In short: Big Bass Splash takes the Big Bass collect-and-retrigger round and adds ways into it and ways to improve it: a two-scatter spin can be rescued, and up to five random modifiers can strengthen the round before it starts. Fish values run all the way to 5,000x, the same figure as the cap. It suits players who already like the series and want rounds that differ from one trigger to the next.
Two scatters are no longer a dead end
Pragmatic Play released Big Bass Splash on 23 June 2022 as the fifth game in its Big Bass line, made with Reel Kingdom. It keeps the five-by-three grid and 10 paylines, adds a high-paying monster truck symbol, and runs from 0.10 to 250 per spin by default.
The real change is in the base game. When two scatters land without a third, one of two random features can step in. If the scatters can drop one position without leaving the grid, a respin moves those reels down while the others spin again. Alternatively, a hook can pull a reel up to reveal another scatter. Three, four or five scatters then award 10, 15 or 20 free spins.
Modifiers set the round up before it starts
Before the first free spin, between zero and five modifiers are picked at random:
- More fish and more fishermen put extra fish or extra wilds on the reel strips for the round.
- More dynamite, hooks and bazookas raises the chance of the three rescue features described below.
- Start from level 2 opens the round at the 2x step of the retrigger ladder.
- +2 spins adds two spins at the start and two more on every retrigger.
Two rounds from the same trigger can therefore look very different. A round that opens at level 2 with extra fishermen is already halfway to the next step; one with no modifiers starts from scratch.
Collecting, rescuing and climbing
In free spins every fisherman wild collects the cash values of all fish on screen, and those values range from 2x to 5,000x the bet. Three random rescues keep spins from going to waste: dynamite drops fish when fishermen land without any, a hook pulls a reel to bring in a fisherman when fish land alone, and a bazooka can clear everything except the fishermen and replace it.
Every fourth wild retriggers the round with 10 more spins and lifts the collection multiplier to 2x, then 3x, then 10x. The higher multiplier applies to the retriggered spins, and the round cannot retrigger after the 10x level.
The numbers that matter
The cap is 5,000x the stake, and a round that reaches it ends immediately. Since a single top fish is already worth 5,000x, the largest fish cannot be improved by any multiplier. The in-game rules put the chance of hitting the cap at about 1 in 3.1 million spins.
The RTP is 96.71% both in normal play and when the feature is bought for 100x the bet; a bought round guarantees three, four or five scatters at random. Casinos may run lower settings, so check the figure inside the game you open, and see why the same slot can have different RTP for the background. Pragmatic rates the game medium volatility.
In Ontario the RTP checked matches the default, but stake limits can be tighter: one regulated casino caps Big Bass Splash at $100 a spin instead of 250.
Where it sits in the series
Big Bass Bonanza uses the same scatter counts and ladder with fish up to 2,000x, no modifiers and no buy. Bigger Bass Splash moves the same modifier system onto a 5x4 grid with 12 lines and adds an ante option and a pricier buy. Splash sits between them: more going on than the original, without a taller grid.
In the free demo above, it is worth counting how often the respin or hook turns two scatters into three, and how many modifiers each round receives.
