ℹ️ Megaways vs Cluster Pays vs Ways-to-Win
Megaways™ is a variable reel system patented by Big Time Gaming (BTG) which means the number of symbols on each reel changes on every spin and can generate up to 117,649 or 200,704 winning combinations. Some of the Pragmatic Play games have used the Megaways engine, although most of their slots fall into two other categories – cluster pays slots like Sweet Bonanza which use a variable-pay system different from Megaways, and slots with fixed ways to win and an expanding reel feature. All three types are explained on this page.
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Pragmatic Play Cluster Pays Slots Explained — How They Work & Why They're Different
Cluster pays is the mechanic that underpins both Sweet Bonanza and the upcoming Jelly Express. In a cluster pays slot, you do not line up matching symbols from left to right along paylines in the same way that you do with reels of old, but rather pay out groups of 8 or more identical symbols that are found touching each other on the grid in some way. A single spin can pay out numerous clusters of different winning symbols, with all the winning combinations being paid out and then the winning symbols dropping down the falls so that new paying combinations can be created from them in a single spin of the reels.
That's quite different from a 5-reel 20 payline slot where only certain left to right combinations count. In a 6×5 Cluster Pays format such as Sweet Bonanza, there are no paylines, the whole 6×5 grid is a single playing field, and any cluster of 8 or more matching symbols payout instantly.
How Cluster Pays Wins Are Calculated
The win values for the Sweet Bonanza PP cluster pays slot game are based on the number of icons that make up the cluster. This means that the icon type and the payline multiplier that it appears on do not have any bearing on the value of the prize. The base win for a cluster of 8 grape icons is relatively modest, but the prize that is awarded for a cluster of 12 is much greater. The potential to win an enormous single prize for a cluster of 25 or more icons that make up the entire 30-icon grid is a further bonus that is available in this feature.
The tumble mechanic removes the winning symbols and new symbols drop in from the top, possibly creating new wins with the same spin at no extra cost. The cascades are where the really large wins in cluster pays slots tend to occur. In the case of a bonus spin in Sweet Bonanza a single spin can result in a cascade chain of 4 or 5 drops, with multiplier bombs detonating in each drop, leading to exponential increases in win amount.
Cluster Pays vs Megaways™ — Which Offers More Ways to Win?
Megaways™ (licensed from Big Time Gaming) The Megaways™ feature is based on variable reel heights, where each reel will randomly display two to seven symbols on each spin, potentially creating up to 117,649 payways on a six-reel grid. On max height spins, you can win on all reels at the same time while on min height spins you'll be playing with only a few thousand payways.
Cluster pays really isn't in the ways to win category. We're still talking about a win zone, but really here it's more about a single area where clusters of identical symbols can be found in order to earn prizes. To give you an idea of the size of the 6×5 grid of symbols that are found on the main Sweet Bonanza game board, there are 30 individual locations. And, in order for you to earn an award based upon cluster pays rules, you must manage to find 8 or more identical symbols in a cluster, just about anywhere on the screen. Cluster pays rules take for a whole different approach to game design than ways to win, and this extreme type of volatility as found in scatter pays can be much more difficult for players to handle than even the huge volatility that you can find from a true ways to win machine, because in those cases you're waiting for a prize because you finally managed to hit the right number of identical symbols in a row on two separate occasions – each trigger followed by one additional trigger in order to keep the award flowing in. The cluster pays however are triggered the very first time a cluster of sufficient size is found, so there isn't the lag between triggers of the same type of prize that we see with true scatter pays.
Pragmatic Play Cluster Pays Slots in Our Library
- Sweet Bonanza — 6×5 grid, 8+ cluster, tumbling reels, multiplier bomb free spins (up to 100× per bomb, multiple bombs per spin). Bonus buy available (100× stake). 96.51% RTP. Max win 21,100×. This is the definitive PP cluster pays experience.
- Jelly Express — 7×7 grid (coming 30 March 2026), cascading wins, multiplier trail mechanic. Larger grid than Sweet Bonanza means cluster formation is structurally different — you need bigger symbol groups to create the same density of wins, but the payoff when it hits is correspondingly larger.
How to Play Cluster Pays Slots for the First Time
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of cluster pays we recommend playing the demo with real cash first, but if you would rather learn without risk then this is the quickest way to get to grips with the concept. Keep an eye out for how each cascade links together within a base game pay out, how the tumble animation tells you which symbols fall and what lands where, and in the Free Spins Bonus how the Multiplier Bombs build and stack up. Familiarising yourself with all these important visual elements in the demo mode will make things far more straightforward in play when playing for real cash at a quicker pace.
Cluster pays session key takeaways: the base game pay-out frequency is intentionally low in favor of a potential large win in the bonus. So budget accordingly! A 200 spin campaign is fairly normal for no bonus to occur in a high volatility cluster pay slot. All pay-outs will happen within the bonus round. Should you desire more frequent bonus entries, make sure to check if the Ante Bet option (1.25 times the stake, and ~30% more scatter falls) is available.
Why Pragmatic Play Uses Cluster Pays Instead of Megaways for Their Top Titles
Megaways™ is charged on a per title basis to Big Time Gaming. What Pragmatic Play did was to create a cluster pays mechanic and the tumble cascade system as a propriety alternative which gives a similar high variance gameplay experience. This allows them to keep the game 100% owned, be able to reach the exact desired RTP, and to not pay royalties. Which explains why Sweet Bonanza has had numerous Pragmatic Play native spin-offs such as Christmas edition, Candy edition and Xpander.