Slots that clear winning symbols and drop new ones in, so one spin can pay several times. Five cascading games from four studios compared, with the multipliers that make the chains count.
One Spin, Several Chances to Win
On a cascading reels slot, a win does not end the spin. The winning symbols are cleared, the symbols above them drop down, new ones fill the empty spaces from the top, and the screen is checked again. The chain carries on, all for the one stake, until a refill brings no new win.
Each studio has its own name for it. NetEnt calls it Avalanche, Pragmatic Play calls it Tumble, Big Time Gaming calls it Reactions, and Push Gaming simply describes its jar games as cascading. NetEnt’s version, with its climbing multiplier, has its own Avalanche slots page.
Five Cascading Games From Four Studios
Each figure comes from the studio’s own game page, and the games run from the highest top prize down.
| Game | Studio | How it pays | RTP | Max win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jammin’ Jars 2 | Push Gaming | Clusters of 5+ on 8×8 | 96.40% or 94.40% | 50,000x |
| Gonzo’s Quest Megaways | Red Tiger | Up to 117,649 ways | 95.77% | 20,972x |
| Sugar Rush | Pragmatic Play | Clusters on 7×7 | 96.50% | 5,000x |
| Gates of Olympus | Pragmatic Play | 8 to 30 anywhere | 96.50% | – |
| Sweet Bonanza | Pragmatic Play | 8+ anywhere | 96.48% | – |
Pragmatic Play gives symbol and multiplier values for its two pay-anywhere games but no overall top prize, so those cells stay empty.
Jammin’ Jars 2
Push Gaming’s sequel keeps the 8×8 grid and the clusters of at least five fruits, and lifts the highest win from about 20,000x on the first game to 50,000x. Reaching the top level of its progressive base game gives a chance of the Giga Jar feature, where a 2×2 jar lands and eight Giga Spins follow, and once that feature has been triggered the game never drops back to level one. Push rates it high volatility and offers it at 96.40% or 94.40%. More of its studio’s games are on our Push Gaming page.
Gonzo’s Quest Megaways
Red Tiger’s take on the original puts the cascade on a Megaways engine, so the reels change height on every spin while a multiplier climbs with each win in the chain. It tops out at 20,972x and returns 95.77%.
Sugar Rush
The cascade leaves a mark here: every spot on the 7×7 grid that forms part of a win is highlighted, and later wins on that spot carry a multiplier that keeps doubling up to 128x. The top prize is 5,000x. Our Sugar Rush guide follows a full bonus round.
Gates of Olympus
Zeus’s game pays for 8 to 30 matching symbols anywhere on six tumbling reels. Multiplier symbols worth up to 500x can land, and four or more scatters start 15 free spins. Pragmatic lists 96.50%, and our Gates of Olympus guide has the rest.
Sweet Bonanza
Eight or more matching sweets anywhere on the reels make a win. Four to six scatters bring 10 free spins, in which multiplier symbols worth 2x to 100x can drop, and once the tumbling stops their values are added together and applied to the sequence. Pragmatic lists 96.48%. Our Sweet Bonanza guide covers it in detail.
Three Ways a Cascade Grows a Win
A cascade on its own only adds more chances to win. What turns it into a big payout is the multiplier attached to it, and the five games use three different kinds.
- A ladder: Gonzo’s Quest Megaways raises its multiplier with each win in the chain, so the fourth win in a row pays more than the first.
- Marked spots: Sugar Rush stores multipliers on the grid itself, and they build up wherever wins keep landing.
- Multiplier symbols: Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza drop symbols with values on them, which are added up at the end of the tumble.
Our multiplier slots page has more games built around those boosts.
Does a Cascade Make a Slot Pay More?
No. A game’s return is set by its maths as a whole, and the cascade is one part of that. It spreads wins out, so more spins pay something, but many of those wins are small, and a chain of them can still add up to less than the stake.
That is why games in Great Britain are not allowed to celebrate a return that is no more than the stake with win sounds or animations. It is worth watching the balance rather than the number of wins in a chain.
What Two Jammin’ Jars 2 Settings Cost
At £1 a spin and 600 spins an hour, Jammin’ Jars 2 at 96.40% costs about £22 on average, against about £34 at 94.40%. With the £5 limit for players aged 25 and over, the gap widens to about £108 against £168, and with the £2 limit for those aged 18 to 24, about £43 against £67.
Sweet Bonanza and Gates of Olympus carry a button to buy the free spins in many markets, but the versions offered in Great Britain leave it out, so the scatters have to arrive on their own.
