The Megaways engine has spread like wildfire since its introduction, and Great Rhino Megaways is Pragmatic Play’s first slot to use the license acquired from Big Time Gaming. It’s always exciting when a new developer decides to go the Megaways route, and not least when it’s a company as well-established and solid as Pragmatic Play. The big question is: do they play it safe with their debut or go all-in with some crazy innovations?
Don’t worry, we’ll get to all the juicy stuff soon enough, but let’s start with some basics first. First of all, Pragmatic has decided to inject the Megaways steroid brew into one of their old slots, Great Rhino. The graphics have been improved and the former 20 paylines have evolved into 200,704 potential ways to win monsters. You have 6 regular reels, 2-7 regular rows, and a horizontal top reel that adds an extra row to reels 2 through 5.
The large African plains in the background are put into “night mode” during the free spins rounds of the game, and this is really the only bonus feature being talked about here. There is an Ante Bet feature that you can turn on, and we recommend doing so as it doubles your chances of triggering the bonus round. You can place bets between 20 pence and £100 per spin on all platforms and devices, which is unusually high for a Megaways game. This allows for massive wins on a very volatile slot with a maximum win potential of 20,000x.
What are the symbols?
The cheetah is by far the alpha on this paytable, as all the other animals are not even close when it comes to payouts. In fact, the gorilla pays ten times less and is the second highest paying symbol here. You’ll also find some other animal symbols that pay out similar smaller amounts, as well as the regular royal symbols of low value. You need between 3 and 6 matching symbols to win, with the exception of the cheetah, which also pays 2 on a payline. Here is the paytable for Great Rhino Megaways slot:
- Cheetah – Pays 50x total bet for 6 on a payline.
- Gorilla – Pays 5x total bet for 6 on a payline
- Crocodile – Pays 2.5x total bet for 6 on one payline
- Hyena – Pays 2x total bet for 6 on a payline
- Flamingo – Pays 1.5x total bet for 6 on a payline
- Royal symbols – Pay between 1.5x and 1x for 6 on a payline
What are the bonus features?
After each win, you trigger the fall mechanic, which is common in Megaways Engine games (also called cascading reels or avalanche feature). It can help you land more winners per spin, as winning symbols are removed to make room for new symbols to fall from the top.
This process continues for as long as you win, and you also benefit from a wild symbol that represents a stampeding rhino with a golden horn. However, the wild symbol only lands on reels 2 to 5 in the top row and interferes with all regular symbols to form winning combinations.
There is an Ante Bet feature that you can activate. It is located on the left side of the reels. This increases your minimum bet a bit, but in return you effectively double your chances of organically triggering the game’s important free spins bonus round.
Free Spins in Great Rhino Megaways
Since there is no other type of bonus game here, the main bonus feature is undoubtedly the free spins round. You need to land at least 3 Great Rhino Gold Coins scatters on the same spin to trigger the free spins feature. You can then choose your fate when it comes to the number of spins you want and the starting point for the corresponding progressive multiplier. Everything works as follows:
- 15 spins with a progressive multiplier starting at 1x.
- 10 spins with a progressive multiplier that starts at 5x.
- 5 spins with a progressive multiplier that starts at 10x.
- Mystery Choice: Gives you a random number of spins in combination with one of the three multipliers above.
The progressive multiplier increases by 1x for each fall/win, and the good news is that it doesn’t reset on losing spins. Also, there are no caps or limits for this multiplier, which means that things can get very interesting here. You can also get extra free spins by landing more than 3 scatters during the feature. This will give you 5 new spins with no cap on the number of new spins you can get.
How to play the game
The first thing you need to decide is whether or not you want to activate the Ante Bet option. It will only cost you 25p more if you play at £1 per spin, and it’s worth thinking about as triggering the bonus round for big wins is pretty important here. In fact, we see no reason not to activate the ante bet when it’s such a bargain.
Next, you need to select your bet level, which is between 20p and £100 (or between 25p and 125p with the ante bet option enabled). This is a very solid bet level for a Megaways Engine game, as most of them have a maximum bet of £20 or less. We are glad to see that Pragmatic Play has decided to end this trend and give high rollers plenty of room to enjoy themselves as well.
With up to 200,704 ways to win, this beauty offers more ways to win than many similar games, which is always exciting (although it can feel a bit of a waste in the base game, where you usually win small anyway). In addition to the 6 regular reels, there is a top horizontal reel, and the tumbling reels feature provides most of the action in the base game.
