Big Bad Wolf Megaways slot review
Quickspin released Big Bad Wolf Megaways in 2021, capitalizing on the success of 2013’s Big Bad Wolf. The 6-reel grid has up to 117,649 paylines and the RTP sits at 96.05% with high volatility.
Big Bad Wolf Megaways builds on its predecessor, upping the ante with a bonus horizontal reel across the top, two extra symbols, and a progressive win multiplier in the Blowing Down the House Bonus Game. In my Big Bad Wolf Megaways slot review, I’ll take you through the features and reveal everything you need to know to get the most out of your session.
Highlights
Big Bad Wolf Megaways slot review summary
Big Bad Wolf was an instant classic when it was released in 2013, so I was very excited to hear it was getting the Megaways treatment, and it hasn’t disappointed. The graphics have been significantly updated, with a much smoother gameplay, and the special features have been expanded for a more exciting experience.
The grid is now much bigger, made up of six reels with a bonus horizontal reel of four symbols. Alongside the familiar tumble mechanism and Piggy Wilds, the game features multiple locations – travelling between the three little pig’s houses – and even more fun animations to keep players immersed in the action.
With an RTP sitting just above the industry standard of 96% and a high volatility, it’s a good idea to change up your tactics from the higher RTP, lower volatility Big Bad Wolf. Higher volatility means higher reward potential but higher risk, too, so shorter sessions and setting a budget can help mitigate that risk. The maximum potential win has been exponentially increased to 30,540x.
Pros
Smooth, updated graphics
96.06% RTP
Immersive bonus features
Cons
High volatility
No progressive jackpot
Hard to unlock bonus game without paying
Big Bad Wolf Megaways comprehensive review
In this Big Bad Wolf Megaways review, I’ll go through all of the key aspects of the slot. I’ll be looking at the RTP and volatility, the bonus features, and the symbols and payouts. I’ll break down exactly how the slot works, including any technical mechanics.
RTP and volatility
The Big Bad Wolf Megaways slot’s RTP has been brought down from the base version of the game to 96.09% while the volatility has been increased from medium to high.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| RTP | 96.09% |
| Maximum win | 30,540x |
| Number of paylines | Up to 117,649 |
| Volatility | High |
Being a Megaways slot there are 117,649 potential paylines on a grid made up of six reels, with two to seven rows on each that vary with every spin. Winning paylines are drawn from left to right.
Big Bad Wolf Megaways RTP may seem on the low side, just scraping over the industry average of 96%, especially as the original version had a whopping 97.31% RTP. However, with so many potential paylines, I still experienced fairly frequent wins, even with the higher volatility.
All the same, it’s a bit of a shame that Quickspin has reduced the RTP so much, considering other high RTP slots like Red Tiger Gaming’s Blood Suckers have managed to maintain a higher-than-average RTP when being adapted for the Megaways format.
Bonus features
Big Bad Wolf Megaways has many of the same features as its base game, just built up to make the most of the Megaways format.
What used to be called Swooping Reels are now Tumbles, blowing winning combinations from the reels like a wolf’s powerful puff of breath. More symbols tumble into the gaps, potentially leading to more wins on a single spin. The symbols keep tumbling until there are no new winning combinations.
Tumbles can trigger the Piggy Wilds feature. Regular Wilds are toolbox symbols, and can still appear at random across the middle reels, helping to complete winning combinations on the grid. On top of this, every second tumble from a single spin will transform one of the premium pig symbols into a Piggy Wild. These can substitute for any other symbol apart from regular Wilds or the Scatter symbol.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Bonus features | Tumbles, Piggy Wilds, Wilds, Scatters, Free Spins, Multipliers |
| Top features | Blowing Down the House |
| Jackpot | N/A |
The Moon Bonus Scatters are one of two ways to unlock the Blowing Down the House Bonus Game. Landing three or more scatters awards 11 free spins and transports you to the next location as you watch the Big Bad Wolf blow the first little pig’s straw house down. Free spins take place in the second little pig’s house of wood while the Big Bad Wolf watches on. This bonus round existed in the base version of the game, but now it features a progressive win multiplier.
