Another day, another fishing slot rolls off the production line. This one is named Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel, and if anyone is able to craft a fishing game with a twist, it's got to be Pragmatic Play and partner studio Reel Kingdom. So far, the duo has crafted a hugely popular line of angling-themed slots, sparked by Big Bass Bonanza with a number of releases branching off it. The current game under the microscope is Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel, which sprinkles in all the things that made the range alluring while mixing in a couple of newer parts to freshen the experience.
What's stayed the same throughout is the Big Bass spirit. It's hard to put into words, but if you've played one, you'll probably know what we mean. The jolly bearded fisherman, the big bright symbols, the aquatic setting, the general feeling of amiability oozing from every pore. All of that returns for Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel, which looks like it has changed location to somewhere colder than usual. Players aren't exactly ice fishing, but the land in the top portion of the screen does look kinda icy. Complimenting the visuals, Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel's tunes are as bouncy as ever.
Numerically, Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel has increased some things while dropping others. The RTP, for one, is slightly lower than the original was, albeit nothing to complain about, with a maximum default value of 96.07%, though two lower models are available. Potential is a lot higher than Pragmatic Play's fishing games tend to be and comes with a highly volatile math model. When picking bets, players can choose stakes of 10 p/c to $/€250 per spin, available on any device.
Gathering fish money symbols might be Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel's main drawcard, but that only occurs during free spins. Line wins are another way of generating pay-outs, which happens when matching pay symbols land on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost Reel onwards. Players get 10 fixed paylines to land wins on, crossing the game's 5-reel, 3-row grid. The normal pays are made up of 10-A royals as the lows, and fish symbols, tackle boxes, dragonflies, reels, and floats as the highs. Hitting a five-of-a-kind winning line pays 5-10x the bet for the royals or 20 to 200x the bet for the premium symbols. Wilds and golden wilds appear only in free spins where one of their jobs is substituting for any symbol except the scatter.
Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel reserves its special bits for the bonus round. This is triggered naturally when 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols hit to award 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. If 2 scatters land in the base game, there is a chance the third is hooked onto the screen to trigger free spins.
As mentioned, the wild symbol and golden wild symbol are added to the reels for free spins. When fish symbols land, they display a cash money value. If fish land at the same time as a regular wild or golden wild symbol, their values are collected and awarded. If fish symbols land, but no wild lands, their values are added to a prize net sitting above the grid. On each following spin, a random fish escapes the pot, subtracting from its value.
However, when a golden wild symbol hits, it not only collects the values of any fish symbols that land at the same time, but whatever value is stored in the prize pot is also awarded. There are also a few random elements. So, when there are fisherman symbols on screen but no fish at the end of a free spin, fish symbols can appear in random positions. Alternatively, if there are fish symbols but no fisherman, fisherman symbols can randomly be added to the board.
Wait, there's more. When wilds or golden wilds hit, they are collected on the multiplier trail. Every 4 collected retriggers 10 extra free spins, with a multiplier for each fish money symbol collection. The multiplier progresses through x2, x3, and x10. When reaching the final level, the feature cannot be retriggered again.
Two other ways of playing Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel are with the Ante Bet or buying free spins. The Ante Bet increases the bet by 50%, adding extra scatter symbols to the reels. Or, if possible, players can buy free spins for 100x the bet. For both methods, the RTP remains the same at 96.07%.
Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom have gotten some good mileage out of their Big Bass range of related slots, and the series shows no signs of slowing up. If anything, it's going from strength to strength and Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel has several things going on to reel in fans of the range. For one, the jollity is back with a vengeance - everything just looks and sounds so darn chipper. While this sort of thing won't be to everyone's taste, players who fell for Big Bass Bonanza's charm should be all over the Keeping it Reel one, too.
The new bit, however, isn't completely new. Previous Pragmatic Play slots like Treasure Wild and Black Bull used a similar system where money symbols add their values to a prize pot which then gets awarded whenever wild symbols land. In Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel, for some reason, money leaps out of the prize net. Okay, it suits a fish leaping off a boat and back into the water concept, but it is kind of frustrating watching the prize pool evaporate before your very eyes. Is this what the game title alludes to in regards to keeping it real? Escaping fish don't exactly hurt Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel's max winning capabilities, though, as it tops out at 10,000x the bet. That trumps Big Bass Bonanza Megaways, Big Bass Splash, or Bigger Bass Bonanza, all of them really, by a wide margin.
Ah, well, chalk up another playable entry in the Big Bass range of slots. It's hardly a fishing slot paradigm shift and doesn't do much that isn't available before or elsewhere. However, the bigger winning potential plus newish bits keep the series afloat and should be significant enough to attract fans back for another whirl.
Play for real money