If you prefer to speed things up a bit, there is a Quickspin feature that automatically activates as an option when you press the Spin button somewhat aggressively. You can also spin with the spacebar, which is especially useful for desktop players who want to avoid mouse arm. Of course, you can also use the autospin feature, which allows up to 100 autospins and numerous options to stop the automatic spinning.
The 200 Spins Great Rhino Megaways trial version
When we review a new game, we always take it for a 200 spin test run. This is just enough to give us a first impression, and here we present just that. These results are in no way statistically significant (as this requires millions of spins), but it’s still an interesting tidbit to digest before you try the game yourself.
We set our bet level at £1 per spin and ran about 100 spins with the ante bet turned off first. Then, after about 100 spins, we turned on the ante bet, which increased our total bet per spin to £1.25. We always play with the Quickspin option enabled whenever possible (for obvious reasons), and we really like all the options you get when you opt for the autospin feature.
The paytable seamlessly adjusts to your bet level, which is always a relief as it makes it much easier to see how much each symbol is worth per total bet. The graphics and visual effects are well done, but nothing out of the ordinary. The reels take up most of the screen space, while the African savannah is in the background.
As expected, we didn’t win too much on our regular spins in the base game. This is a highly volatile game, with bigger wins expected in the all-important bonus round. However, we kept our heads above water with somewhat regular wins between 2-5x our bet, and we only got lucky once in the first 100 spins with a triple fall that gave us a nice 50x win.
Our hopes were once again high when we decided to activate the Ante Bet feature, and we were really looking forward to triggering the bonus round. We may have spun a little more than 100 spins, but we actually managed to trigger the feature in the end. Our luck didn’t follow us into the bonus round, though, as we came out the other side with a disappointing total win of “only” 230 times our bet. But hey, hopefully you’ll have better luck with your first 200 spins than we did!
Rating Conclusion
Being Pragmatic Play’s Megaways debut, we had high hopes for Great Rhino Megaways slot. Instead of smashing it with something completely new and original, the established developer decided to play it safe. This is completely understandable since it’s their first foray into this popular concept, but it’s still a bit disappointing.
Having more than 200,000 paylines is nice, but they most likely won’t come into their own until the bonus round. The base game often offers smaller wins for a game with high volatility. However, we recommend turning on the ante bet from the very beginning. The unlimited progressive win multiplier is only limited by the maximum win cap of 20,000x your bet. This is an absolutely solid potential regardless of how you split it. The ability to play with up to £125 per spin is worth more than a little praise, as most Megaways slots are somewhat hamstrung by a very low maximum bet that isn’t suitable for all types of players.
Pros
Ante Bet feature doubles your chances of triggering the bonus round
Free spins with unlimited progressive win multiplier
High volatility and 20,000x maximum win potential
Solid maximum bet of £100 (or £125 with the ante bet)
Cons
Solid maximum bet of £100 (or £125 with the ante bet)
Great Rhino Megaways Slot FAQs
What is the return to player of Great Rhino Megaways?
The default RTP of the game is 96.58%, but you can get a lower payout due to the RTP ranges. Available RTP values are 96.58%, 95.59% and 94.69%.
What is the maximum possible win?
The maximum winning potential of Great Rhino Megaways is limited to 20,000 times your bet. While most Megaways engine games are limited to a maximum bet of £10 or £20, this game is different. If you play with the highest possible bet of £125, you can pocket up to £2.5 million during the bonus round here.
How volatile is Great Rhino Megaways?
This is certainly a highly volatile game, and it scores 5 out of 5 possible “flashes” on Pragmatic Play’s own volatility scale. You can expect the bigger wins to come during the bonus round, and smaller wins to keep you afloat during the base game. Always adjust your bet so that your bankroll can handle the fluctuations long enough to trigger the free spins feature.
Is there a free spins mode in this game?
Yes, the free spins feature is the main attraction in this game and the only real bonus feature you will find on Great Rhino Megaways slot. It comes with a progressive win multiplier, and this is where the big wins are most likely to be.
Is there a gamble feature?
Not exactly, at least in the traditional sense. You can’t bet your winnings twice or not at all. Instead, there is an Ante Bet feature that you can activate or deactivate at will. It costs a bit more per spin to turn it on, but it also doubles your chances of triggering the all-important free spins bonus round.
Can I play Great Rhino Megaways for free?
You certainly can. Scroll to the top of the review and you’ll find a free demo version right here on this site. This means that you can test the game with play money to see if you like it. Then, if you decide to go for it, we also have plenty of casino suggestions up there that offer that particular slot with a nice welcome bonus.
