Hackways from Hacksaw Gaming: A New Twist on Megaways Slots

The SweepsKings team always enjoys seeing innovation in the world of slots, and one of the latest new mechanics is Hackways from Hacksaw Gaming.

Malta-based Hacksaw has released a succession of excellent games this year including Le King, Aiko and the Wind Spirit, Bullets and Bounty, Miami Mayhem, Le Zeus, Le Cowboy, and most recently Toshi Ways Club.

The latter is the first game to feature the new Hackways system, so let’s take a look at how it works.

Is Hackways the Same as Megaways?

A Google search reveals that Hacksaw applied for a trademark on the name ‘Hackways’ at the start of 2025, so it seems the company has been planning this innovation for a while now.

Going on the name alone, experienced slots fans will probably expect the concept to bear similarities to Megaways – and they’d be right.

Megaways was created by Big Time Gaming and first used in Dragon Born Megaways, released in 2016. However, it was Bonanza Megaways released in the same year that really put the format on the map.

Megaways works by using a variable number of rows on each reel, which leads to a differently shaped grid and a different number of possible paylines from left to right on every spin. The number of possible paylines is usually represented in a box next to the grid.

Generally, Megaways games add in a cascading/tumbling mechanic as well, where winning symbols fall away and new symbols drop down from above, potentially creating new winning lines.

Overall, Megaways had its moment around 2016–2018, when a wave of titles from Big Time Gaming and partners found success worldwide. Slots like Extra Chilli Megaways and White Rabbit Megaways showcased the dynamic-grid gameplay that made Megaways so appealing, becoming massive hits in the process.

Multiple other slot studios obtained a license from Big Time to use the Megaways name and mechanic over the years, but Hacksaw was never one of them. And it’s worth noting there’s been a lull in Megaways releases recently too, likely because the boom was over and players moved onto other styles of slot.

Perhaps Hacksaw thought now was the ideal time to resurrect Megaways-style gameplay, but with a new twist.

What is Hackways & How Does it Work?

There’s only been one game released so far featuring the Hackways mechanic – that’s the excellent Toshi Ways Club, an update of Toshi Video Club from 2021. But whereas Toshi Video Club featured a 5×5 fixed-reel grid, Toshi Ways Club makes things dynamic with the new Hackways system.

Hackways is similar to Megaways, no doubt about it. In Toshi Ways Club there are 6 reels and a variable number of rows from 3 to 10, meaning each spin creates a new shaped grid with a different amount of potential paylines.

But while Megaways games generally offer up to 7 rows, it seems Hackways is pushing the boundaries by offering up to 10. This allows up to 1,000,000 paylines if you were to land 6 rows of 10. We can express this as 10⁶.

Then, another twist is that Hackways seems to only respin winning symbols, rather than using a tumble/cascade flow. This gives a different feel to respins, and wins spread in a slightly different manner.

Instead of winning symbols dropping away and new symbols dropping from above, everything stays in place and only the winning squares respin. Then, if this creates a new line – which it often can – those winning symbols respin, and so on, until no winning lines remain.

Toshi Ways Club actually uses an idea called Flash Frames to highlight the winning squares, making it easy to clearly see where the wins are. There’s also the Swap symbol, and if one of these lands on the same spin as a winning line, it adds the same new symbol to all the squares with Flash Frames after respins have finished.

As you can imagine, this creates one more big win at the end of each spin. So you’ll be aiming to build up the Flash Frames with plenty of respins, then trigger them all to change to the same symbol with a Swap.

This is the core of the gameplay in Toshi Ways Club, at least in the base game, and it makes for an excellent slot with a fresh rhythm.

There are further layers to unlock too, such as the Suckr Punch bonus round where a Slicing Swap can appear, slashing Flash Frame squares into their smallest possible size and creating even more winning lines.

Hackways makes all this possible in Toshi Ways Club, so the mechanic is off to an amazing start. Let’s hope the next game it features in is just as exciting, and then we could be set for a return to Megaways-style, dynamic slot gameplay, but with a distinctly Hacksaw twist.

To try it out for free, check out any Hacksaw-powered sweepstakes casinos from the list below.