The Expandable Afterlife: Beetlejuice Brings Chaotic Fun to Megaways
Light & Wonder (formerly Barcrest) has summoned the mischievous bio-exorcist from the 1988 cult classic film into the gambling realm with Beetlejuice Megaways. This slot adaptation brings the bizarre, gothic humor of Tim Burton's masterpiece to life through an unconventional take on the Megaways engine.
Unique Reel Mechanics in Beetlejuice Megaways
Unlike traditional 6-reel Megaways slots, Beetlejuice Megaways operates on a 5-reel system with an innovative expanding grid. Initially, players face a partially covered grid where each reel displays between 2-6 symbols. However, once a winning combination appears, the upper section unlocks, expanding the reels to accommodate between 4-12 symbols per column. This mechanic dramatically increases the potential ways to win from the base amount to an impressive 248,832 paylines when fully expanded.
Each win triggers the cascade feature, where winning symbols vanish to make room for new ones dropping from above. This creates opportunities for consecutive wins from a single spin, often resulting in extended winning sequences that build anticipation as they progress.
The Ghostly Cast of Characters
The paytable features several familiar faces from the film against a purple backdrop. Character symbols include the titular Beetlejuice himself (who offers the highest value at 5x stake for five of a kind), Winona Ryder's character, the head shrinker, Miss Argentina, and Serpent Beetlejuice. These premium symbols are complemented by standard 10-A royal card values. A zebra-striped wild substitutes for all regular pay symbols to help form winning combinations.
While Beetlejuice pays on just two matching symbols, all other characters require at least three in a row. It's worth noting that symbol values are relatively modest compared to other high-volatility slots, which is balanced by the game's high win frequency.
Supernatural Features That Bring the Afterlife to Life
The Mystery Ghost Symbol can materialize anywhere during base gameplay or free spins. When these ghostly apparitions appear, they transform into matching symbols (excluding wilds and scatters), potentially creating substantial winning combinations across the grid.
Free Spins are triggered when 3, 4, or 5 movie ticket scatters land on the reels, awarding 8, 12, or 16 spins respectively. During this bonus round, the background transforms, and more importantly, an unlimited progressive multiplier enters the scene. Starting at x1, this multiplier increases by +1 after each cascade with no ceiling on how high it can climb. Additional scatters during free spins can extend the feature, with 3, 4, or 5 scatters granting an extra 4, 6, or 8 spins.
A Hauntingly Stylish Aesthetic Experience
The visual design of Beetlejuice Megaways captures the eccentric, macabre aesthetic that made the original film so distinctive. The slot's color palette centers around deep purples and electric greens that instantly evoke the movie's unique visual identity. The playfield sits against a supernatural blue glow that pulses with otherworldly energy.
The symbol designs stay faithful to the film's iconic look, with Beetlejuice himself appearing in his signature striped suit with his pale, ghoulish face and wild hair. The character renderings maintain the film's blend of horror and humor, with exaggerated features that manage to be both unsettling and comical simultaneously.
During the free spins feature, the atmosphere intensifies as the background shifts, creating a more immersive experience that brings players deeper into the bizarre afterlife portrayed in the movie. The audio package complements this atmosphere with sound effects that would feel right at home in Burton's quirky underworld.
Beetlejuice Megaways
