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Pragmatic Play, a Gibraltar-based casino content provider, makes and distributes the Big Bass Bonanza Megaways. The company came into being in 2015, following the rebranding of TopGame Technology. In the last decade, it has expanded its presence beyond Gibraltar, now having offices in India and Romania.It specializes in developing award-winning casino games across different categories, including live casino, virtual sports, bingo and slots. An article reviews the Big Bass Bonanza Megaways slot. You’ll learn more about the themes, successful symbol combinations, gameplay process and winning potential.
Slot machine players know that Megaways are designed to increase chances to grab a prize by constantly changing the number of ways to win, and by deploying a dynamic mechanism that alters the number of symbols that appear on the reel, on each spin.
The Big Bass Bonanza Megaways review starts by highlighting a backstory. It’s built upon the Big Bass Bonanza series and is the third installment, following the success of Big Bass Bonanza (the first) and Bigger Bass Bonanza (the second).
It was released on November 18, 2021, just two months after the second installment hit the market. It came with the Megaways mechanic, a feature that offers over 40,000 winning pathways.
The Big Bass Bonanza Megaways is mainly a slot with a fishing theme, with underlying elements of sea, tackle boxes and fishing rods. It has other fishing-themed icons, such as:
The ocean-themed slot is set against an underwater backdrop, with those symbols and the game ambiance setting the tone of immersing players in a fishing adventure. It’s perfect for punters who are looking to get the best of both worlds – the outdoor relaxation that comes with fishing and the thrills of catching big wins after setting the bait with the reels.
The storyline takes players through different routes of getting excited about what the next win might be, seeing that they don’t know what the bait might attract. It helps you get into the mood of relaxation, offering a sharp detour from the everyday hassles of life.
Those who make the most out of it are those who stay on the line. The rule of thumb is that the longer you fish, the more you know how to attract fish, and the bigger the rewards.
The soundtrack is catchy and perfectly crafted to immerse players in the fishing adventure. The background music alternates between an upbeat country tune with a banjo and harmonica balancing it. Get ready to go a-fishing with sound designed to bring the fishing theme to life, while giving that rhythmic and relaxing feeling of fishing at the lake.
It has matching sound effects, invoking the spirit of fishing on a lazy afternoon, with effects matching every action. For every fish caught, water splashing and reels cast, you get a matching sound effect. The bubbling sounds and catching jingles help trigger that sense of realism when you play Big Bass Bonanza Megaways. Players’ emotional engagement is captured in the process, with the audio intensity shifting from casual to suspenseful, especially during bonus rounds.
Animation is an integral part of the slot, with expressive characters and smooth transitions hallmarking the gameplay. As an ocean-themed slot, it features bouncing and shimmering successful symbols that tumble and are replaced with new ones via the tumble feature. You tend to anticipate when the fish icons, hallmarking the scatters, are triggered, with intensified sound cues and flashlights appearing at the time. Visual progress works in tandem with the bonus triggers, filling up when the Fisherman icons are collected.
This is one of the casino games with both feature-rich and lively gameplay attributes that cleverly tie into the fishing theme. The gameplay is powered by the Megaways engine that provides players with over 40,000 rewarding pathways.
The structure starts with 6 vertical reels, with each of those displaying between two and seven symbols on each spin. The paylines are 46,656 Megaways, but keep in mind that the value may vary per spin and usually depends on the number of icons that appear.
As a high volatility slot, it offers high payouts, but players want to be consistent and strategic with their spins to land something good. You aim to have at least three of the identical symbol combinations on the adjacent reels. Keep in mind that the game pays from the left to the right, starting from the leftmost reel.
The Big Bass Bonanza Megaways has a Return to Player (RTP) of 96.72%, though some operators can offer varying values of 95.66% and 94.62%. The bet amount ranges from $0.20 to $100 per spin.
The slot has certain rules governing payouts and getting bonuses, such as free spins. They include:
| Payout Rules | Only the highest amount won is paid per rewarding combination. This is subject to forming the combination on the same payline. |
| Winning Collation | All the values (including bonus wins and free spins) are calculated as coins. |
| Multi-wins | In the case of multiple prizes, all the amounts or values won on multiple paylines are added to the total amount won. |
The Big Bass Bonanza Megaways slot features free spins, cascading and money symbols. Here’s a summary of what each offers.
Landing three or more fish (scatter) icons on the reels gets you some free chances to spin the reels. Three of these icons get you 10 free spins, 5 get you 20 and six get you 25 free spins.
Things are spiced up when the Fisherman symbol, denoted by a man carrying a fish, appears on the reels. It’s a retriggering icon paying in the following ways:
The terms include a maximum of three retriggers, and it’s a must for the retriggered spins to be played after the previous batch of extra spins has ended.
This is the cascading feature, meaning that after any win, the rewarding icons will disappear after they’re paid out. That paves the way for the remaining icons to drop down.
The rule is that new icons will continue to drop or «tumble» until no other winning combinations appear.
