Link&Merge, Maxways, Power Combo, Coin Grid: Microgaming’s Four New Mechanic Families Compared
Browse Microgaming’s releases from the last couple of years and you keep seeing the same few words after the game name: Link&Merge, Maxways, Power Combo, Coin Grid. These are not casual nicknames — they are four underlying mechanic families. Recognize them, and any new game carrying the same suffix is read in exactly the same way.
Why learning the family beats memorizing each title
This site lists well over a hundred Microgaming slots — memorizing the rules title by title is close to impossible. Flip the approach: learn the underlying mechanic family first, then read any single title. Understand "how Link&Merge works" once, and any future reskin carrying that suffix is read the same way — that is transferable knowledge. Memorize by theme and a new coat of art sends you back to square one.
Four families, one table
| Family | Core action | Where value sits | Typical temperament |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link&Merge | Value symbols lock, then merge and accumulate | Whether scattered value can be gathered together | Flat process, concentrated settlement |
| Maxways | All-ways under dynamic row counts | The ways ceiling when rows fill up | Lands often, small per hit, big in the feature |
| Power Combo | Winning symbols clear, new ones drop and re-settle | How many chains, how high the multiplier stacks | Chain-dependent, steeper volatility |
| Coin Grid | Coin symbols collect / upgrade | The count and face value of coins gathered | Hold&Spin-style, concentrated settlement |
Given a new game, how to place the family
Next time you open a new Microgaming title, look at the suffix and ask yourself three questions:
- Does it build value through consecutive settlements (clear and drop)? → think Power Combo, like the site’s Luck of the Devil: POWER COMBO and Gates of Asgard Power Combo.
- Does it lock and merge value symbols? → think Link&Merge, like Lucky Twins Wilds Link&Merge and Almighty Zeus Wilds Link&Merge.
- Does it emphasize a very high dynamic ways count? → think Maxways, like Queen of Cairo: Royal Maxways and Merlin’s Secret Maxways.
For coin-collection titles (Coin Grid, like Bolts of Zeus Coin Grid) look at the count and face value of the coin symbols. Place the family correctly and you know whether the big-win potential sits in the base game or the feature, instead of being led around by flashy art. Each title’s RTP and max win follow the official or operator notes — we do not invent them.
FAQ
Are these suffixes (Link&Merge, Maxways, etc.) official mechanic names?
They are the names Microgaming and its studios use to tag mechanic types. Games with the same suffix share the same settlement skeleton, so learning one carries across to similar new titles.
Which family is the easiest to win on?
None is inherently more profitable. The family decides the volatility temperament and where the big wins sit; it does not change the long-run expectation, and it cannot remove the house edge. Choose by the volatility you can tolerate, not by "ease of winning".