The wolf does more than just lurk during the bonus. For every win, the big bad beast knocks a win multiplier onto the game, starting at 1x and increasing by +1 every time you land a winning combination. You can also collect scatters across your spins to add even more multipliers to the game:
- Three scatters gives you +3 spins and increases the multiplier x5
- Six scatters gives another +3 spins and increases the multiplier x10
- Every scatter over six symbols awards +1 spin
The other way to unlock the Bonus Game is by using the bonus buy feature built into the game. You can pay 90x your stake and immediately be taken to the wooden house.
Quickspin has taken everything that worked so well in Big Bad Wolf and made it bigger for the Megaways version. When you have other titles, like Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways, simply adding the Megaways feature to the base game with no material changes, it’s refreshing to see this Big Bad Wolf expansion, and I think it works really well.
The addition of the four-symbol bonus horizontal reel at the top adds excitement, and the conversion of the pig symbols into Piggy Wilds means the hits land more frequently.
The high volatility really comes into play when you’re trying to trigger the Blowing Down the House Bonus Game by landing three or more of the Moon Bonus Scatter symbols. You can pay 90x your stake to skip straight to it, but when trying to spin for it, I spent a significant chunk of my budget and still only ever had a maximum of two symbols appear on the grid.
The little animation before the game was a fun addition that kept things moving, and made it feel like there was more going on.
Symbols and paytable
Alongside the Moon Bonus Scatter and Toolbox Wild, Big Bad Wolf Megaways has 11 symbols. Whereas in the original version, the wolf was the scatter, he is now the highest paying symbol. When playing with the minimum bet of $0.20 he awards between $0.40 and $10 for two to six symbols.
Next are the six medium win symbols: the three little pigs and their respective house-building tools. The pitchfork is on the lower end, giving between 0.2x and 1x your bet from three to six symbols. The pig that built the house of bricks comes out on top, with a range from 0.6x to 6x your stake.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Theme | Three little pigs |
| Reel layout | 6 reels, 2-7 rows |
| Highest paying symbol | Big Bad Wolf |
| Adjustable paylines | No |
| Visuals | Cartoony |
| Sound | Jaunty |
| Mobile quality | Very good |
Finally, the lowest paying symbols are the traditional King, Queen, Jack, Ace icons. Three Jacks, Kings, or Queens will win you $0.10 for a dollar staked, while six will give you $0.40. The Ace symbol pays a little bit more, with $0.15 for three symbols and $0.50 for six.
As with all slots, how much you win is calculated on the size of your initial bet. While payouts seem more frequent than the high volatility would suggest, the highest symbol only pays up to 50x your bet, so a maximum of $1000 with the largest possible stake.
A $20 maximum bet is very low compared to other Megaways titles, so this might disappoint the high rollers. Especially comparing Big Bad Wolf to Quickspin’s other popular Megaways slot: Eastern Emeralds has a maximum bet of $100.
The Piggy Wilds, the 117,649 paylines, and the bonus horizontal reel helped me land more wins, but more often than not these were still monetary losses and the high volatility meant I regularly had multiple spins with no wins.
How to play Big Bad Wolf Megaways
The bet range for Big Bad Wolf Megaways goes from $0.20 to $20. You can adjust your bet by clicking the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons either side of the Total Bet indicator in the control panel, or by clicking on the pile of coins icon on the right hand side and selecting your stake from the menu.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Min bet | $0.20 |
| Max bet | $20 |
| Autoplay | Yes |
| Turbo mode | Yes |
| Game history | Yes |
From the right-hand menu you can also initiate Turbo spins and Autoplay mode, which allows you to set a number of automatic spins from 10 to 1,000, and you can add loss and single win limits to ensure you don’t go over budget. These limits can be selected from a set amount (loss limit from 5x bet up to 50x bet and single win limit from 10x bet all the way to 75x bet), or completely customised in the advanced autoplay settings.
You can access the Paytable from the menu on the right, too. Symbols pay from left to right, and you must land three or more consecutively to receive a payout.
