Just to be clear, we’re not about to give you 243 ways to win when you play online slot games. That wouldn’t make any sense! No, when we say ‘243 ways to win slots’, we’re talking about slot games that have 243 ways to win, or paylines.
But why 243 ways? This number may seem completely insignificant at face value, but it actually represents something pretty cool. 243 ways to win slots are hot right now, so if you don’t know about them, get to know by checking out our guide to them.
What are ways to win or paylines?
Every single winning position in an online slot game represents one payline, or a way to win. This means that the more reels, rows and symbols there are, the more ways to win that slot game will have.
There is also the factor of how the games pay out. With classic left-to-right pay slots that start on the first reel, there are likely to be fewer ways to win than slots that pay out in reverse order as well, or even more so slots that pay out in clusters. This effectively means that wins can be made in any direction.
With some slot engines such as Megaways, there will be a huge amount of ways to win. That number with most Megaways slot is an epic 117,649! The reason for this is that the reels and rows are constantly expanding, and combination wins can be landed as all winning symbols disappear and allow for new ones to fall into their places.
With the 243 ways to win model, this is not quite as extreme. 243 ways to win represents a decent middle ground, so let’s find out a little more about it.
Why 243 ways to win?
More paylines does not mean a greater chance of winning, let’s set that clear first of all. In fact, slots with more paylines tend to be more volatile, which means that they will actually pay out less often, although they have a greater potential to pay out more.
243 ways to win slots are laid out over 5 reels with 3 rows. The trick here is that the symbols do not need to land next to each other, you simply need to have matching symbols on 3 or more reels, beginning from the first one. This makes it easier to win, although it does come at the cost of lower symbol values.
Our findings are that 243 way to win slots have a great middle ground between payout potential and chances of winning.
The best slots with 243 ways to win
The 243 ways to win model was pioneered by one of the biggest names in the online casino game development game, Microgaming. Having been around since all the way back in 1994, these guys have created quite a few groundbreaking inventions, and this is just one of them.
That doesn’t mean they are the only developers to use it, though. Let’s take a look at some of the best slot games you can play that have 243 ways to win.
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Avalon II
• Thunderstruck II