The free spins bonus game is the primary bonus feature that doubles as the heart of the slot game. It comes with a holistic fishing-themed adventure, awarding up to 25 free spins, and a retriggering mechanism.
The table below explains it further:
| Dynamite Feature | This is a random feature during the free spins bonus round. It adds money symbols to random positions on the reels. It usually shows up when the fish icon doesn’t appear after the fisherman lands on the reels. The dynamite feature adds new fish icons to the reels, thus giving you new money values to collect. |
| Bazooka Feature | It is another unpredictable element that introduces new icons to the reels by removing every other symbol, except the fishermen. It usually lands when two of the fisherman icons land on the reels, without a fish symbol appearing. By «blasting» or clearing the reels, it refreshes the fish icons, giving you a better chance at forming and landing a combo. |
A symbol is denoted by a fish and takes a randomized monetary value. They don’t pay out on a standalone basis but require a fisherman icon to appear on the reel to collect the cash values attached to them.
The following are some of the specifications:
The themes entrenched in Big Bass Bonanza Megaways are themed around aquatic life and fishing gear in general. You can expect a few classic slot icons.
The symbols pay from the leftmost reel to the right, and are based on the number of matching or successful combinations or icons that land on the reel. The elements are generally classified based on the value of the payouts, from low to high.
These are card icons from 10 to A. The maximum payout is around 2x or less, per line, 6 of a kind.
The Ten (10) card value pays 1.2x on 6 of a kind, while the Ace (A) pays 2x for the same. Both Jack (J) and Queen (Q) pay 1.5x on 6-of-a-kind. The King (K) card value pays 2x too.
There are four (4) card values that pay the most, with these values:
These are symbols that don’t pay like the aforementioned, but still pay with varying values. The first is Fish, the money element that appears with random cash values and pays up to 2,000x of your bet, provided it’s collected during the free spins round when the fisherman symbol lands on the reel.
The fisherman is the second special symbol. It’s called the collector or wild. It appears during the free spins round, removes every other icon except the scatters (fish symbols), and collects any fish icon on the reel.
The fish or scatters are the third special symbol, appearing on all the reels and triggering the free spin bonus round. At least three of these must land on the reel for the round to start.
The Return to Player (RTP) value is pegged at 96.72%. This is slightly above the average value for real money casino games. You can trust the design to have $96.72 returned to you for every $100 wagered.
The remaining 3.28% (representing $3.28 on a $100 wager) is the «house edge». A value may differ among online casino platform providers. Some set it as 95.66% while others offer 94.62%. Thus, you should thoroughly check the guide on such sites to be sure of what they’re offering.
The Big Bass Bonanza Megaways has a high variance. A volatility level assures significant payouts when they eventually land. They may not always trigger frequent prizes, making it non-ideal for players who are out to reap most of the benefits in one fell swoop from wagering on the slot. Getting the most out of the volatility requires:
The high volatility rating of the slot game is geared towards punters who are thinking for the long term and who are content with decent payouts. The best strategies to deploy are waiting for bonus rounds, trying to get the «big fish» wins, and managing your bankroll.
There’s no jackpot (either fixed or progressive) in the slot. It focuses on multipliers of up to 10x, and strong bonus features like money symbols and fisherman collectors.
While you won’t find jackpots, you do have a chance to earn as much as possible, with 4,000x your total bet as the maximum win. Though it’s a volatile game, big wins are rare but possible.
The maximum gain is static and doesn’t change, whether you stake high or low. For example, wagering $1 per spin guarantees a maximum prize of $4,000. The amount becomes $20,000 if you wager $5.
The $4,000 win cap applies per spin and typically includes all the wins in that spin. The wins calculated include extra features and tumble (cascading) rewards.
The best options for winning this much are:
The rules guiding the maximum amount include:
Big Bass Bonanza Megaways is an exciting online casino slot game designed as the third installment of the Big Bass Bonanza series. It comes equipped with a Megaways feature, which offers 46,656 ways to earn a prize. By building on the success of the two predecessors, it offers nostalgia and emotional and experimental themes of fishing and relaxation. Players seize the advantage of this to strike a balance between fun, the excitement of unexpected rewards and serenity.
As a player and one looking to make something out of your play, commit to landing more scatters on the reels to activate bonus rounds that catapult you to getting retriggers. These accentuate your chances of winning more at the end of the bonus round.
Rating by: Nashon Khamala
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Filip Gromovic is a senior slots reviewer here at FreeSlots99 with over five years of experience evaluating the latest drops in the world of iGaming.
Being a slot fan himself, Filip approaches slot ratings just the way we like it – professionally, but also from a player’s standpoint.
That enables him to give his unbiased take on the slot’s features, gameplay and design, while only recommending top-tier releases to our readers.
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Having served FreeSlots99 for more than 5 years as a senior content editor and reviewer, Nashon Khamala has extensive knowledge in game slots and iGaming.
His membership in the Editorial Freelancers Association helps him deliver content that reaches both editorial excellence standards and an engaging information level.
By using his expertise in slots games combined with player-focused analysis, Nashon delivers a professional evaluation of slot features and player experiences in his reviews.
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