Big Bass Bonanza slot review
The slot that started it all, Big Bass Bonanza, kicked off the Big Bass series in 2020 creating Pragmatic Play’s favorite fisherman.
A straightforward five-reel, three-row, 10-payline slot, Big Bass Bonanza keeps things simple with its gameplay, visuals, and animations.
Keep reading our Big Bass Bonanza review to get all the juicy deets, including its medium-high volatility, 96.71% RTP, and max win of 2,100x your bet.
Highlights
| RTP | 96.71% |
| Stakes range | 250 |
| Volatility | Med-High |
| Max win | 2,100x |
| Number of reels | 5 |
| Number of rows | 3 |
| Number of paylines | 10 |
| Software provider | Pragmatic Play |
| Slot type | Video slots |
| Slot theme | Fishing |
| Launch date | 14/12/2020 |
General ratings
Big Bass Bonanza casinos — where is it available?
Being one of Pragmatic Play’s most popular slots, Big Bass Bonanza is everywhere the software is. Some casinos even have free spins tied to that slot, such as Hello Millions.
Most casinos that have and promote the Big Bass Bonanza slot are sweepstakes casinos, so you can enjoy this slot without needing to make any real-money transactions.
| Casino Logo | Rating | Bonus | Go-to-casino button | Show more | T&C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
|
94/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 91% Playscore based on |
1.5 million WOW Coins + 35 free Sweepstakes Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
8 payment methods 
|
|
2
|
88/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 96% Playscore based on |
250,000 Gold Coins + $25 Stake Cash
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
10 payment methods 
|
|
3
|
88/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 90% Playscore based on |
57,000 Gold Coins + 27.5 free Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
4 payment methods
|
|
|
1
|
94/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 91% Playscore based on |
1.5 million WOW Coins + 35 free Sweepstakes Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
8 payment methods
|
|
2
|
91/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 82% Playscore based on |
200,000 Gold Coins + 3 Sweepstakes Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
15 payment methods
|
|
3
|
89/100 Expert rating by Vule P. 79% Playscore based on |
500 Gold Coins + 3 FREE Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
8 payment methods
|
|
4
|
89/100 Expert rating by Claire S. 89% Playscore based on |
400% Welcome Package Discount, 1M FC + 1M GC Raffle Entry, 20 Weekly Free Spins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
6 payment methods
|
|
5
|
89/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 87% Playscore based on |
Up to 120,000 Gold Coins + 10 Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
3 payment methods
|
|
6
|
89/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 79% Playscore based on |
1,000,000 Gold Coins + 2.5 Spree Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
5 payment methods
|
|
7
|
89/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 81% Playscore based on |
10,000 Gold Coins + 2 Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
10 payment methods
|
|
8
|
88/100 Expert rating by Dasha G. 87% Playscore based on |
2,000,000 Gold Coins and 2 FREE Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
9 payment methods
|
|
|
9
|
88/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 90% Playscore based on |
57,000 Gold Coins + 27.5 free Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
4 payment methods
|
|
|
10
|
88/100 Expert rating by Paul P. 96% Playscore based on |
250,000 Gold Coins + $25 Stake Cash
|
Play now players accepted |
Good to know
10 payment methods
|
Big Bass Bonanza RTP and volatility
Big Bass Bonanza has a medium-high volatility. This means that even though wins will be less frequent, they should generally be large. The maximum you can win is 2,100x your bet, which at a bet of $250 can total up to $525,000.
Payout facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| RTP | 96.71% |
| Maximum win | 2,100x |
| Highest-paying symbol | Fishing float |
| Volatility | Medium-high |
The theoretical RTP of Big Bass Bonanza is 96.71%. The letter and number symbols are the lowest awarding symbols and will award 0.5x, 2.5x, or 10x your bet depending on if you have three, four, or five adjacent symbols starting from the leftmost reel.
The highest-paying symbol, the fishing float, is the only symbol that awards the player for two adjacent symbols. You can win 0.5x, 5x, 20x, or 200x your bet depending on if you have two, three, four, or five adjacent symbols respectively.
Payouts rating
- Above-average RTP
- High symbol payouts
- Low max win
You won’t have a bad time with the payouts of Big Bass Bonanza. An RTP of 96.71% is above average, and medium-high volatility means the few wins you get should be on the big side.
I particularly like how high some of the payouts of the base symbols are. The firefly and fishing box symbols give you double your bet as the lowest prize, while the fishing rod symbol gives a minimum payout of 3x the bet.
It can certainly be better though. It’s a shame most of the symbols have a minimum payout of 0.5x your bet, and a max win of 2,100x your bet, which seems low compared to other competing slots. Dead or Alive 2 can go as high as 111,111x your bet.
Slot stake limits of Big Bass Bonanza
The minimum bet of Big Bass Bonanza is $0.10, while the maximum bet is $250. The game will start you at the $1 bet, then you can press the – or + buttons to adjust the bet amount quickly.
Stake facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Minimum bet | $0.10 |
| Maximum bet | $250 |
| Adjustable paylines | N/A |
| Bet per line | $0.01 |
| Buy feature | N/A |
The Big Bass Bonanza slot has 10 paylines, though they are not adjustable. If you win on multiple paylines, the wins get added to one total win. All paylines start from the leftmost reel and pay left to right.
Stake limits rating
- Low min, high max bet
- Large variety of bet values
- No adjustable paylines
I’m a huge fan of the variety of bet choices available at Big Bass Bonanza. Low rollers can go in with $0.10 or $0.20 bets, while high rollers can try for the big bucks at $200, $215, or $250 bets.
