Starquest is Big Time Gaming’s third Megaways release, landing in October 2016 between Queen of Riches and Bonanza — and it remains the only BTG title that pays ways in both directions. The 6-reel grid shows 2 to 7 symbols per reel, producing up to 117,649 ways left-to-right and the same count right-to-left. Default RTP is 96.22%, volatility is rated high, and the max win caps at 12,600× stake through stacked full-reel wilds rather than a traditional free spins round. Min bet sits at $0.20, max at $20. Starquest reads modest on paper but explains how BTG learned to build Megaways before Bonanza cemented the template that December.
Theme and Atmosphere
The setting is outer space — deep violet nebulae, drifting asteroids, and an ambient synth soundtrack that leans contemplative rather than action-driven. Symbols split into two tiers: holographic card royals on the low end, and four sci-fi gems (blue, green, purple, red) topping the standard paytable at 15× stake for six-of-a-kind. The full-reel wild is a cosmic heroine whose portrait fills an entire reel when she appears. Compared with Pragmatic Play’s Starz Megaways, Starquest commits to a sci-fi narrative with a named protagonist instead of pure nebula-and-gems minimalism — it is the earlier, quieter space slot that established the genre mood.
How the Both-Ways Megaways Engine Works
Every spin, each of the six reels displays between 2 and 7 symbols. When all six reels land at 7 rows, the grid hits its maximum 117,649 ways — and that count applies both left-to-right AND right-to-left. Three identical high-pays on reels 4, 5, and 6 trigger a right-to-left win that pays on the same paytable as the more common left-to-right combinations. The bi-directional math is native to the engine here, not a side bet or configurable option.
BTG did not repeat the layout in later Megaways titles: Bonanza, White Rabbit, Extra Chilli, and the rest of the catalog all reverted to left-to-right only. For broader context on how the base format works across the 30-plus studios now licensing the trademark, we maintain a dedicated page on the Megaways engine and its variants.
Full-Reel Wilds and Re-Spin Multipliers
The only feature layered on top of the base game is the Re-Spin Wilds mechanic. When a Full-Reel Wild — the cosmic heroine portrait — lands and forms part of a winning combination, the wild locks in place and a free respin triggers automatically. The wild starts at ×1 and gains +1 multiplier on each successive respin, climbing to a hard cap of ×5.
Multiple Full-Reel Wilds landing in the same spin multiply against each other: two locked ×3 wilds sharing a winning line resolve as 3 × 3 = 9× on that combination. Full-Reel Wilds only appear on reels 2 through 5 — never on the outer reels — and there is no scatter-triggered free spins round, no Feature Drop buy, and no ante bet. Every feature event in Starquest happens because a heroine landed in the right place, not because a meter or scatter count filled.
Strategy Tips
Starquest is a base-game-only slot, which changes how we pace sessions compared with BTG’s later feature-heavy releases. Respins are free when they trigger, but landing the heroine on reels 2 through 5 is itself the bonus frequency — there is no short-cut scatter route into a feature. We recommend at least 200 to 300 spins of budgeted runway to see one meaningful multiplier stack, and as a high-variance slot it punishes short sessions. The $0.20 to $20 bet ladder suits small-stake testers reading the respin rhythm before scaling up; the demo above is the cheapest route to seeing how often the ×5 cap is actually hit.
Our Verdict
Starquest is historically significant rather than mechanically deep. In 2026 terms, a 12,600× ceiling and a 96.22% RTP read modest — 50,000× and 100,000× ceilings are now standard on flagship Megaways — and the absence of a true bonus round leaves a simpler rhythm than Extra Chilli or White Rabbit. What still works: the Both-Ways Megaways layout has never been repeated in the BTG catalog, the heroine respin ladder is clean and explicit with no hidden math, and the visual pacing is calmer than the maximalism that defines most 2020s Megaways releases. For players moving through the full BTG catalog, Starquest is the transitional title — recommended as a historical play or a low-friction gateway, less so as a volatility chase.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Starquest’s Both-Ways Megaways different?
Starquest is the only Big Time Gaming release that pays ways in both directions. Winning combinations count left-to-right AND right-to-left on the same paytable, up to 117,649 ways each way. BTG did not repeat the bi-directional layout in any later Megaways title.
How do the Re-Spin Wild multipliers work?
Each Full-Reel Wild that completes a win triggers a free respin with a ×1 starting multiplier. If the respin produces another Full-Reel Wild, the multiplier climbs by +1, up to a ×5 hard cap. Multiple wilds in the same combination multiply against each other on a per-line basis.
Does Starquest have a free spins round?
No. Starquest has no scatter-triggered free spins, no Feature Drop buy, and no ante bet. The Re-Spin Wilds mechanic is the only feature event, triggered organically when a cosmic heroine lands on reels 2 through 5 and forms part of a winning combination.
What is the maximum win on Starquest?
The theoretical maximum is 12,600× the total bet. Reaching it requires stacked Full-Reel Wilds across adjacent reels during consecutive respins, with all active wilds at the ×5 cap. At the $0.20 minimum stake the ceiling lands near $2,520; at the $20 max stake, $252,000.
