Hopefully, you've got plenty of bait leftover in the box, folks, because software provider Pragmatic Play is keen on some more outdoor activities in an angling-themed slot called Lucky Fishing Megaways. Not the most original theme imaginable, what with the shoals of fishing slots already floating about the market, and to be honest, the team hasn't been very imaginative with the features either. Not at all, actually, since Lucky Fishing Megaways is essentially a reskin of Power of Thor Megaways. However, fishing slots have proven their popularity for a while now; maybe the call of the sea will prove strong with this one as well?
Unsurprisingly, Pragmatic Play has created a pretty location for the angling to take place. It seems we are casting off a jetty next to an attractive seaside scene, all blue skies, blue water, and enticing land masses. Trigger free spins, and the sun starts to set, charging the screen with a bunch of pleasant purpley orange colours. Provide a nice view for a fishing slot - check.
For the next few paragraphs, we could have copied and pasted what was used in Power of Thor Megaways, as the numbers and rules are nearly identical. The good news is that this includes a respectable return to player value of 96.55% (though lower models are available) when playing normally or a maximum of 96.97% when buying free spins. Regular spins vary from 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin, or it costs 100 times the wager to buy the bonus round. Highly volatile, Lucky Fishing Megaways can be played on all devices – tablet, mobile, or desktop computer.
Gaming occurs on a 6 + 1 Megaways grid, which means 6 reels spinning up 'n down, plus 1 reel spinning horizontally on top of the main reels. The number of symbols can vary on the main reels, from spin to spin, meaning ways to win vary as well. At full capacity, Lucky Fishing Megaways supplies 117,649 ways to win. When six-of-a-kind combos hit, payouts are 0.6-1.25x the stake for the 9-A cards or 2 to 20 times the stake for the blue, green, yellow or purple premium fish symbols. A fisherman chappy appears on the regular wild symbol, which only lands on the top reel, to substitute for any normal pay symbol.
Also present on the top reel only is a two-position Fishing Boat symbol. When the Fishing Boat symbol is fully in view from an initial spin, it transforms all symbols on the two reels below it into wild symbols. If the Fishing Boat symbol is fully in view after being moved by a tumble, it will also trigger the wild conversion modifier.
A tumble is triggered whenever a winning combination is created on the reels. The winning symbols disappear from the grid, and symbols tumble drop down on the main reels or from right to left on the top reel. Tumble wins keep on tumbling until no new win is created.
Landing 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 treasure chest scatters triggers 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, or 30 free spins, respectively. If 10-18 free spins were won, players have the chance of gambling them for more spins. Gambling is not possible if 26 or 30 free spins were awarded from the base game. To gamble, a wheel spins, stopping on a winning or a losing segment. Wins add +4 free spins, whereas landing on a losing segment means the round is over. It can be gambled up to 22 free spins.
For the free spins round, a win multiplier appears. The win multiplier begins at x1 and increases by one following each tumble and does not reset until the bonus ends. Players can extend the feature by landing 3 scatter symbols, awarding them +4 extra free spins. For clarity's sake, the two-position Fishing Boat symbol remains in play during free spins.
It's no secret Pragmatic Play has been shooting off slots at a considerable rate recently, with new games popping up left, right, and centre. At times, instead of feeling like an unstoppable outpouring of creativity, though, slots like Lucky Fishing Megaways make it seem like Pragmatic Play is running on fumes in terms of original thought. It's hard to really savage a lot of what Pragmatic Play does from a presentation standpoint, as the studio has the sound and visual aspects of game development pretty much locked down. But when cloning a game using fishing as its theme, there's a danger of creating an impression that the studio is scraping the barrel of originality.
Admittedly, Power of Thor Megaways' and, by association, Lucky Fishing Megaways' gameplay isn't bad at all. The wild transformational ability of the Fishing Boat has the ability to gel well with what can be a large number of ways and the tumble system. Add in a progressive multiplier for free spins, and potential hauls could be quite thrilling. Then again, not too thrilling since, like its predecessor, Lucky Fishing Megaways is governed by a rather stingy for Megaways win cap of 5,000x the bet. Amongst a lot of fishing-related slots, that's not a bad figure, but one players may want to toss back into the briny when compared to releases like Big Time Gaming's Golden Catch or 4ThePlayer's 4 Fantastic Fish.
And so, gamblers partial to fishing slots and/or Megaways games might be curious to see how Lucky Fishing Megaways performs. In a bubble, Lucky Fishing Megaways is likely to fulfil many of the requirements of an angling-themed Megaways slot. However, since almost every aspect has been seen before in one form or another, a few desirability points are lost, and if originality is a must, then Lucky Fishing Megaways might come across as chum rather than a prime catch.
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