Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways: Slot Overview

Hardly had the dust settled on the original Ali Baba’s Luck slot from Max Win Gaming when the Megaways edition arrived. With partner Red Tiger holding a Big Time Gaming license, the 1,001 Arabian Nights-themed title was swiftly given a makeover. What you get is a meeting of East and West, a kind of slots Silk Road where the classic Book of Ra-style expanding symbols concept crosses paths with the newer Megaways system.

Visually, the two Ali Baba’s Luck versions are very close, which makes sense given only a few months separate them. Even though tech moves fast, not enough time has passed for any dramatic leap forward. There are minor tweaks, though. The scene is essentially the same, but the camera feels pulled back to show more of the pink, purple, pastel-toned chamber. It also looks like the edges have been dressed up with extra flowers. An equally exotic Arabian-style soundtrack drifts along in the background, with small audio accents kicking in when things get lively.

The clearest difference is the 6-reel Megaways grid sitting in the centre of the room. Oddly, it appears smaller, even though it generates more symbols and more win ways than before. Each reel can display 2-5 symbols, changing from spin to spin, and it can create up to 15,625 ways to win at maximum. Max Win Gaming has skipped cascades/reactions, choosing instead to lean on an expanding-symbol mechanic that comes into play after wins. More on that below.

With stakes set from 20 p/c up to just $/€4 per spin, in line with a growing batch of low-stakes releases from Red Tiger and its partners, the upside is huge, topping out at 20,000 times your stake here. The default RTP is also respectable at 96.09%, while volatility is right at the top end. The hit rate is scored 5 out of 5, so payouts come regularly, but the free spins frequency of 1/5 is the polar opposite and can be tough going. Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways rewards persistence, because the way the RTP is distributed can lead to very long gaps between bonus rounds.

Wins require two matching high pays or three low pays to land next to each other starting from reel one. As noted, this doesn’t set off cascades, but it does trigger a different feature. Low pays are standard 9-A royals, and there are four high pays. These are a ring, a vase, Morgiana (labelled in-game as ‘the girl’), and Ali Baba as the top symbol. Six-of-a-kind premium hits pay from 3x to 25x the stake. Genie fans may be disappointed he didn’t make the cut, and the same goes for anyone who prefers having a wild on the reels. Both are absent to make room for the features Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways does include.

Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways: Slot Features

Expanding Symbols can appear in every mode, whether you’re in the base game or the bonus. Above the reels sits a strip showing all pay symbols. When a win lands, the matching symbol on this strip lights up, and that symbol becomes a special golden expanding symbol on the next spin.

When golden symbols land, if they can complete a win they expand to cover all positions on the reel. As in other Ra-inspired titles, expanded reels pay anywhere and don’t need to be adjacent. Multiple golden symbols can land, and if they do, they expand one by one for win checks. In the base game, golden symbols switch back to normal on the next spin.

Watch for treasure chest scatter symbols, which can appear on any reel – landing 3 on screen triggers the Lucky Round. In the Lucky Round, a wheel spins to award 4 to 16 free Dream Spins. If more than one treasure chest activated the feature, each additional symbol adds +4 Dream Spins. During Dream Spins, once a symbol is turned into a golden symbol, it remains golden until the bonus ends. In theory, every symbol could become an expanding one, although it would take extraordinary luck to see that outcome.

Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways: Slot Verdict

Book of Ra-style slots remain a major force, and players keep coming back for more, whether they asked for it or not. It was inevitable they’d eventually meet Megaways, another heavyweight that’s been tearing through the slots world. And this isn’t even the first attempt—Legacy of Ra Megaways from Blueprint Gaming got there earlier. Still, Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways brings something different thanks to the regular appearance of expanding symbols in the base game after wins.

More isn’t automatically better, and to support expanding symbols showing up so often, other parts of the design have been toned down to keep things balanced. For example, individual symbol payouts are far smaller than in typical ‘Book of’ slots, which changes the feel of the bonus rounds. Big one-spin hits can still happen, but the tension isn’t quite the same as chasing those instant 5,000x moments in classic Book games. That said, it doesn’t hurt the overall ceiling, which is calculated at 20,336x the bet.

Even so, Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways can come across as a bit superfluous. The original didn’t appear to gain massive traction, despite offering Ra fans a fresh angle. On the other hand, the Megaways badge usually boosts attention, and Ali Baba’s Luck Megaways delivers far more chances for action and sizeable wins than the first version—so it’ll be interesting to see whether that turns into a winning formula.