Cats Megaways

Cats Megaways: Slot Overview

If you're intrigued by all things feline, feel free to take a seat because we might have just the very slot for you. Titled Cats Megaways, the game in question comes from software developer iSoftBet and is a remake of Cats, an older slot from gambling company IGT. As well as stocking all sorts of big cats, Cats the slot was possibly best well-known for dropping double symbols on its reels. In other words, if a symbol showed 2 cats on it, not just 1, it counted as 2 on a payline. This key feature returns for the Megaways remake and joins other extras such as cascading wins, mystery symbols, free spins, Mystery Cat Respins, and even triple symbols.

The original Cats slot is a teensy bit aged by now, and Cats Megaways looks much more up-to-date by comparison. However, there's still something about its symbols, the font of the title, or something that has a mild retro feel. Perhaps this impression is psychological, though, knowing that Cats Megaways has grown off an older game. Cats Megaways presents a pretty standard view of Africa as seen in an online gambling game - grassy foreground, acacia trees, mountains, wide-open skies, the usual story. Not badly presented by any means, though pretty standard fare. The biggest 'huh?' was the music, but at this stage, there is a chance the tune in the demo was simply a placeholder from another game for now. Either way, Cats Megaways didn't dazzle the senses, yet it's pleasant.

Cats Megaways is played on a standard Megaways game grid utilising 6 reels and one top tracker reel, which has 4 positions on it at all times. The reels land 2 to 7 symbols on them (including the tracker reel), producing up to 117,649 ways to win. Highly volatile and playable from c/p 20 to €/$ 20 per spin, the RTP sits at 94.93%, which is low by iSoftBet's usual standards. The return value may be influenced by the side bet, which, when activated, increases the stake by 25% while also increasing the chance of triggering free spins. A bonus buy is available, too, where for 75x the bet, players can buy free spins with no other win on the bought triggering spin.

Winning symbols disappear from the reels and are replaced by symbols tumbling down from above. A series of Cascading Wins only ends when no new win hits on the reels. Wins in Cats Megaways are awarded when matching symbols land left to right on adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost side of the grid. For lows, we've got 10 to A card ranks, which pay 0.5 to 0.75 times the bet for 6 OAK, rising to 1 to 3 times the bet for 6 of the cougars, leopards, tigers, lions, and pumas. Not massive payouts, but when the double and triple symbols start doing their thing, up to 14-of-a-kind wins are possible, worth 20 to 50 times the stake – bearing in mind only cats can be doubled or tripled. The Cats logo symbol is wild and substitutes for all regular pay symbols. Wilds appear only on the top tracker reel and always count as a double symbol, and split any cats directly below them on the reel.

Cats Megaways: Slot Features

Further features players can look forward to while Cats Megaways is in action are mystery symbols, Mystery Cat Respins and free spins.

Mystery Symbols and the Mystery Cat Respin

On any spin, the Mystery Cat Respin feature may randomly trigger. When the reels stop, only empty spaces or mystery cat symbols appear – single mystery symbols on the vertical reels and double mystery symbols on the tracker. If more mystery symbols land on a respin, contributing to a win, another respin occurs using the existing grid. This continues until no more mystery symbols land; then, they reveal an identical pay symbol.

Double Symbols

Double symbols land on the tracker reel and can only display premium cat symbols. However, single symbols of the same type on the main reels 2 to 5 can be transformed into doubles by double symbols on the tracker reel. Scatters can also land as double symbols and count as 2. Wild symbols always count as double, and wilds convert all single cats on that reel into double cats.

Free Spins

Landing 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 paw scatter symbols awards 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, or 20 free spins, respectively. In free spins, scatter symbols are collected when they land. For every 3 scatters collected, the lowest eligible cat symbol is converted into triple symbols until the feature ends and awards +2 free spins.

Cats Megaways: Slot Verdict

In a lonely corner of a lonely pub somewhere out in the wild, a physical copy of the game Cats purrs, perhaps, in the knowledge its DNA has been passed on to a future generation. And passed on quite well too. Sometimes physical gaming machines to modern online slot transitions can feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe not embarrassing, but seeing some ancient game stretched to fit a modern format can feel a little redundant in some ways. Not so much Cats Megaways, which might be just as enjoyable for cat-loving gamblers who weren't even aware of the original game's existence. Whilst there is a visual hint of Cats' history if you're aware of it, iSoftBet has spruced up the artwork, providing an up-to-date platform for Cats Megaways' gameplay to springboard from.

The gameplay was alright, too, more involved than was initially suspected. A fairly familiar collection of features keep the game ticking along, such as cascades, and the randomness of Megaways, complimenting the less obvious stuff like the doubling, or in some cases, tripling of symbols, Mystery Respins, and the collection mechanic in the free spins bonus round. It's not bad. The only concern and it was a minor one, was whether fans of the original game might find all the modern bells and whistles a distraction rather than an augmentation. As mentioned, a minor one, as all of the modifications iSoftBet has made complement the action rather than detract from it.

There are better cat-themed Megaways slots available on the market offering better RTP and potential, such as Big Time Gaming's King of Cats. It doesn't mean Cats Megaways is to be completely disregarded. It provides a decent bit of entertainment, and iSoftBet has honoured the past while blasting an older slot into the future. The team has kept the parts that stuck out from the original, namely the doubling up of symbols and added several interesting features to supplement them.