It’s not just the range that’s impressive (though it certainly is). Big Bass Bonanza has 50 different bet options available, which are plenty to choose from.
My only complaint is that there are no adjustable paylines, and you’re instead stuck with the 10 base paylines of the game. It’s not a huge deal though, and overall I’m happy with the options available.
Big Bass Bonanza’s bonus features
Big Bass Bonanza has four bonus features, however they all activate during the same phase as one large feature.
The base game has Scatter symbols that can appear on any of the reels. Having three or more Scatter symbols appear on any of the reels triggers the Free Spins feature. You get a different number of free spins depending on how many Scatters appear, as seen below:
- 3 Scatters — 10 free spins
- 4 Scatters — 15 free spins
- 5+ Scatters — 20 free spins
Feature facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Wilds | Yes, during Free Spins feature |
| Scatters | Yes |
| Other special symbols | Money symbols |
| Gamble feature | N/A |
| Reel features | N/A |
| Free spins | Yes |
| Respins | N/A |
| Multipliers | Yes, during Free Spins feature |
| Other bonus features | N/A |
Once the Free Spins feature starts, the fisherman Wild symbol has a chance of appearing. This fisherman not only substitutes for all symbols but also awards players the value of fish-shaped Money symbols. So if five of these Money symbols appear as well as a fisherman, even if none of them are on a payline, the player will still win all the money shown in the fish symbols.
There are eight potential fish-like Money symbols, which multiply your bet at either 2x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, or 2,000x your bet. The multiplied value is displayed as money under the fish, and the entire value is collected if the fisherman appears.
If four fisherman Wild symbols appear during the Free Spins feature, the player is awarded 10 more free spins, and now these Money symbols caught by the fisherman have a 2x multiplier. If another four fishermen appear, that’s another 10 free spins and a 3x multiplier. A final four more fishermen award 10 more free spins and the fish-shaped Money symbols will have a 10x multiplier.
Bonus features rating
- Generous Free Spins feature
- Large multipliers
- Few other features
Let’s get the obvious problem out of the way: the low number of bonus features. Only four feature types are available, and three are only present during the free spins feature.
To give some context, the Jumanji slot has loads of features that only activate during its bonus round, but the base game still has multipliers of up to 10x your stake.
The good news is the Free Spins feature is huge, and when it activates it all but guarantees huge wins thanks to the combo of the fisherman collecting all the fish-shaped money. No payline is required, the fisherman will simply collect the money of any fish symbols that appear.
The audiovisuals of Big Bass Bonanza
Big Bass Bonanza has fishing as its theme. Most of the symbols available center around fishing, with a few letter and number symbols thrown in as well.
Animations are limited, mostly consisting of the winning symbols wiggling a bit when they win.
The visuals and effects are smooth on the lower bet values, however, on higher bet values where larger numbers need to be displayed, a little slowdown does occur.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Theme | Fishing |
| Graphics | Good |
| Animations | Basic |
| Sound quality | High |
| Mobile compatibility | Good |
The music is an upbeat summer jingle that plays in the background, with pleasing underwater-themed sound effects for the reels and symbols. The quality of the audio and visuals is the same on both mobile and desktop.
Audiovisuals rating
- Great sound effects
- Smooth symbol animations
- Dated visuals
- Lags on higher bet values
Big Bass Bonanza tries to keep things simple with its visuals and graphics, and in doing so possibly oversteps and makes them look a bit dated.
Compare this to a newer entry in the Big Bass series, Big Bass Floats My Boat, which has updated, touched-up images and background animations, and it’s easy to see how Big Bass Bonanza looks old in comparison.
Personally, I don’t mind the slightly dated visuals as they still work quite well, and they pair nicely with the banger summer jingle that plays in the background. I’m less forgiving of the lag that appears when higher values are used for bets, as that can be off-putting for any potential high rollers.
Big Bass Bonanza slot’s layout
Big Bass Bonanza uses a basic five-reel, three-row format that’s immediately recognizable. Underneath the reels, you can press the ‘Spin’ button, see your credit and bet amount, and click the ‘Information’ button to bring up a pop-up menu on how the slot works.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Reel layout | 5×3 |
| Autoplay | Available |
| Turbo mode | Available |
| Ease of use | Intuitive |
| Game history | N/A |
The ‘Autoplay’ button lets you start the autoplay mode at set amounts: 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, 100, 500, and 1,000 spins. From here you can also set turbo mode, quick spins, and skip screens.
Game layout rating
- Turbo and quick spin modes
- Autoplay available
- No win/loss limits
The slot layout uses a classic design that’s intuitive and easy to use. The spin button is large and clearly visible as is the information button to give you all the info you may need about the slot and its features.
The autoplay feature comes with plenty of options, letting you try out just a few bets or sink it all into 1,000 bets. I am disappointed that no win/loss limits are available, as they could help a player not go over budget when spinning.
Still, you can stop the autoplay at any time by clicking the button again. Throw in features like turbo and quick spin, and you have a great slot layout on your hands.
Expert verdict
Overall, there’s a lot to like about Big Bass Bonanza, and I can see how this slot got so popular that it spawned a whole series.
The layout is intuitive and easy to use, the music is an absolute banger, and the slot caters to both low and high rollers. Its biggest selling point is its impressive Free Spins feature, which has the potential to lead to massive wins in one big go.
The slot is not infallible. It lacks in other bonus features and slows down on higher bet values, which can be off-putting to high rollers looking for a smooth experience.
Still, I would certainly recommend trying this slot out if you see it at your favorite casino.
- Large Free Spins feature
- Turbo, quick spin, and autoplay available
- Low minimum bet
- Few features
- Basic graphics
- Low max win
