The Ruby Megaways Is a Modern Take on Retro Pokies
The Ruby Megaways pokie by iSoftBet is exactly what you need if you want a retro-feel machine with modern features. iSoftBet launched the original in 2018 and came up with a modernised sequel in April 2021. Play it at North Casino with a cool $5,000 welcome bonus.
The Ruby Megaways Fundamentals
iSoftBet went for a retro pokie and came up trumps with The Ruby Megaways. The base game looks like a poker machine of yesteryear but with clear, vibrant graphics giving the game a modern twist.
The Megaways engine is the first thing you notice when firing up this machine. Those familiar with Megaways know it gives you up to 117,649 ways to win. The actual number changes randomly with each spin, across six columns.
Bets from $0.20 to $20 are accepted, which is typical of a Megaways machine. The RTP is 96.11%, meaning a house edge of 3.89%, but this increases to 96.86% RTP when purchasing the Ruby Bet feature.
The developers used a medium-to-high variance model, with a maximum payout of 35,000x per spin. This equates to $7,000 at the lowest stakes and $700,000 at the highest.
The Ruby Megaways Symbols
The Ruby Megaways symbols fit its retro-feel perfectly. When was the last time you saw a machine without royals for a start? Traditional BAR symbols have the lowest value, cherries, sevens, and bells the next highest. The titular ruby is the highest-value symbol, paying 50x for matching six on a payline.
Three other symbols deserve your attention. The easily-identifiable Wild substitutes for non-bonus symbols. They only appear on the horizontal top tracker. In addition, there are Bonus symbols acting as scatters. Land four for 12 free spins. Additional Bonus award five more free spins to a maximum of 27.
Last, the mystery question mark symbols change to a random symbol.
| Symbol | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | 5.00x | 10.00x | 25.00x | 50.00x |
| Dollar sign | 1.00x | 2.00x | 2.50x | 7.50x |
| Money bag | 0.25x | 1.00x | 1.50x | 2.00x |
| Bell | 0.25x | 0.50x | 0.75x | 2.00x |
| Sevens | 0.20x | 0.40x | 0.60x | 1.75x |
| Cherries | 0.20x | 0.25x | 0.60x | 1.00x |
| Black BAR | 0.15x | 0.25x | 0.50x | 1.00x |
| Blue BAR | 0.15x | 0.25x | 0.50x | 0.90x |
| Yellow BAR | 0.10x | 0.20x | 0.40x | 0.80x |
What Are The Game’s Features and Bonuses?
The Ruby Megaways game is not rich with features, but big wins are possible. The megaways engine is combined with cascading wins, leading to some hefty prizes.
Everything revolves around the free spins round, like similar machines. Four scatters give you 12 free spins. Land additional scatters for five more spins, up to a maximum of 27.
The free spins round take place on the standard base game board but with a multiplier in play. This multiplier increases by 1x with every cascade, and there is no cap to how high it goes. We hit 14x during our testing phase. It is possible to retrigger the free spins at any point, leading to some gigantic scores.
Those of you unwilling to trigger the bonus round naturally can purchase it for 75x your bet. The bonus buy feature is not available in all jurisdictions, and is risky even if it was.
Conclusion
There is nothing much to dislike about The Ruby Megaways. We could find faults but it would be nit-picking and hyper-critical. iSoftBet did an incredible job of creating a retro pokie with all the mod cons. Its RTP could be a little higher, but it has medium-to-high-variance and a 35,000x top payout, so what do you expect?
Fans of the Megaways engine will, undoubtedly, love The Ruby Megaways. It is your run of the mill megaways game when you take away the retro feel. You should give the game a go even if you are not a fan of the engine. It works perfectly, and is a welcome change of pace from today’s ulta-modern machines in online casinos.
