Mystery Reels Megaways (Red Tiger Gaming): Review

In October last year, Red Tiger Gaming became the latest studio to jump on the Megaways wave by securing a license, paving the way for the provider to broaden its slot lineup with a full series of Megaways releases in the coming years. Red Tiger has made remarkable strides lately and has even grown into one of the top providers, but adding Megaways into the mix could push them even further and reinforce their standing—much like what happened with Blueprint Gaming, Relax Gaming and SG Interactive.

After waiting close to 6 months, the first release has finally landed and, as many of you have probably already guessed, it’s a new spin on Mystery Reels, a slot that originally launched in 2018. To be honest, we were hoping for a completely fresh game, so there was a hint of disappointment when we first fired it up. That feeling didn’t last long, though, as we were quickly reminded how dramatically a slot can change once Megaways mechanics are added. Seriously—credit where it’s due, Big Time Gaming.

Mystery Reels Megaways serves up a classic Fruit slot theme. Developed by Red Tiger Gaming, it runs on a 6-reel Megaways engine with cascading reels, offering up to 117,649 ways to win. It includes a randomly triggered Mystery Symbol feature where duplicated symbols populate the reels. On top of that, there’s a free spins bonus which, in true Big Time Gaming style, lets you gamble for extra free spins…or walk away with fewer than you started with. With a default RTP of 96.18%, it can be played from 0.20 to 10 Eur per spin.

In terms of presentation, it stays quite close to the original, just scaled up to accommodate the additional reel and the expanded number of win ways. With minimal animation and a hazy, understated background, the spotlight stays firmly on the gameplay—essentially a modernized take on the traditional fruit slot formula. The reels are packed with fruit symbols: cherries, lemons, oranges, plums, grapes and watermelons. Higher up the paytable you’ll find horseshoes, bells, stars and lucky sevens, with the latter being the top symbol, paying 50 times your stake for 6 across a full payline.

Mystery Reels Megaways (Red Tiger Gaming): Features

On any base game spin, the Mystery Symbol feature can trigger. When it does, each mystery symbol copies itself a random number of times across the reels before transforming into one single symbol.

While the base game can produce some solid wins, the main action revolves around the free spins feature which awards you 8 spins when you land at least 3 scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. Before the bonus starts, you’re taken to a pie wheel gamble where you can either keep your 8 spins or risk them to try to win more. You can land up to 40 free spins with fairly low risk (compared to other slots), since even if the gamble goes against you, you’re still guaranteed at least 4 spins. The feature can also retrigger for 5 extra spins if you hit 3 more scatters during the bonus.

The bonus plays in the same vein as Bonanza and similar titles—each cascade win increases the multiplier by 1. The multiplier does not reset throughout the feature and there’s no cap on how high it can climb. In addition, the Mystery Symbol feature is active here too, triggering at random to help you form winning combinations.

Mystery Reels Megaways (Red Tiger Gaming): Verdict

The Megaways system clearly makes Mystery Reels Megaways more engaging than the original, and boosting the win potential from 5000x to 10,000 times your stake is, naturally, a very welcome upgrade. All in all, it doesn’t stray too far from other Megaways games on the market, and mystery symbols aren’t exactly new territory either, but it’s still a respectable first step.

Sure, we would have liked something a touch more inventive, but at least we get a version of Mystery Reels that feels more up to date—and one that’s genuinely worth your time. More than anything, it’s exciting to see the studio finally begin its Megaways run, and we’re eager to see what comes next. Red Tiger is a developer with huge momentum right now, putting out online slots that are larger, stronger and more polished than ever.