Big Bass – Hold & Spinner

I should know what to say here by now. We’re back again with a visit to Pragmatic Play partner Reel Kingdom for yet another fishy release. You know how sometimes adverts will say ‘from the studio that brought you…’. Well, this studio has brought us Big Bass Bonanza, Bigger Bass Bonanza, Big Bass Bonanza Megaways, Big Bass Splash, Big Bass Keeping it Reel, Christmas Big Bass Bonanza, Bigger Bass Blizzard – that’s a lot of bass. No judgement on our part – if you know you’re on to a good thing it makes sense to get the most of it, and there’s no denying that players continue to lap up any new Bass release sent their way. In this case, it’s Big Bass – Hold & Spinner, which might remind you of this team’s other releases of the Floating Dragon variety. With a highly (5/5) volatile maths model, this release comes with RTP options up to 96.07%, and can produce wins up to 10,000x bet.

Big Bass – Hold & Spinner Base Game

Visually… Well look, nothing has changed. We’re underwater, with the usual bubbles, coral, and fish in the background. At the top of the screen above the water line we have some long grass, indicating that we’re near a river of some sort – this is the main thing the team change with each release. Aside from that, symbols and general imagery remain, with tackle boxes, dragonflies, fishing rods, and fishing bobbers – all pretty standard. A nice, upbeat soundtrack finishes it all off – a bit of a remix on what we’ve had before.

Big Bass – Hold & Spinner Offers Players 10 Fixed Win Lines

Big Bass – Hold & Spinner Base Features

Taking place across 5 reels, wins are formed on Big Bass – Hold & Spinner by matching at least 3 symbols on adjacent reels, across 1 of 10 fixed win lines. Symbols available begin with non premiums, with 10s, Js, Qs, Ks, and As, awarding wins of 0.20x bet for 3 of a kind, increasing to values between 5 and 10x bet for 5 of a kind matches. At the premium end, we have Fish Money symbols, tackle boxes, dragonflies, and fishing rods, awarding wins between 1 and 3x bet for 3 of a kind wins, increasing to values between 20 and 100x bet for 5 of a kind matches. Finally, fishing bobbers act as the premium-most symbol and also the only to pay for 2 of a kind. Land 2, 3, 4, or 5 of a kind matches to see wins of 0.50, 5, 20, or 200x bet respectively.

Fish Money Symbols Take on a Random Value at the Start of Each Spin, up to 10,000x Bet

There’s really only one base game feature to cover in Big Bass – Hold & Spinner, and it’s the Ante Bet. By betting an additional 50%, there are more Scatters added to the reels, therefore the chance of triggering Free Spins naturally is higher. When using Ante Bet, the option to Buy Free Spins is disabled, and RTP increases slightly to 96.09%, based on the 96.07% setting.

Big Bass – Hold & Spinner Bonus

There are two bonus rounds in Big Bass – Hold & Spinner, both of which will be familiar to fans of this game studio. First up is the Hold & Spinner feature. On any spin, Money symbols may land on the reels, taking on a random value from a pre-defined set. Possible Money symbol values are – 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, 8x, 9x, 10x, 11x, 12x, 14x, 16x, 18x, 20x, 22x, 25x, 30x, 50x, 100x, 200x, 300x, 500x, 1000x, or 2000x bet.

Money symbols will be coins or diamonds, depending on the size of the value they have attached.

Big Bass – Hold & Spinner Hold & Spinner Feature

When 3 or more Money symbols land on the reels, the Hold & Spinner feature is triggered. When the feature begins, the Money symbols are held in place whilst all other symbols fade away, and 3 respins are awarded on reels where only Money symbols or blank spaces can land. Before respins begin, the value of all Money symbols in view are added to the total win of the round.

Any triggering Money symbols will stick on the reels for the duration of the feature. Each time at least one new Money symbol lands on the reels, the respin counter is reset back to 3, and the value of all Money symbols in view are again added to the total win of the round – this will always include the triggering, sticky Money symbol values along with any new Money symbol values that have landed in that respin.

The Hold & Spinner feature will end when no more respins remain.

Land 3 or More Scatters to Trigger Free Spins

As mentioned, it is possible to land Fish Money symbols on the reels, awarding wins between 1 and 20x bet for matches between 3 and 5 of a kind. However, each Money symbol will also take on a random value from a pre-defined set. Possible Money symbol values are –  2x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 100x, 200x, 500x, 1000x, 3333x, 5000x, or 10,000x bet. These values come into play during Free Spins.

10, 15, or 20 Free Spins will be triggered by landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatters respectively. During free spins, the Fisherman Wild symbol can land on the reels, substituting for all symbols except Scatters and Money symbols. On any spin in which this symbol lands, the values attached to any Money symbols in view will be collected and awarded. Wild symbols are also collected and added to the meter above the reels:

• Collect 4 Wild Symbols: +10 free spins x2
• Collect 8 Wild Symbols: +10 free spins x3
• Collect 12 Wild Symbols: +10 free spins x10

Any additional spins awarded are played after the current batch of spins have ended. The multiplier applies to any Money symbol values collected, and is not a general win multiplier. After reaching +10 free spins with a x10 multiplier, the feature cannot be retriggered.

Randomly, if there are one or more Wild symbols in view but no Money symbols, Money symbols can be added in random positions by a bazooka, replacing current symbols.

Wild Symbols Collect Fish Money Symbol Values and Add to the Meter Above the Reels

Players in appropriate regions can take advantage of two Buy Bonus options:

• Buy Hold & Spinner – 100x bet
• Buy Free Spins – 100x bet

RTP is unchanged when buying either feature, and 3, 4, or 5 triggering Scatters or symbols may land.

The maximum win available in Big Bass – Hold & Spinner is 10,000x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 10,000x bet will be awarded.

Big Bass – Hold & Spinner Free Spins

First Impression

What to say? It feels like we’ve been here so many times before that we’ve almost run out of opinions to have. Big Bass – Hold & Spinner encapsulates everything players love about this series. Whilst the base game is tame, the Ante Bet acts as an opportunity to increase the chance of landing Free Spins, but that’s about all the action you’re going to see on that side of things.

With two bonus rounds on offer, players get the usual Free Spins experience with Money symbol values collected by Wild Fishermen, and increasing multipliers up to x10 applied to these values through the progressive aspect. There’s nothing really different here compared to the rest of the Bass series, but we do now also have the Hold & Spinner feature, awarding Money symbol values up to 2,000x bet – however it is worth noting that Floating Dragon already offers both of these features in one release. Ah well, now it’s underwater with double the win potential – up to 10,000x bet to be exact, so that’s something to get excited about.

Finally, maths is highly (5/5) volatile and RTP options are available up to 96.07%, so as always it’s worth checking this. If you’re looking for a Big Bass/Floating Dragon hybrid that offers an underwater adventure, Big Bass – Hold & Spinner is the perfect choice.

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.