Solar Queen Megaways: Slot Overview

Software provider Playson has taken a previous release and reworked it into Solar Queen Megaways, giving it extra muscle by using Big Time Gaming’s well-known game engine. Visually, it leans strongly on Legend of Cleopatra Megaways, while its mechanics and bonus ideas are lifted from the title it’s based on, Solar Queen. The original proved to be one of the studio’s more successful games, so the question is whether this heavier Megaways makeover can help it stand out in a packed field of Megaways slots.

As noted, the presentation is extremely similar to Legend of Cleopatra Megaways. Players get the familiar mix of palm trees and pyramids, and much of the rest—right down to the reel area—shares the same overall standard and feel. It’s a recognisably Playson style, although it would have felt fresher if it weren’t another Ancient Egypt-themed slot. Even so, Solar Queen Megaways looks solid, with a rich blue backdrop that nicely sets off the colourful symbols on the reels.

Unlike Legend of Cleopatra Megaways, Playson hasn’t pushed Big Time Gaming’s engine to extremes, opting for a more restrained setup. In practice, that means 2 to 6 symbols can appear on each of the 5 reels, creating up to a comparatively modest 7,776 ways to win. Wins are formed when matching symbols land on adjacent reels starting from the left of the grid, and they can connect on any row. Solar Queen Megaways is a highly volatile slot with a default theoretical return of 95.84%. To begin this Nile-side journey, choose a wager between 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin, and play it across devices.

The reduced Megaways potential is paired with lower-than-average symbol payouts. The paytable starts with four animal icons, followed by Anubis, Horus, and the Solar Queen as the three higher-value symbols. Landing five of a kind with this top trio pays 1.5 to 2 times your stake. Wild symbols pay the same as the Solar Queen when forming their own winning ways, and they substitute for every symbol apart from the scatter.

Solar Queen Megaways: Slot Features

The first Solar Queen was the debut game in Playson’s Flaming Frames series, and while it’s unclear how large that collection has grown, Solar Queen Megaways now sits within it too. Alongside the Flaming Frames mechanic, the game includes multipliers, free spins, and—where offered—a bonus buy option.

Flaming Frames

Sun Symbols can land on any reel, and when they do, a Flaming Frame is placed on the exact position where they appear. Flaming Frames remain active for 10 spins per cycle. Once the cycle ends, every Flaming Frame currently visible is transformed into wild symbols. Adjusting your bet begins a fresh cycle, though any earlier progress is retained if you switch back to the previous stake.

Winnings Multiplier

In both the base game and the bonus, Sun Symbols can increase winning combinations through a progressive win multiplier. The rule is simple: whenever a Sun Symbol lands in a position that already has a Flaming Frame, the multiplier increases by +1. After the 10th spin of a main-game cycle, the multiplier resets back to x1. If free spins are triggered, the current multiplier carries over and becomes the starting multiplier for the bonus. As with Flaming Frames, multipliers are stored per bet level when changing stakes.

Free Spins

Scarab symbols act as the scatter, and hitting 3 of them anywhere on the reels awards 10 free spins. During free spins, any Sun Symbols that land convert into sticky wild symbols. If a Sun Symbol drops into a spot already taken by a sticky wild, the win multiplier increases by +1. While free spins are running, each reel’s height is guaranteed to be at the minimum size equal to the number of sticky wilds on that reel, ensuring they remain in play.

Buy Free Spins

Where the feature is available, you can purchase the bonus by paying 100x the bet, which immediately starts 10 free spins with a starting win multiplier of x1.

Solar Queen Megaways: Slot Verdict

Solar Queen Megaways bundles together plenty of familiar Playson hallmarks that show up repeatedly across the developer’s catalogue—most notably the solar theme, Ancient Egypt setting, Flaming Frames, and related ideas. As a result, long-time Playson fans should feel instantly comfortable with Solar Queen Megaways, and may enjoy seeing so many recognisable components combined in one slot. Thanks to the studio’s experience with these concepts, the overall build quality is respectable.

That said, the repeated use of the same ingredients can make it seem like Playson didn’t aim particularly high with Solar Queen Megaways. Even without the studio’s history of revisiting similar themes, this isn’t an especially daring release. Spin-cycle formats are common and often culminate in wilds being added to the grid on the final spin, so there’s little novelty on that front, although the progressive win multiplier is a nice touch. Around the same period, we reviewed Kalamba Games’ Caribbean Anne 2, which also used a framed-position approach but implemented it with a more distinctive and intricate structure. Solar Queen Megaways is more straightforward in comparison, though that simplicity won’t necessarily be a negative for players who enjoy spin-cycle mechanics.

Ultimately, it feels like Playson delivered exactly what they intended with Solar Queen Megaways, and anyone already accustomed to the studio’s approach should be satisfied. On the flip side, the modest ambition means Solar Queen Megaways comes across as a somewhat reserved title, content to operate comfortably within familiar boundaries.