Fishing For Slots - Is There A Catch?
Published On 10th December 2023
Back in 2017 The UKGC clamped down on slots using imagery and themes that might appeal to young people. Cartoon and movie inspired games were either dropped or graphics changed whilst slots such as Fluffy Favourites had question marks over their immediate future. The UKGC's decision also meant that slot designers had to rethink their strategies. Out went the superhero themed slots and in came various fruit inspired titles and fish, lots and lots of fish! Drop in on any online slots brand today and you'll find Fishin' Frenzy, Big Bass and Gold Fish popping up amongst the popular titles. Slingo has even got in on the act with Slingone Fishin', The Deadliest Catch, Shark Week and Wild Sharks. We thought we'd take a closer look at some of these fishy inspired games.
Fishin' Frenzy
Search for Fishin' Frenzy in the search box of Ladbrokes Casino (for example) and you'll be greeted with over a dozen variants on this popular 10 reel Blueprint Gaming fishing slot. Variants include Power 4 Slots, Prize Lines, Spin Boost, All Stars, Fortune Spins, Megaways, Jackpot King, Jackpot King Megaways and The Big Catch Megaways. The games all feature some fish inspired card symbols alongside various fishing equipment icons like rod and tackle. The key element of these games is the Fisherman wild which usually only appears during free rounds. When the Fisherman appears any fish on screen are caught and their value adds to the win amount. One of the newest titles in this series is Fishin' Frenzy All Stars which brings in features from other slots, namely Eye Of Horus and El Torero into proceedings. In Eye Of Horus Wilds upgrade to expanded wilds whilst on El Torero they are held throughout the bonus rounds.
Big Bass
Joining the Fishing Frenzy is the Big Bass series from Pragmatic Play. There are various titles in this aquarium including Bonanza, Splash, Keeping It Reel, Megaways and even a Christmas title. The most recent launch in this group was Bigger Bass Blizzard Christmas Catch. This increases the reels from the usual 5x3 to 5x4 (Megaways variants aside). Big Bass is very similar to Fishin' Frenzy with a mix of playing card icons, fish with prices and fishing icons. Again the Fisherman is Wild and is the only one that can collect or bring more Fish symbols on the screen. To access the free games rounds where the fish can be caught then you need to get three scatters across the reels. During the free games the more fishermen that appear the more free spins you accumulate. Get enough to retrigger the spins and awarding an incrementally increasing multiplier. On The UK version of Bigger Bass Blizzard Christmas Catch you can bet extra to increase the chance of scatters but on the Pragmatic Play Demo Game you can purchase free spins. The demo games are a good way to try the various features of new slots.
The Deadliest Catch
In 2022 Slingo partnered with The Discovery Channel to produce a game for their Shark Week season. They've since gone on to produce another game for another Discovery Channel series, The Deadliest Catch. In this Slingo version "you'll attempt to survive the cruellest of elements, which only get crueller the further up the pay ladder you go". The real (or reel) excitement of this game comes when you hit the various bonus rounds. To do this you need to collect at least six lines. The bonus rounds include Crab Grab, Crab Fishing and Crab Hunt. Crab Grab is a simple reveal a prize game, whilst Crab Hunt is a select a square game to hopefully reveal the catch. Crab Fishing is very similar with the aim to move your ship to get the biggest catch. To help you with the latter bonus rounds you can "select experienced captains Sigurd ’Sig’ Hansen and Wild Bill Wichrowski, who take hold of the Northwestern and the FV Summer Bay respectively".
Other Games
Other fish inspired titles include Golden Fish Tank, Wild Fishing, Wild Marlin, Slingone Fishin', Reel Big Fish, Golf Fish Fortunes, Fishing Trawler and Fish Eye. We'd be amazed if no more titles were added to this collection because of their popularity. But why has fishing become so popular in online slots circles? In our view it comes down to it being a safe subject for slots but it is also one that can be utilised cleverly to produce interesting features. Fruit and Gems are often used in 'safe' themed games but there's only so much you can do with them in terms of game play. Catching a fish - different sizes, types etc - to generate a bigger win is a simple but effective idea.
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