Mega Ball Live Review

Mega Ball is a live fast-paced lottery/bingo-style offering from masters of live casino games, Evolution. Set in a studio and offering an enormous potential jackpot of 1,000,000x your stake, Mega Ball is a unique game, designed to delight players of all levels.

Mega Ball uses a bingo-style mechanism with cards being marked and balls being drawn. Before each round, you are given fifteen seconds to buy as many cards as you like, up to 200. The cards are each composed of a 5x5 grid with 24 randomly designated numbers on them and a blank middle square. This blank square acts similar to a wild on a reel and can substitute for any other number. 

You can alter the value of your card using the plus and minus buttons, as you might change your stake on a traditional slot or table game. The lowest value is just 0.10 coins and the highest is 100 coins per draw. You can zoom in on individual cards and, if for some reason you don’t like the look of the numbers, you can reroll as many times as you like, until the timer runs out. You won’t be charged for doing so. 

Once the timer goes off, the machine will quickly draw 20 balls at random from the 51 that are in there, and any matching numbers on your cards will be automatically marked off for you. 

As in bingo, the goal is to match as many numbers on your cards as possible, to form lines. The more lines you complete on a single card, the bigger the prizes become. You will see the cards which are closest to winning at the front of your stack, thanks to an automatic user interface. You will also see the numbers you need to complete lines highlighted above each card, along with the associated potential winnings.

Once the final ball is drawn, the machine generates a Mega Ball multiplier between 5x and 100x and applied to winning cards, with up to 1,000,000x your stake up for grabs, for matching six lines on one card. However, you get a payout for each line completed on any card, so you could still walk away with a decent payout even if you don’t complete six lines on one card. 

The special features of Mega Ball are the multipliers, which are randomly drawn from the machine after every round, and can be from 5x to 100x, this is the Mega Ball of the title. If the number on the Mega Ball completes a line on any of your cards, the multiplier will be applied to the payout on that card. 

Occasionally you also get a rare ‘2nd Mega Ball’ which acts as above, giving players a second chance at a big payout.

The design of Mega Ball is best described as ‘flashy’ - there is a lot of gold and sparkles with the whole studio decked out to create a suitable backdrop for the Mega Ball machine. The machine itself is transparent plastic so that you can see the balls at all times. A live host presides over the action, announcing numbers and engaging in typical host patter. The lighting changes as the Mega Ball multiplier is drawn, building the anticipation, while highlighting the key numbers. 

The cards follow the turquoise and gold colour scheme of the game’s logo and are clearly shown at the bottom of your screen at all times. You can also see payouts in the bottom left-hand corner, and the Mega Ball numbers which have been drawn in the bottom right corner. Sociable players can also use the live chat room while they play.

At 15 seconds per betting window, Mega Ball is an extremely fast-paced game so you may need to play a few rounds before you get into your stride. On the other hand, pretty much all aspects of the game are automatic, so newbies don’t need to learn any complex rules. You also have quite a lot of control over the value of your cards and how many cards you purchase, meaning the game will suit different kinds of players. The RTP is 95.40%, well within the industry average of 92-98% and is based on one card. 

There isn’t anything else like Mega Ball out there at the moment, so Evolution is already on to a winner. Sure, the basic elements are derived from bingo and lotteries, but the combination of those elements and the fast tempo, real-time nature of the game makes it unique. It’s definitely not for those who are looking for a cerebral strategy game, but if you’re a fan of bingo or just want to try something a little bit different, we highly recommend Mega Ball. Be sure to keep an eye on how many cards you are buying, and don’t expect to win every time - as with bingo and lotto odds, the house has the edge.