Big Bass Bonanza (Pragmatic Play)

If you like the thought of casting out a fishing line and catching your food rather than buying it from a shop but aren’t keen on braving the elements or getting fishy smells on your hands, online slots have you covered. For a spot of virtual angling, here comes Big Bass Bonanza from developer Pragmatic Play and partners Reel Kingdom. In what turned out to be a major success story, Big Bass Bonanza, provides the sort of action popularised by Fishin’ Frenzy all those years ago yet freshened up by a new multiplier feature during free spins.

Grab a life jackpot because Big Bass Bonanza is played out in the ocean, its five-reel game panel floating just below the surface. The game grid is see-through, where behind it, murky blue depths contain schools of fish off in the distance, alongside bubbles and weeds. Fish show up on the reels too, where they may be used as pay symbols, or in the bonus game, they each carry an instant prize value that may be collected by fisherman wild symbols. The view is oddly neither old looking nor new, perhaps contributing to the broad appeal the game has garnered.

Players grab a seat on the boat by selecting a stake from 10 p/c to $/€250 per spin. Any device is suitable for this medium-high volatile trip, where RTP tops out at 96.71%. Keep in mind, RTP is variable, so it’s worth verifying which version of Big Bass Bonanza you may be about to play.

Instant cash prizes are the central thrill maker, but regular wins occur when matching pay symbols land left to right from the left side of the panel. Ten to ace card symbols make up the lower pay tiles, where all are worth 10x the bet for a five of a kind hit. Next are fish symbols, tackle boxes, dragonflies, rods, and floaters worth 20 to 200 times your stake for five of a kind. No wilds appear in the base game, though one does make its way into free spins.

Provider:	Reel Kingdom
Release Date:	2020-12-03 [ i ]
Wide release date:	2020-12-14
Type:	Video Slots
RTP:	95.67%
Variance:	Med-High
Hit Frequency:	N/A[ i ]
Max Win:	x2100.00 [ i ]
Min bet $, €, £:	0.1
Max bet $, €, £:	250
Layout:	5-3
Betways:	10

Pros

• Immersive fishing vibe
• Free Spins with cash fishing
• Upgradable levels with increasing multipliers
• Random Dynamite modifier
• Random modifiers on losing free spins

Cons

• RTP ranges
• No features in the base game
• Relatively low max win

The Big Bass Bonanza online slot by Reel Kingdom takes players on an exciting fishing adventure, much like Reel Time Gaming’s popular Fishin’ Frenzy slot. Both games share a similar theme and gameplay style, making Big Bass Bonanza a fan-favorite for anglers and slot enthusiasts alike. As you dive into the game, you’ll find yourself immersed in a fishing expedition surrounded by a vibrant aquatic environment, filled with charming graphics and catchy music that perfectly captures the spirit of a relaxing day by the water.

As for the exteriors, the game looks like an enhanced version of Fishin’ Frenzy. The backdrop showcases a similar image of what’s lying beneath the water’s surface, but the production values are much higher, so the experience it delivers is substantially more immersive. Overall, the graphics, animations, and sounds here are on a whole level above.

Anyway, dominating the view here is a semi-transparent 5×3 reel setup, producing 10 lines to land winning combinations across. In order to score a payout, you need to land matching symbols on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost, and depending on the kind, at least 2 or 3 instances are a minimum requirement.

Slot Symbols

Symbol	Payouts
10	3, 4, or 5 pay 0.5x, 2.5x, or 10x the bet
J	3, 4, or 5 pay 0.5x, 2.5x, or 10x the bet
Q	3, 4, or 5 pay 0.5x, 2.5x, or 10x the bet
K	3, 4, or 5 pay 0.5x, 2.5x, or 10x the bet
A	3, 4, or 5 pay 0.5x, 2.5x, or 10x the bet
Fish	3, 4, or 5 pay 1x, 5x, or 20x the bet
Tackle Box	3, 4, or 5 pay 2x, 10x, or 50x the bet
Dragonfly	3, 4, or 5 pay 2x, 10x, or 50x the bet
Fishing Rod	3, 4, or 5 pay 3x, 15x, or 100x the bet
Float	2, 3, 4, or 5 pay 0.5x, 5x, 20x, or 200x the bet

Big Bass Bonanza is built around a 5-reel, 3-row format. Big Bass Bonanza can be played like a reel adventure from as little as 10p per spin, and the maximum is £5.

