Starquest Megaways (Big Time Gaming) Slot Review

Starquest Megaways: Slot Overview 

Starquest Megaways is a space-themed slot from Big Time Gaming, and one of the earliest titles to utilize the now-iconic Megaways engine. Built to deliver a sprawling number of potential paylines—up to 117,649 ways to win—this interstellar adventure offers high-stakes thrills paired with captivating visuals. Originally released before the Megaways boom took full effect, Starquest helped shape what would become a revolutionary format in online slot gaming. 

The game transports players into orbit, letting them explore the vastness of space across a dramatic 6-reel, 2–7 row layout that expands and contracts on each spin. While Starquest may lack a traditional bonus round or elaborate features, it compensates with a highly volatile setup, multipliers that build through respins, and full reel wilds that can span the height of the reels. 

Designed for those with a taste for classic sci-fi visuals and punishingly volatile math models, Starquest Megaways is not for the faint of heart—but its win potential is enormous. With an RTP of 96.90%, a max win of 20,000x, and a bet range of €0.20 to €40, this slot is engineered for hardcore gamers chasing colossal payouts.

Design and Graphics 

Visually, Starquest Megaways leans into a cosmic aesthetic that manages to be both minimalistic and immersive. The background features a dazzling celestial view, with a mysterious planet glowing in the distance and tiny stars twinkling across a blackened sky. The overall mood evokes the classic space-opera ambiance seen in shows like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. The reel setup dominates the screen, giving you a huge, panoramic playing field that’s further accentuated by the game’s dynamic Megaways format. Each reel can display between 2 and 7 symbols, expanding and contracting with every spin. 

Symbol design is sharp and colorful. The lower-value icons are represented by playing card letters—A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9—in shades of red, purple, blue, green, orange, and aqua. The premium symbols include a series of gemstones and the game’s highest paying icon: the SQ triangle badge. There’s a sleek, futuristic polish to each element, from the clean interface to the glowing neon highlights. 

The highlight, however, is the spaceman wild—a glamorous astronaut woman who spans entire reels and adds both visual drama and payout potential.

Gameplay Mechanics 

Starquest uses the Megaways engine to vary the number of symbols on each reel with every spin. This results in a fluctuating number of paylines—anywhere from a few hundred to the full 117,649. Winning combinations are formed by matching symbols from left to right, starting from the first reel. 

The standout mechanic is the use of Full Reel Wilds, which appear exclusively on reels 2 to 5. These wilds: 

Cover the full height of the reel. 

Substitute for all symbols to help complete winning lines. 

Come with a starting multiplier of 1x, which increases by +1 for every re-spin they participate in. 

In practical terms, this means that if a wild helps form a win, it locks in place and the game triggers a Re-Spin Wilds feature. The wild’s multiplier climbs with each respin, up to a maximum of 5x. If more wilds appear during the respin chain, they also become sticky and receive their own multiplier counters. This can lead to multiple full reel wilds with increasing multipliers in play at once—capable of generating huge payouts. 

It’s a deceptively simple mechanic, but when the stars align, it can transform an average session into a nail-biting race toward a jackpot.

Sound and Music 

The soundtrack in Starquest Megaways is relatively understated but fitting. It features ambient sci-fi tones that evoke the silence and grandeur of space. Soft, futuristic synths hum in the background, while the reels spin with gentle mechanical clicks. 

When you land wins or wilds, the game offers more dynamic effects: energizing whooshes, retro pulses, and cosmic chimes that intensify the deeper into a respin chain you go. The music isn’t overpowering but serves to complement the theme, giving the game a clean, immersive atmosphere without becoming distracting. 

There’s no voiceover or dramatic orchestration here—just slick, low-key sound design that matches the sleek visuals perfectly.

Bonus Features 

Starquest Megaways keeps things streamlined. There are no traditional free spins, no pick-and-clicks, and no scatter symbols. Instead, all the action revolves around two key features: Full Reel Wilds 

These wilds: 

Appear on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5. 

Act as substitutes for all symbols. 

Start with a 1x multiplier that increases by +1 each time the wild forms part of a win (up to 5x). 

Trigger a Re-Spin Wilds mechanic when involved in a win. 

Re-Spin Wilds 

This feature: 

Activates whenever a full reel wild contributes to a win. 

Locks the wild in place while other reels respin. 

Increases the multiplier of the locked wild by +1 with each consecutive respin. 

Ends once no new wins form. 

The power of this system lies in chaining wilds and multipliers across multiple reels. If two or more wilds are locked in with rising multipliers, payouts can escalate rapidly. 

It may seem like a minimalist offering compared to modern feature-rich slots, but its simplicity belies a thrilling, volatile core that rewards patience and persistence.

Betting Options and Payouts 

Starquest Megaways caters to a broad range of players with a minimum bet of €0.20 and a maximum of €40 per spin. The volatility is extremely high, meaning dry spells are frequent, but the potential rewards are massive. 

Max win: Up to 20,000x your stake. 

RTP: A competitive 96.90%, placing it at the upper end of the spectrum for high-volatility slots. 

Hit Frequency: Not specified, but testing shows that wins can be sparse—relying heavily on chained respins and multipliers. 

Premium symbols yield payouts up to 15x your stake for six-of-a-kind combinations. However, real winning potential comes from landing multiple Full Reel Wilds with rising multipliers in combination with premium symbols across expanded Megaways reels.

Conclusion 

Starquest Megaways is a classic in the Big Time Gaming library, offering a stripped-back yet high-risk-high-reward experience that continues to appeal to a specific subset of slot fans. With no elaborate bonus rounds or gimmicky features, it puts the spotlight squarely on its core mechanics: Megaways variability, full reel wilds, and progressive multipliers. 

Casual players might find the lack of bonus games or thematic variation underwhelming, but high-volatility enthusiasts will appreciate the sheer potential embedded in its straightforward setup. When the multipliers hit and wilds chain together, Starquest transforms from a serene space journey into an intense intergalactic thrill ride. 

With up to 117,649 ways to win, a sky-high RTP of 96.90%, and a proven max win of 20,000x, this slot continues to reward the brave, the patient, and the lucky. Whether you’re a fan of sci-fi themes, Megaways mechanics, or high volatility action, Starquest Megaways is well worth launching into.