Kingmaker Megaways (Big Time Gaming): Overview

One of the most thrilling aspects of Big Time Gaming is that every new slot feels unpredictable. You might be loading up a title that introduces a brand-new mechanic that later influences the wider iGaming space, or a feature that ends up setting the next big trend. Megaways, Triple Reaction, Reel Adventure – the catalogue of fresh concepts is long. Whatever you think of Big Time Gaming, it’s hard to say the Australian studio ever coasts; they consistently push to evolve, test themselves, and make gameplay feel more lively and engaging.

That idea holds true with their latest release Kingmaker, which can be seen as a follow-up of sorts to Holy Diver. While the core gameplay is different, they do share a few notable traits. Both titles transport you to a classic fantasy-medieval era of monarchs, dragons in the skies, and knights fighting for honour. For better or worse, both are also built around a sense of progression – steadily raising the stakes and tension as you work your way toward a peak moment.

As with many Big Time Gaming releases, Kingmaker runs on the well-known Megaways engine, meaning the number of paylines changes randomly from spin to spin. Since the game uses 5 reels rather than the more typical 6-reel Megaways layout, the top end is 16,807 ways to win instead of 117,649. That trade-off isn’t too painful, though, because the free spins round plays on a fully expanded reel set. With medium to high variance, you can play Kingmaker on all devices from 20 cents to 20€ per spin.

Visually, the background resembles a postcard-like scene straight out of The Sound of Music : a medieval kingdom set beneath snowy mountain peaks, alongside a peaceful lake and lush green countryside. A grand but restrained soundtrack accompanies the action. On the reels you’ll find the standard low-value A to 9 card symbols. The higher-value gemstones (there are 4) feature distinct emblems that match the banners positioned to the left of the reels: double-headed snakes (green banner), griffins (blue banner), minotaurs (red) and dragons (purple). The dragon house is the best-paying symbol, awarding 10 times your stake for 5 on a full payline. The multi-coloured symbol (representing all houses) acts as the wild and can land on every reel except the first.

Kingmaker Megaways (Big Time Gaming): Features

In Kingmaker, what happens in the base game plays a major role in how the free spins can turn out. Through the Gem Multiplier feature, each banner to the left of the reels begins at 1x and increases by 1+ whenever you hit a 5 of a kind gemstone win. So, if you land 5 green gemstones across all 5 reels, the green banner moves from 1x up to 2x. In simple terms, that’s essentially the whole base-game mechanic.

Everything pays off in the Free Spins round, triggered when 3, 4 or 5 king’s crown scatter symbols appear at the same time – awarding 7, 12 or 20 free spins respectively. Once activated, the setting shifts to a treasure chamber, and the combined total of all gem multipliers you built in the base game becomes your starting win multiplier. Each spin also uses a fully expanded reel set, and just like before, every 5 of a kind gemstone win increases the multiplier by 1. On top of that, landing 3, 4 or 5 scatters adds another 7, 12 or 20 free spins to your remaining total. With high volatility, the free spins round can deliver wins well beyond 10,000 times your stake.

Kingmaker Megaways (Big Time Gaming): Final Verdict

Unlike many slots, Kingmaker is one where you actually don’t want the bonus to arrive too early, and where back-to-back bonuses can feel more annoying than exciting. On the other hand, if you manage to build the multiplier to extreme levels and then get unleashed on that 16,807-ways arena, the experience can become seriously intense.

There’s also the very real chance you’ll burn through your bankroll before the bonus finally lands, which can be especially frustrating if you’ve invested heavily in collecting multipliers and chasing the feature. You need to know what you’re getting into and be comfortable with that downside. Kingmaker is smartly put together, but it will likely split players between those who enjoy the slow build and those who prefer something more immediate.

Kingmaker is clearly a strong slot, even if it doesn’t feel as progressive as some other Big Time Gaming titles. Essentially, it’s a fairly straightforward Megaways game, but it can also be maddening because the bonus doesn’t trigger often, and you’re always at risk of going broke before reaching the feature you’re encouraged to keep chasing. And when you finally do get there, it had better deliver (which it often won’t, since the game can produce plenty of dead spins despite all the win ways) or that long climb will feel even harsher in hindsight.

If you’d like to try a non-Megaways slot from Big Time Gaming we suggest you have a look at Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Mystery Box which is a 5-reel, 243 ways to win offering with a max win potential of 12,000 times your stake.

Don’t Miss

There is also a “Fully Loaded” version of this slot titled Kingmaker Fully Loaded. At its core it’s the same game, but utilises random multipliers on every spin.