Boat Bonanza, a slot machine game from Play’n GO, is a fishing-themed online slot game. You don’t need us to tell you that there are a lot of fishing spaces available, and the number keeps growing. Some of this crossover might be attributed to the market’s maturity and the rush of developers to cash in. By “idea theft,” we imply the borrowing, emulating, or copying of another person’s ideas. It seems like there could be a touch of something in Boat Bonanza. Is it sufficient to fling it back into the water like a small fish, or should I let it pass?
‘Simplicity’ was a frequent descriptor of Boat Bonanza. This was true both in terms of gameplay and presentation. A gaming grid floats just below the water’s surface in Boat Bonanza, and a ribbon of the horizon may be seen in the upper section of the screen. Squinting or using a magnifying glass shows a tower, pier, and Ferris wheel, possibly indicating that the game is set in Blackpool, United Kingdom. Two boats dart about above the game’s five reels; they’re more than simply decorative elements. Graphically, Boat Bonanza isn’t particularly remarkable, but it’s also not particularly kind on the eyes.
Technically speaking, Boat Bonanza has 5 reels and 3 rows, and there are 12 paylines for you to land winning combos across. Since the RTP was unavailable during testing, we can only speculate that it is somewhere between 96.2 and 96.4 percent at most, with lower values for alternate models. High volatility, with players able to choose wagers from 20 percent to fifty pounds or euros.
The line wins in Boat Bonanza aren’t as exciting as collecting the Cash Symbols, but they’re still there if you need them. They take place when three or more identical symbols appear on a payline, beginning with the first reel. The minimum number of required pay symbols to create a win is three, with the exception of the highest paying symbol, which pays for two or more. Five of a kind of the lower-paying 10–J card symbols returns 10 times the wager, while the higher-paying nets, seagulls, reels, and buoys pay 50–200 times the wager. There is no wild card in Boat Bonanza.
Slot Machine Boating Extras
However, it has special symbols called Catch Symbols that can appear anywhere on the reels and pay out multipliers of up to 1,000x for matching symbols. In addition, Catch Symbols can help create winning lines with payouts of up to 40 times the initial wager for a full house. You’ll need the boats perched atop the reels to scour the seas for Catch Symbols as you focus on spinning the reels. If a ship is not colored in, it is not currently actively engaged in a mission. Underneath an active boat, Catch Symbols will be gathered and their values awarded if they appear on the reels. If two active boats appear over the same reel, the Mega Catch is triggered, and all Catch Symbols on the reels are gathered into a single prize.
Bonus Turns
Free games are triggered with 10, 15, or 20 available when 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols appear during the main game. During free games, two multiplier boats are always at sea, on the lookout for Catch Symbols that will add to their multipliers and provide more free games. When two multiplier-equipped boats appear on the same reel, their total multipliers determine the Mega Catch.
When boats acquire Cash Symbols in the bonus round, respins are rewarded, which is not the case in the basic game or during free spins. Paylines are disabled during the respin and only Catch Symbols display on the reels. As long as ships keep bringing in Cash Symbols, respins will keep happening. When no catch is made, the number of free spins resets to the original number.
Winning Slots on the Boat
Although we characterized Boat Bonanza as easy at the outset, there is actually more to it than meets the eye. When free spins are awarded, they might lead to further spins and even more multipliers. Boat Bonanza’s main game is as relaxing and low-pressure as any fishing slot could hope to be. To gather active boats, simply hit spin and land Catch Symbols over them. Even if line victories are there, they become less important as time goes on because players may focus almost exclusively on locating and tracking boats using the game’s Catch Symbols.
Multipliers and more attempts can be made throughout a free spins round. Although we were never able to bring in the day’s catch, it’s easy to imagine how it could have been accomplished if, say, both boats had a respectable multiplier and pooled their resources for a Mega Catch or two. The maximum prize is 5,000x the wager, which is decent for a mid-tier fishing slot and competitive with many games in the Big Bass genre.
While games like Big Bass Bonanza and its ilk are known for their gather symbol collection mechanism during free spins, Play’n GO opted not to use this mechanic. However, it does not provide anything really novel. Players who have tried their luck with Big Time Gaming’s slot machine Golden Catch, which also features a cast of fish, may find some familiar elements here. In a similar vein, Boat Bonanza used a premise that, on the whole, seemed like a ‘lighter’ game. In comparison to Golden Catch, the game’s potential payouts are lower, but it has a more casual vibe and a higher frequency of feature activation. Therefore, Boat Bonanza is yet another alternative for those that prefer a little of fishing on the reels, and there appears to be quite a lot out there.