Play Ancient Island Megaways

Pragmatic Play heads somewhere far from the mainland for Ancient Island Megaways, where a changing six reel setup can produce up to 117,649 ways to form potential wins. We get tumbling symbols, expanding Wilds and a separate modifier reel sitting above the main grid. Those modifiers can add cash prizes, multipliers or even another full Wild reel. Free spins make the setup busier still by filling every top position with a modifier. The island may look peaceful, but the reels have other plans. 

The beach is almost suspiciously calm considering how much is happening on the reels. We see pale blue water behind an overgrown stone structure, while vines have worked their way around the frame as though nobody has trimmed them for several centuries. The symbols borrow from ancient American and island inspired designs, with carved masks and colourful animal motifs standing above the card ranks. 

Our favourite visual detail is how the expanding Wild changes the shape of a reel rather than simply sitting inside one position. The top modifier strip also stays clearly separated from the main grid, so we can tell when another feature is waiting overhead. Ancient Island Megaways uses a warm, colourful style without drowning the screen in decoration, which suits the relaxed coastal setting rather well. 

The lower values come from the card ranks, while the carved symbols move us gradually towards the red mask at the top of the regular paytable. Compared with many online slot games, the symbol values are easy to follow even though the reel heights keep changing. 

• The Wild appears on reels two, three, four and five. Whenever a Wild lands, we see the symbol expand vertically until the entire reel is covered, while regular paying symbols can use the Wild as a substitute. 
• The green Scatter can appear on every reel. Four, five or six Scatters activate free spins and provide 12, 14 or 16 spins respectively. 

Tumble Feature 

After a potential winning combination forms, the matching symbols disappear and the remaining symbols fall into the spaces below. Fresh symbols then arrive from above using the same reel sizes from the original spin. We keep tumbling until no further qualifying combination appears. 

Expanding Wilds 

A Wild doesn't stay confined to one position. Once one appears on reels two through five, the symbol expands to cover every available space on that reel. If a modifier is sitting directly above the expanded Wild, we also receive the corresponding modifier. 

Cash Prize Modifier 

The Cash Prize modifier awards a random potential value of 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 8x, 10x, 20x, 50x or 100x the total stake. The prize comes from the modifier itself rather than changing the regular symbol combination. 

Multiplier Modifier 

This modifier applies a random multiplier of x2, x3, x4, x5, x8, x10, x15, x20, x25 or x50 to qualifying potential wins from that spin. When several Wilds contribute to the same potential combination, their multiplier values are added together. 

Max Ways Modifier 

Max Ways increases every reel to its largest possible height by adding positions and symbols at the bottom. We therefore reach the full 117,649 ways configuration for that spin. 

Replace Non Winning Symbols 

Before potential wins are evaluated, symbols that aren't forming a winning combination and aren't sitting on a Wild reel can be replaced by fresh random symbols. We effectively get another chance for the grid to arrange itself into something useful before evaluation. 

Extra Wild Reel 

The Extra Wild Reel modifier places another fully expanded Wild on reel two, three, four or five. If another modifier sits above the newly added Wild, that modifier also activates. 

Free Spins 

Four Scatters give us 12 free spins, five raise the round to 14 and six provide 16. Every position across the top horizontal reel is guaranteed to contain a random modifier during the bonus, so expanded Wilds have far more chances to connect with one. 

This is where the feature set becomes noticeably denser than many titles found across online casinos. We can also land an Extra Spins modifier during the round, adding 2, 3, 5 or 10 more spins when triggered.

Ancient Island Megaways uses six reels, with each reel displaying between two and seven symbols on a spin. That changing layout creates anything up to 117,649 ways to form potential combinations. 

Matching symbols need to appear on adjacent reels from left to right, beginning with reel one. We don't follow fixed paylines, so the number of active ways depends entirely on the reel heights produced for that spin. 

Tumbles keep a successful sequence moving without changing those original reel sizes. Expanding Wilds then add another layer because one symbol can occupy an entire reel, while the top strip determines whether that expansion also activates a modifier. 

We'd compare Ancient Island Megaways with other recent reviews where Megaways grids and feature modifiers change what happens after the initial spin. 

• Bandit Megaways: We get another six reel Megaways game with tumbles, although dynamite multipliers replace the full reel Wild and modifier setup. 
• Chilli Heat Megaways: We stay with Pragmatic Play and changing reel heights, while a Money symbol respin feature becomes the main attraction. 
• The Dog House Megaways 1000: We keep the 117,649 ways structure and strong Wild focus, though multiplier Wilds during free spins behave very differently from the expanding Wilds here. 

We think Ancient Island Megaways has one particularly good idea and knows how to build around it. A full reel Wild already matters on a changing Megaways grid, but placing a modifier directly above that Wild gives every expansion a second job. 

The modifier selection also has enough variety to stop the feature feeling repetitive. Max Ways changes the grid, Replace Non Winning Symbols interferes with the reel contents, while multipliers and cash prizes take the more direct route. Free spins make the system more consistent because every top position contains something to trigger. 

Our only hesitation is the theme. The island looks attractive, but the cultural imagery feels fairly broad rather than especially distinctive. Mechanically, though, we get more personality than the scenery first suggests. The vines may be ancient. The feature setup certainly isn't asleep.