Fish ‘Em Up

Fish 'Em Up: Slot Overview

Time for some fishin' folks, this time we've got Games Global partner Snowborn Games to thank for sailing us out onto the high seas to reel in aquatic life forms. The game is Fish 'Em Up and bears a close resemblance to Pile 'Em Up and, by extension, the reskinned Irish version Tippy Tavern. However, Snowborn Games has seen fit to shake up the gameplay this time, meaning new bits and some altered versions of what came before. Package it all up in a jolly fishing outer coat, and it could be just the ticket for armchair slot anglers; spose it's time to cast off.

Speaking of jolly, Fish 'Em Up is about as jolly as a fishing slot gets, which is saying a lot since the chipper angle is a common one in this category of games. It's got a clear, sunny appearance, the screen split between above and below the water scenes. Up top, we've got a friendly fisherman in his boat, floating lazily along, while below sits a crab on the Bonus chest and a bit of weed off to the other side. Like Big Bass Bonanza, of which it is almost impossible not to compare new fishing slots to now, Fish 'Em Up rocks an upbeat soundtrack to create the sort of laid-back, carefree vibe prevalent in this type of game.

Snowborn Games has crafted Fish 'Em Up's game grid using 5-reels, 3-rows and 20 fixed paylines. Reels are transparent; better to see what's going on behind them, which is pretty much nothing other than murky water, but it's a clean look in keeping with current trends. With a minimum bet of 20 p/c and a maximum of $/€50 per spin, Fish 'Em Up can be played on any device from a tablet, mobile, to desktop. It's highly volatile, with a top RTP value of 96.11% (lower models are available), and at that level, players can expect a theoretical hit frequency of 27.16%.

Regular line wins occur when matching symbols land along a payline starting from the leftmost side of the grid. Hitting a line of 5 of the J thorough A card symbols pays 1 to 3.75 times the bet, while five floats, green lures, purple lures, or reels are worth 13 to 15 times the bet. Also appearing on all 5 reels is Fish 'Em Up's wild symbol. Wilds can substitute for any regular pay symbols, and a 5 OAK wild win pays 100 times the bet.

Fish 'Em Up: Slot Features

Can't be a fishing slot without a few fish on the board somewhere, and in Fish 'Em Up, they are used as cash prize symbols. Along with Catch Wins, there's a Cash Booster, free spins, and a hold 'n win Bonus with jackpot-style prizes.

Catch Wins

Fish symbols land displaying values of 0.2 to 50 times the bet. If they land and a Collect symbol is also on reel 5, the value of all fish symbols in view is awarded.

Catch Booster

The Catch Booster is a multiplier that starts at x1 and goes as high as x10. Whenever a 1UP symbol lands, the multiplier is increased by +1. When the Catch Booster multiplier has been applied to a fish symbol win, it resets back to x1 in the base game.

Free Spins

Boat scatters appear on reels 1, 3, and 5, and landing 3 of them awards 1.5x the bet plus 10 free spins. The 1UP symbol continues to increase the Catch Booster multiplier as in the base game, but now, when reaching x4, x7, or x10, +5 additional free spins are awarded each time. Moreover, in free spins, the multiplier does not reset and the Catch Booster is saved at each bet level. As well as triggering free spins organically, free spins may also be bought for the cost of 70 times the stake from the feature shop.

Bonus

Shell overlay symbols landing on fish symbols may activate the Bonus feature. The feature starts with 3 bonus spins on an empty game grid. Landing fish or prize symbols resets the number of spins to 3. Prize symbols are the Mini, Midi, Maxi, or Mega, and when these land, they are collected. Collecting 3 of the same prize awards their value of 30x, 100x, 500x, or 5,000x the bet for the Mini Midi, Maxi, or Mega, respectively. Alternatively, the Maxi is awarded if all positions on the grid are filled. Fish are sticky, while prize symbols are not. The round ends when no bonus spins are left, or all positions are filled.

Fish 'Em Up: Slot Verdict

In some ways, you got to feel for fish. Imagine, floating around the sea, minding your own business, then the next thing you know, something's stinging your mouth, and you're being dragged upwards to a waterless world you can't breathe in. Fortunately, Fish 'Em Up isn't anywhere near as traumatic as that. In fact, Snowborn Games is making good use of its 1UP concept, and it must be getting a warm reception to see such repeated use. It worked well in Pile 'Em Up and its Irish-themed cousin, and it actually makes a perfect fit in a fishing game as well. Not saying Fish 'Em Up is a major must-see, but for a more complex Fishin' Frenzy alternative which tries to stick it to Pragmatic Plays Big Bass behemoth, it does a decent job.

Fishing IRL presumably requires a fair degree of patience before the critters start to bite, and anglers can reel them in. Not so much in Fish 'Em Up, which landed Collect symbols fairly regularly to scoop up those coveted fish money symbols. Rarely if ever, to extraordinary levels, but collect a good number of 1UP symbols to advance the Catch Booster multiplier, and who knows, the result might be alright. Nice that the Catch Booster exists in the base game, too, though since it's persistent in free spins, it's a lot more desirable. One of the differences here is that the multiplier is absent from the Bonus game, having been replaced by the four special prize values. It's a more traditional hold 'n win approach than the previous method, and interestingly has resulted in a lower max win figure of 5,000 times the bet.

On the max win topic, Fish 'Em Up can't compete with the likes of Golden Catch or 4 Fantastic Fish, just throwing it out there, nor the previous two 1UP games for the record. However, it's a totally respectable sum in the world of online fishing and enough of a metaphorical trophy to chase while enjoying Fish 'Em Up's cheerful gaming.