Reel Big Fish
The Reel Big Fish online slot from Blue Guru Games, through Oryx Gaming, brings players out onto the water to fish for a big catch. With 20 paylines of action and great fish catching mechanics, this title takes the theme and turns it into a variety of ways to get great wins.
Casinos with Reel Big Fish
- Reel Big Fish
An Introduction to the Reel Big Fish Slot
One of the cool things about the genre of fishing slots is that they can come at the concept in so many different ways. However, with the Reel Big Fish video slot, we feel it’s sort of a close cousin to Boat Bonanza in a way. Both of these games have a somewhat similar look and feel. However, their gameplay styles are completely different.
Special fishing mechanics are found on the reels in this slot instead of in atypical game mechanics.
Up top over the middle of the board is a fishing ship sitting on top of the wager. Underneath that ship are all of the reels where the action takes place. You can find fish, the captain of the ship, containers of fuel and all kinds of other related symbol son the reels. However, the part of the presentation that stands out to us the most is the wager constantly being in motion. It really makes the game and theme come alive to us.
With the gameplay, some fishing type games like to create outside fishing mechanics. Instead, Blue Guru Games decided to keep it all on the reels. Some of the features are common, but some of them aren’t. It’s a cool mix of feeling like you have one foot inside of the box with the other outside of it. Additionally, it allows some novelty and fresh ideas without just taking players completely out of their element. We feel it’s a good mix overall.
Betting and Layout
The overall layout for this title is not atypical by any means. However, keep in mind that some of the features are. In this way, this common format is a super solid foundation that helps to keep you grounded when you run into mechanics you may not be familiar with. Here’s what to expect:
- The grid size is pretty standard. It offers five vertical reels of symbols along with three symbols showing on each individual reel.
- Additionally, this title has 20 paylines ready to go on every single spin.
- You aren’t allowed to change how many active paylines are available on each turn. Also, each line only pays from left to right in this game.
- Blue Guru Games has a betting setup with 16 different overall wager size options to choose from.
- The lowest of these options is all the way down at the €0.20 level. This is a small enough bet size to fit virtually any player’s budget.
- However, the maximum is €200 per spin. This is higher than what we typically see, giving this game a larger betting spread than most slots.
Other Information
Within this deep sea fishing adventure, you can reel in a variety of catches in the form of wins and features. However, this all leads to a volatility level that is slightly above-average. We would place it in the medium-high category overall. Most of the reason for this comes from the large amount of value found in the bonus features. We’ll get more into why that is further down below.
On the actual in-game pay table, all wins are listed in their currency amounts. Additionally, all of these values automatically adjust and update themselves when switching through the available betting levels. However, when we break down the wins you can get down below, we’ll do it differently. Instead, we’ll list them as a multiple of the amount you’re betting overall. This avoids the over-complications of using coins, coins per line, coin values and so on. We find that most players prefer it in the way we’re doing it here because of the simplicity and clarity involved.
Gameplay and Features for the Reel Big Fish Video Slot
The feature sets for games in the deep sea fishing sub-genre can vary wildly. What we saw in Crabbin Crazy is hardly what we’ll see in the Reel Big Fish online slot, for example. We like this particular type of slot because of how different the features and ideas can be. Having room for various approaches is great for players as well because it allows the software providers to step outside of the box a bit more to offer fresh experiences.
In what follows, some of the features will be familiar. However, others will not be so familiar. In both cases, we want to break down what you can expect from all of the game mechanics.
Wild Catch Symbols
The very first symbol that you should learn for this game is the wild. Up front, it seems like a pretty normal special symbol that adds value through substitutions. It consists of a large net full of fish that have been caught. Additionally, this symbol has a golden frame around it, which helps to differentiate it from other symbols.
However, it also offers some strong payouts without the help of other symbols. Here’s a look at what it can bring you for combinations of just wilds:
- Five of a Kind – 50x
- Four of a Kind – 6.25x
- Three of a Kind – 2.5x
Keep in mind that these are multiples of the bet size as a whole. For what they would be like if they were line bet wins, multiply them by a factor of 20.
You’ll find that these substitute for all of the symbol types except for two. They will not substitute for the scatters, and they also do not substitute for the fish symbols.
Special Fish Symbols and the Catch Mechanic
The fish symbols function a bit differently in the Reel Big Fish video slot. They do not pay out based on line bet wins. Instead, their pays are based around hitting a wild symbol to activate the catch mechanic.
For the catch mechanic, the idea is simple. When fish land on the reels, they award cash prizes when a wild also lands. Accordingly, multiple wilds on the game board at once will get multiple payouts from each individual fish symbol.
To begin with, the individual fish symbols in the main game can offer wins ranging from 1x to 3x. However, in the free spins bonus round, different fish become available that offer better wins.
Reel Big Fish Free Spins
The Fill the Boat free spins mode is available in this game with three or more scatters. During this feature, each individual reel has a level indicated by a number of lights at the top of that reel. You are able to increase the level of a reel by getting a scatter symbol on it.
It’s the captain himself that is the scatter, and he doesn’t offer payout-based wins. Instead, his prizes are all different numbers of free turns:
- Five of a Kind – 20 free spins
- Four of a Kind – 12 free spins
- Three of a Kind – 8 free spins
Here’s where things get interesting. If the reel level is at least one in the free spins mode, then different colors of fish can be caught. The higher the reel level, the higher level payouts you can earn from those fish. For the green fish, wins go up to the 1,000x level. However, for the red fish, you can actually collect prizes worth as much as 5,000x.
These are jackpot-level wins because they’re multiplied by the total wager. We want to place emphasis on just how good these wins are because it’s easy to mistake them for line bet-based pays, which would be considerably smaller in size in the absolute sense.
How to Win at Reel Big Fish
Players can enjoy the regular game mode and its volatility level that’s a bit above the average. If so, some players may want to lower their bet size just a bit. This helps to take the edge off of the swings for the players who mind that sort of thing.
You also have three options for purchasing the free spins mode. The price is in multiples of your total wager and depends on how many scatters you want to force for the following spin:
- Five Scatters – 275x
- Four Scatters – 130x
- Three Scatters – 70x
The larger the amount you put in a single bet like this, the higher the volatility. That’s just something to keep in mind as you decide how to play.
Payout Structure for the Reel Big Fish Online Slot
The scuba equipment symbol is the highest regular winning symbol in this slot. It will pay out a super solid 50x win for five of a kind combinations. Additionally, players can earn 12.5x for five of the map and compass. Five buoys will get you 5x, and five of the can of fuel is worth 3.75x as well.
All of the card rank symbols are made to look like different types of hooks. We think this is an interesting idea, and we also cannot remember seeing anything similar previously. Nonetheless, a 3x payout is yours for five of a kind of the golden A symbol. From there, five of the red K or blue Q gets you a win of 2.25x. Wrapping things up at the lower end are prizes of 1.5x for five of the grey J or five of the green 10 symbols.
Overview
The play of the Reel Big Fish slot centers a lot around the catch mechanic. We love how they stepped it up a level in the free spins feature as well. It reminds us a bit of the gameplay of the Marlin Catch slot to a degree as well. However, we think the way the theme is presented here is a bit different and perhaps slightly more serious. Overall, we enjoyed how Blue Guru Games brought the theme and gameplay together into one cohesive and coherent unit.
FAQ
Which online casinos have Reel Big Fish?
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What is the Return to Player (RTP) for Reel Big Fish?
The Reel Big Fish RTP is 96.51%. An RTP of 96.51% puts Reel Big Fish among slots with an average Return to Players. To be a high RTP slot it would have to be 98% or more.