic: reels added while wins continue
- Yggdrasil Gaming — GigaBlox — oversized symbols altering grid structure, for contrast with path counting
Arithmetic shown is derived from the published grid description; figures read on 27 September 2026. The game's own information screen takes precedence over this page.