There are also 10 fixed paylines – fixed, meaning you’re unable to adjust the number of paylines in play.

All of the controls for Big Bass Bonanza are laid out in a very straightforward fashion:

• Clicking on the i button will bring up the paytable. The payouts in the list will adjust as you change your wager.
• The three horizontal lines symbol will allow you to adjust the system settings. You can turn on battery saving mode, toggle the sound settings or view your game history.
• The – and + buttons on either side of the spin button will let you change your bet. You can adjust your coins per line and coin value, or you can just change the total bet.

The demo mode is entirely free and doesn’t require a deposit. All you need to do is register on the platform, and you’re ready to enjoy a risk-free gaming experience. Take advantage of this opportunity to practice, have fun, and discover everything the game has to offer!

True to the genre, all of the action happens in the Big Bass Bonanza bonus game, while the base one, however, offers no extras for the players.

Scatter Symbol

To enter the Big Bass Bonanza free spins, you need to land at least 3 Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels simultaneously. Landing 3, 4, or 5 instances awards 10, 15, or 20 initial spins respectively. The Big Bass Bonzana bonus buy feature is not available unlike in subsequent games from the series, so it’s the only way of getting the free spins here.

Money Symbol

All those pretty fish symbols of different sizes do not only award normal line wins, but each also displays a random cash value which then can be collected during the bonus. This can be either 2x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, or a staggering 2,000x the bet.

Wild Symbol

In the free games, new fisherman symbols are added to the mix. They basically act as Wilds, standing in for any other symbols in winning combinations, though, it’s another special function that makes them the most desired out of all symbols. Whenever a Wild lands on the reels along with fish symbols, it collects all cash values in view. In case multiple Wilds appear on the same spin, cash fish are collected separately for each one of them.

Free Spins

During the bonus, each Wild symbol is also collected into the special meter, and for every 4 instances collected, a retrigger is awarded. You get another 10 spins with an increased Wild multiplier that come into play after the current stage is complete. The Wild multiplier is applied to all cash values the Wild symbol collects. The multiplier increments to 2x for the first retrigger, to 3x for the second, and finally to 10x for the third. After reaching the last stage, no more retriggers are possible.

Additionally, a random Dynamite modifier can be triggered on any free spin. Whenever a fisherman appears with no money symbols in view, dynamite may explode in random positions to add fish to the reels and guarantee a win.

The volatility is in the medium-to-high range, rated by the developers 4 out of 5, and the maximum you can get from a single spin is 2,100x the bet. Therefore, if this amount is reached during the free spins, the feature will end immediately.

As for Big Bass Bonanza RTP, the game is supplied in several different configurations, topping at 96.71%, which is above the average level. The value can be way lower at some of the casinos, so don’t forget to look through the rules first before depositing. Always look for the highest option.

Big Bass Bonanza goes to show there are a lot of players who aren’t super bothered by providers borrowing each other’s ideas, provided some new bit is wedged in there somewhere to satisfy the desire for novelty. Mixing in the new multiplier feature, the relaxing seabound atmosphere, and an unnameable x-factor means Big Bass Bonanza turned out to be a major hit. Perhaps bafflingly so for some, but there you go, that’s the magic of creating something and letting it loose in the world to take on a life of its own.

In Fishin’ Frenzy, the fisherman was already a highly sought out symbol in free spins due to his cash collection abilities. With the introduction of the wild collection meter, he’s more highly prized than ever since he leads directly to those coveted win multipliers should enough wilds accumulate. It might be something of a surprise to know that with all the extra multipliers in free spins helping increase the value of the catch, the winning potential in Big Bass Bonanza is relatively similar to what is found in the original Fishin’ Frenzy. Pushing things to the limit here results in wins as high as 2,100x the bet. Not a massive result, though one which has proven more than enough to entice loads of keyboard anglers in for a bash.