Flower Fortunes Megaways: Review

Fantasma Games is a small studio based in Stockholm and, according to details on its official website, it currently employs 10 people and has released 8 titles. It’s fair to say the developer had largely flown under our radar and, without the Megaways license, it probably would have stayed that way. When we heard about Flower Fortunes Megaways, we contacted Fantasma directly to request a test, and although access was initially promised, what followed was a couple of days of back-and-forth emails trying to log into the client area (since none of the credentials worked) until Fantasma abruptly stopped replying altogether. Maybe they decided some of our reviews were a little too honest. Either way, ignoring us won’t keep them out of the spotlight.

It’s always interesting to see how different studios put their own spin on the Megaways engine. Up to now, Blueprint has clearly led the way, though Red Tiger, NextGen and Relax Gaming have all shown strong potential and are likely to challenge for the top spot. Today, however, we’re focusing on Fantasma Games’ first Megaways release, Flower Fortunes Megaways, a 6-reel slot that can expand to deliver up to 531,441 ways to win. It’s available on all devices with stakes ranging from 50 cents to 10 Euros per spin.

In terms of style, Flower Fortunes Megaways feels like a blend of Super Mario and NetEnt’s Finn and the Swirly Spin. You’re taken to a colourful world in full bloom, populated by all sorts of plant life, with the developer inviting you to “wake the dreaming flower and enjoy its fortune“. From the outset, it’s obvious Fantasma is aiming for something that leans beyond pure gambling and into a more video game-like experience. That said, while it’s been optimised for one-handed mobile play, the narrow reel layout can look a little strange on desktop, where much of the screen ends up being mostly background.

The artwork is genuinely impressive and could easily be mistaken for a high-definition Nintendo Switch title. The setting is a lush green valley backed by a dreamy soundtrack, and the reels feature 5 lower-paying stone block symbols alongside higher-value turquoise, green, purple and red gems. The red gem is the top regular symbol, paying 10 times your stake for 6 of a kind. The wild symbol is a star and substitutes for all standard symbols. There’s also a selection of special symbols, which we’ll explain further down.

Because it runs on the Megaways engine, every spin is independent and will randomly generate anywhere from 64 to 531,441 ways to win. Flower Fortunes Megaways also includes a broad selection of modifier extras, which you unlock by collecting orbs.

Flower Fortunes Megaways: Features

Flower Fortunes Megaways centres on progressing through the 5 different Game Levels, shown by the stalk positioned to the left of the reels. Each level not only introduces its own set of features, but also comes with different volatility (from low to very high) and higher win potential thanks to increased betways. You advance by collecting orb, with each orb moving the meter up by 1 step. If a leaf lands, however, the meter drops by 1.

As noted, moving up levels also boosts the betways — every new level adds 1 extra row, up to a maximum of 9 rows. If you reach the highest level, you’ll be playing on a 6×9 reel set with up to 531,411 Megaways available, and all features remain active as you continue. This means that on level 5 you can trigger all of the 4 modifier extras listed below on the same spin:

• Level 1 – the starting level has no added features and uses a 6×5 reel set, providing up to 15,625 ways to win.
• Level 2 – after collecting 4 orbs, level 2 is activated. Played on a 6×6 reel set with up to 46,656 ways to win, you gain access to Expanding Multiplier Wilds. Any wild that lands will expand into a fully stacked wild and receive a random multiplier up to x9. These multipliers multiply with each other, so linking several can create major potential.
• Level 3 – with 8 orbs you’ll reach level 3, where the game runs on a 6×7 reel set with up to 117,649 ways to win. This is also where the Respin feature is introduced — when the Respin symbol appears, a random number of non-winning standard symbols are swapped out for new ones, which may include the bonus scatter, wilds, or even symbol replacers.
• Level 4 – collecting 12 orbs moves you to level 4, offering play on a 6×8 reel set and up to 246,144 ways to win. The focus here is on landing 3 or more bonus scatters to activate the Mystery Flower Bonus feature. Keep reading for more details below.
• Level 5 – at 16 orbs you’ll reach the top level, played on a 6×9 reel set with a maximum of 531,441 ways to win. At this point the mechanic switches to Avalanche mode in Bonanza style — whenever you hit a win, the winning symbols disappear and new symbols drop in to replace them. This continues for as long as you keep landing wins. In addition, each consecutive cascade increases the win multiplier by x1.

When playing on level 4 or 5, watch for the bonus scatter, as 3 or more appearing anywhere on the reels will trigger the Mystery Flower Bonus feature. Once activated, you’ll choose 1 of 3 mystery flowers to reveal a cash prize of up to 1000 times your stake. After seeing the result, you can either take the prize or try again in pursuit of a higher payout.

Flower Fortunes Megaways: Verdict

As a Megaways slot, Fantasma clearly applies the famous engine in inventive ways we haven’t really encountered before, bringing both freshness and new ideas. It also delivers a consistent flow of engaging features and surprise mechanics as you move up and down through the levels. Because of that, you rarely notice the absence of a traditional free spins feature. The potential is also excellent — if you manage to land a combination of expanding multiplier wilds on level 5, you can hit an astonishing 18 840 times your stake (max observed win in test runs of 1 billion spins).

With its modern presentation, Flower Fortunes Megaways may not be the best fit for players who prefer more classic slot machines. For them, it may feel overly complex, packed with features, and perhaps even a little childish. The layout is also somewhat unusual. It looks fantastic on mobile, but on desktop it appears too narrow and doesn’t take full advantage of the screen. Even if it’s not a deal-breaker, better optimisation for desktop would have improved the overall experience.

All things considered, Flower Fortunes Megaways is easily the most compelling game Fantasma Games has produced so far, and even if that’s partly due to the studio’s relatively small catalogue, it’s still a strong reminder that Megaways can elevate providers of any size.

If you enjoyed playing Flower Fortunes, make sure to check out Fantasma’s second Megaways title Medallion Megaways.