In the Settings menu you can adjust the sound and on the desktop version you can choose whether you want to use the spacebar for spins. You can also access the Game Rules and the Game History.
Casinos where you can play Big Bad Wolf Megaways slot
Many online casinos offer Quickspin games. If you fancy teaming up with the Big Bad Wolf and trying to blow the little pigs’ houses down, here are some of the best online casinos I recommend checking out:
| Casino Logo | Rating | Bonus | Go-to-casino button | Show more | T&C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
86/100
Expert rating
by Vule P.
85%
Playscore
based on
|
Bonus Money reload up to $500
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
2
|
88/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
92%
Playscore
based on
|
$20 Bonus Dollars + 100% up to $1,000
|
Play now players accepted |
|
Visit Borgata.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. NJ only. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable site credit, unless otherwise provided in the applicable Terms. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling Problem? 1-800-GAMBLER. |
3
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
91%
Playscore
based on
|
100% up to $1,000 + $25 On The House
|
Play now players accepted |
|
Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. MI, NJ, PA or WV only. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable site credit, unless otherwise provided in the applicable Terms. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling Problem? 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI), 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, PA & WV). |
1
|
94/100
Expert rating
by Sophie P.
81%
Playscore
based on
|
50,000 Gold Coins + 1 Sweeps Coin
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
2
|
94/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
91%
Playscore
based on
|
1.5 million WOW Coins + 35 free Sweepstakes Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
3
|
93/100
Expert rating
by Sophie P.
79%
Playscore
based on
|
50,000 Gold Coins + 1 Sweeps Coin
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
4
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Sophie P.
77%
Playscore
based on
|
50,000 Gold Coins + 1 Sweeps Coin
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
5
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
81%
Playscore
based on
|
10,000 Gold Coins + 2 Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
6
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
79%
Playscore
based on
|
25,000 Gold Coins + 2.5 Spree Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
7
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
87%
Playscore
based on
|
Up to 120,000 Gold Coins + 10 Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
8
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Vule P.
79%
Playscore
based on
|
500 Gold Coins + 3 FREE Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
9
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
89%
Playscore
based on
|
Up to 650,000 Gold Coins + 1,400 Fortune Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
10
|
88/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
96%
Playscore
based on
|
250,000 Gold Coins + $25 Stake Cash
|
Play now players accepted |
|
Expert verdict
On the whole, the Big Bad Wolf Megaways slot offers a scaled up game compared to the original. Quickspin hasn’t reinvented the wheel when it comes to the bonus features, just built on what was already a very successful game.
While some providers are just making Megaways versions of their most popular titles, whether it makes sense for the game or not, here it works really well. A lot of Big Bad Wolf’s original features, like the Tumbles and Piggy Wilds, help make a seamless transition to the Megaways format.
The updated graphics are a welcome sight, as the original was starting to feel a little outdated. Quickspin has revived the familiar characters and given them a new lease of life – all so we can watch the wolf keep trying to knock their houses down.
While some may feel like the original wasn’t substantial enough to warrant a second look, I think the Megaways version offers a great mix of charm and bonus features. Big Bad Wolf Megaways is an ideal introductory slot for players who are a little less familiar with the Megaways mechanics.
FAQs
What is the RTP of Big Bad Wolf Megaways?
The Big Bad Wolf Megaways’ RTP rate is 96.06%. Quickspin has released three different math models of the game, with the two others offering an RTP of 90% and 94%, so make sure to double check the version at each casino.
Does Big Bad Wolf Megaways have a progressive jackpot?
No, there is no progressive jackpot on the Big Bad Wolf Megaways slot.
What is the maximum win potential of Big Bad Wolf Megaways?
By landing six or more Big Bad Wolf symbols, you can win up to 50 times your stake, which is $1,000 for the maximum bet of $20.
How do I trigger the free spins Blowing Down the House Bonus Game?
To unlock the free spins round, you have to land three or more of the Moon Bonus Scatter symbols. Where permitted, you can choose to pay 90x your stake and be taken straight to the bonus round.
What’s the volatility of Big Bad Wolf Megaways?
This is a high volatility slot, although as it is in the Megaways format, the volatility feels more on the medium-high side.
