Ugliest Catch

Ugliest Catch: Slot Overview

You don't need us to tell you how white-hot popular fishing is within the online slot industry. Sometimes, it doesn't seem like you can take a step in any direction without tripping over a bass game flopping about on the deck. Two franchises have dominated the scene for a while now, namely Blueprint Gaming's Fishin' Frenzy and Pragmatic Play's Big Bass Bonanza for those living under a rock, yet a lot of other studios are nibbling at the line, trying to muscle in on the action. Even so, gamblers accustomed to Nolimit City's work may be surprised to see the controversial developer dunking a lure into the sea of fishing slots with a contribution of its own. Given the studio's reputation for exploring shocking subject matter (mostly in a good way) and the game's title, Ugliest Catch is probably not going to be a regular fish slot.

For starters, if you like your fishing slots bright, sunny and inviting, then Ugliest Catch's dank, murky, mucky green game screen won't be as inviting as they usually are. However, one of Ugliest Catch's highlights is imagery you don't really see in slots like this - humorously grown-up, over-the-top stuff that's a Nolimit City trademark. It is amusing, but will it put regular recreational fishing slot gamblers off? Not because it's likely to cause offence, as such. Rather, because Ugliest Catch is no jolly day out on the briny, the wind in your hair, salt on your lips, leaving the drudgery of the day in day out grind behind to attempt pulling sleek, sparkling aquatic animals from their watery abodes.

Oh, and the fact Ugliest Catch is a very highly volatile slot might have something to do with deterring recreational fish gamblers as well. Heck, it might even put off some of the rough riders if the surface gets too choppy. The RTP comes in four values; the highest is 96.11%, either when regular betting 20 c to $/€100 per spin or when switching the Boosted xBet on. When the Boosted xBet is engaged, the stake increases by 75% to have a guaranteed scatter symbol on the second reel in the base game.

The reel set-up is a 5x5 area with locked positions. When a scatter lands, it opens the locked positions on its reel, meaning a minimum of 243 ways to win. Regular pay symbols are mostly fishing related, such as the low pay hook, can of worms, frog, weight with a foot attached, and wellies, while the high pays are 5 fish of various descriptions and beauty levels (including Fish Trophy combinations). A 5-symbol low pay win is worth 0.5 to 0.7 times the bet, rising to 1.8 to 5 times the bet for a 5 premium symbol win. Wilds substitute for anything but the scatter.

Ugliest Catch: Slot Features

Not to be outdone by the competition, Ugliest Catch comes fully stocked with features such as Enhancers Cells, Fish Trophy & Big Berta, Kill N' Grill Wild Fishing, Lunker Spins, Hawg Spins, Honey Hole Spins, and feature buys.

Enhancer Cells

On the top and bottom of each reel are locked enhancer cell positions. When opened by landing a scatter symbol, enhancer cells reveal Fisherman Wilds, Big Bertas, xWays, or regular pay symbols. xWays can only land on locked positions, transforming into 2 to 4 instances of the same pay symbol, increasing the number of ways.

Fish Trophy & Big Berta

Fish Trophy and Big Berta symbols display random multiplier values, winnable in the Kill N' Grill Wild Fishing feature. Fish Trophy values are 2x, 5x, 25x, 250x, 1,000x or 5,000x, while Big Berta values are 100x, 250x, 1,000x or 5,000x.

Kill N' Grill Wild Fishing

This is basically a fancy name for a fish symbol collection feature. In the base game, landing a golden Fisherman Wild in an opened enhancer cell triggers this feature. In any free spins mode, landing a Fisherman Wild on any open position also triggers this feature. During it, Fisherman Wilds collect multiplier values from Fish Trophy symbols for the player. This is on top of any symbol payout, if any.

Lunker Spins - Hawg Spins - Honey Hole Spins

Landing 3 scatters triggers 8 Lunker Spins with 6 opened enhancer cells, landing 4 scatters triggers 9 Hawg Spins with 8 opened enhancer cells, and hitting 5 scatters awards 10 Honey Hole Spins with 10 opened enhancer cells. Also, landing an extra scatter in Lunker of Hawg Spins opens up 2 enhancer cells and awards +1 extra free spin.

When Fisherman Wilds land in free spins, they also get collected. When 4, 8, or 12 are collected, then Troll level multipliers of x2, x3, or x10 (+2 free spins are also awarded when this happens) are respectively activated and apply to any collected fish symbols via the Kill N' Grill Wild Fishing feature.

Bonus Buys

From the bonus buy section, players can get 8 Lunker Spins for 94x the bet (RTP 96.44%), 9 Hawg Spins for 300x the bet (RTP 96.22%), 10 Honey Hole spins for 866x the bet (RTP 96.34%), or a lucky dip option for 390x the bet (RTP 96.36%).

Ugliest Catch: Slot Verdict

We speculated about this not being a regular fish slot in the intro, but a lot about Ugliest Catch is actually quite conventional. The main aim of the game remains pulling fish money symbols off the reels by fisherman symbols - during free spins is better since multipliers can come into play from the wild collection mechanic. Where have we heard that before? Yet, while Ugliest Catch might share core goals with any number of fishing slots swimming about the place, it is still a Nolimit City piece, offering all the triumphs and/or despair this reality makes manifest.

For one thing, Ugliest Catch is volatile, no two ways about it. So much so that recreational gamblers may choose to avoid this the way a casual sushi consumer might steer clear of a dodgy-looking bowl of fugu - the flavour might be delicious, but ill-prepared fugu has caused fatalities in the past. While playing Ugliest Catch is highly unlikely to be fatal, a brutal battering for those unaccustomed to the studio's ways could be unpleasant. Even dedicated followers might find it tough to stomach opening up all the stages then eating a bunch of dead spins.

However, and there is usually a however in a Nolimit City game, once again, you can see the potential as well. Big Berta symbols, for one, are pretty exciting. When they hit, they spin through their possible values, all of which aren't bad, before picking one to award - maybe even the highly coveted 5,000x prize. Since an x10 Troll multiplier is possible, you can clearly see how a lucky player could hit the 50,000x top prize. For the record, the max win is something that happens, theoretically, in 20 million spins. Nolimit City's track record of its slots actually achieving full potential is a major pro point in Ugliest Catch's favour, too. Package it up, and you've got a fish slot which might not be as experimental as some might have visualised, but the familiar mechanics, the Kill N' Grill element, and the humour create an enticing option in the fish slot market that isn't like 999 other games.