Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy

Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy: Slot Overview

2022 (the year this review took place) might have been the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, but in the iGaming world, it was also the Year of the Fish. Software providers regularly provided players with the chance to try their luck amongst our piscine brothers and sisters. This time it's the turn of software house Light & Wonder in an online slot titled Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy. It's the sort of title that holds little back, giving users a fairly good idea of what to expect, on the surface at least, while the features we've got to look forward to are fishing rod prize collections, full reel multiplier wilds, free spins with wild conversions, and a buy pass.

One thing developers have been good at is presenting their fishy games in a wide variety of ways. That sentence might need clarification. Usually, and such is the case in Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy, these sorts of games take place on or near water, either above it or below. However, the artwork varies greatly from the visual feast of something like Golden Catch to something more old-school like Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy. This one hearkens back to the early days of angling slots, namely the veritable precursor of the genre, Fishin' Frenzy. The visuals are basic, the colours bright, and the music is insanely upbeat. Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy's presentation feels like it might divide players between those who dig the simplicity and others who are bored to bits by it.

Available in two RTP versions, Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy's highest theoretical return value is 95.92%, the lower one being a 94% model. Buying free spins, however, to grant you at least 3 scatter symbols on the reels costs 51 times the bet and drops the maximum return value to 95.89%. Alternatively, playing in the regular mode means picking a bet of 10 p/c to $/€20 per spin and banging away on the device of your choice - be it a desktop computer or handheld.

Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy is played on a 6-reel game grid, each reel holding 3 symbols and providing 729 ways to win. With this system, as long as matching symbols land on adjacent reels from the leftmost side of the panel, a winning way is formed. The extra four-position reel down the bottom will be covered in a moment. Winning ways must contain at least three symbols, and when hitting a full six-symbol combo, rewards vary from 1.5 to 3 times the bet for the 9-K royals, or 5-10x the bet for six nets, hats, tackle boxes, rings, or hooks. Sharks are wild, so they can replace any regular pay symbol to help complete a winning way.

Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy: Slot Features

Horizontal Reel of Fish

Now for that bottom reel. It's known as the Horizontal Reel Of Fish, and each position on it may display a blank space, a Cash Fish, a Swordfish, or an Electric Eel. At the start of each spin, the Horizontal Reel Of Fish moves left by one step, and a new symbol or blank appears on the rightmost position. Now, If a Fishing Rod symbol lands on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5, it lowers its hook and catches any symbol sitting below it on the Horizontal Reel of Fish, awarding its prize. No prize is awarded if it lands above a blank space.

Cash Fish award bet multipliers of x5 to x50, whereas the Electric Eel is a growing wild symbol which fills the whole reel when caught by the Fishing Rod. Any prizes awarded that include the Electric Eel are multiplied by x4. It is possible to have up to two Electric Eels at the same time with the multipliers multiplying each other.

Free Spins

Free spins can be triggered by hooking a Swordfish symbol or in a combination of Swordfish and scatter symbols. The pay table lists quite a few combinations, but basically, it is possible to win between 8 and 15 free spins depending on how many scatters and/or Swordfish hit. Free spins are more or less the same as paid spins, with the addition that a shark may swim onto the grid, turning up to 5 symbols wild. On a final note, it should be mentioned that free spins cannot be retriggered.

Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy: Slot Verdict

To start on a positive note, when Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy first lit up the screen, it felt like Light & Wonder was on a mission to lead players casually down to a virtual watering hole in shorts and flip-flops, not a care in the world about what anyone else might think of their appearance. After all, not worrying about other people's opinions might not be a bad thing at times. Where were we? Oh yes, Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy, where it doesn't feel like Light & Wonder went all out when rendering the visuals. The sounds are snappy indeed, zipping along at a great rate of knots. However, the visuals, hmm, not so sure. Let's say they might be an acquired taste, but reminded us of Dave Lame Bad Magician, another Light & Wonder released that didn't overly impress. It goes both ways. Some may adore Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy's 1990s looks and vibe, others not so much.

One ponderable element is that fish money symbols might not necessarily be Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy's central thrill maker. When factoring in the ways system, having two multiplicative full reel wild multipliers makes for quite an intriguing daydream. Dual Electric Eels never managed to eventuate during testing, yet they're technically out there, bobbing about, waiting for the right bait to come along and lure them in, so to speak. That, and Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy's max win of 8,259x the bet might be the inducements needed to hook certain players in.

Reel 'Em In A Bit Fishy has its moments, and while it avoids mirroring the better-known releases in the fishing slot category, users can still haul in fish. Some might find the rather dull visuals a garish deal breaker, but if not, then there could be laughs here to be had for the right armchair angler.