Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake

Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake Slot Review

Slot Provider: Pragmatic Play

RTP: 96.07% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 5,000x

Our Score: 7.8

Play at Barz Casino
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WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 18th March 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake is a another in the popular slot series from Pragmatic Play, this time mixing bass fishing with Arthurian legend! The theme might be unique but the gameplay will be familiar to Big Bass game fans. It’s all about landing scatters to reach the free spins round where landing wilds collects the values of all fish symbols on screen. The extra Golden Lake bonus round is a simple Cash Collect game played with ONLY cash symbols and wilds. In both cases, more spins can be added by collecting wilds. The top win is 5,000x and spins start at 20p per play.

Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake Game Information

  • RTP: 96.07% | 95.07% | 94.07%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 5,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 5
  • Rows: 3
  • Paylines: 10
  • Minimum Stake: £0.20
  • Theme: Fishing
  • Features: Wilds, Cash Collects, Free Spins, Progressive Multipliers

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

I played 250 spins on Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake on Pragmatic Play’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.

  • Stake Size: $1
  • Start balance: $100,000
  • End balance: $99,896.30
  • Hit Rate: 12.8% (32 winning spins in 200)
  • Biggest Win: 60.2x
  • Free Spins Round: 1

The pattern with Big Bass slots is usually like this. You get a low hit rate – in this case just 12.8% – and any significant wins are held back for the free spins round. That’s no problem as it’s how high variance slots work. Just know what to expect before you start.

In this short session of 250 spins the biggest win in the base game was just 11x. I also saw a 10x and a 7x, but everything else was 2x or less and I burned cash quickly in the process.

A 60.2x win in Secrets of the Golden Lake
A 60.2x win from the the test session with 10 extra spins and 2x multiplier

It’s all about triggering the bonus and that happened just once in 250 spins, after 62 spins in fact. I collected 4 wilds to extend by 10 spins and add a 2x multiplier into the mix with made things interesting. After all that I landed a 60.2x win which isn’t bad but with such low returns in the base game that final result was a heavy hit on the balance.

The lesson is – treat this game with care and set your stake low-ish to absorb those losing runs. There is lots of potential in the free spins round if you get on a good run and collect enough wilds, but it’s expensive getting there!

What We Liked

  • Extra cash collect bonus round is different to other Big Bass slots
  • Extend your free spins round by collecting wilds
  • Chance to play with 10x multiplier during free spins
  • Funny mash up of fishing and Arthurian legends

What We Didn't like

  • Lower max win than other recent Big Bass slots

Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 8
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 7
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 8

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"A game you didn't know you needed in your life - Big Bass with an Arthurian twist and a new Cash Collect bonus feature! One for the die-hards!"

Overall Score: 7.8

Theme & Design

Our Score 8

Mixing Arthurian Legend With Bass Fishing – Whatever Next?!

What a weird mash up this is. Pragmatic have found a way to mix the classic Big Bass series, which started a few years back with bass fishing in good ol’ American outback, with the legend of King Arthur, via the story of the lake from which the Excalibur Sword was drawn. What you get is the same Big Bass 5×3 reel set submerged in water along with a sword encased in stone and the wreck of an ancient castle, all lit up with a weird golden hue. And, of course, an upbeat medieval soundtrack. It’s a bizarre idea and begs the question, whatever next?! But then again, it’s fun and any Big Bass fan will enjoy the chance to fish in new waters.

Secrets of the Golden Lake by Pragmatic Play
Secrets of the Golden Lake – Big Bass goes mythical!

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

As with most Pragmatic Play slots, there are three possible RTP settings for Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake. They are 96.07%, 95.07% and 94.07%. You want to find a slot site that runs this game at the optimum level of 96.07% to give yourself the best chance of a positive return on your wagering. My recommendation would be to play at MrQ from Lindar Media which consistently runs slots at the maximum RTP available.

You can check RTP on Pragmatic Play games where you spin by hitting the ‘I’ link under the reels once you’ve loaded up the slot, then scrolling through the pages until you see Return To Player.

Like every other Big Bass game this is a high variance slot, so it will be volatile with an uneven win distribution.

Maximum Win

Our Score 7

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

The maximum payout here is a disappointing 5,000x. That takes us back to the kind of potential found in early games in the series like Big Bass Splash. If you want to play for higher prizes you could try a later version like Day at the Races or Hold and Spinner, both of which max out at a better 10,000x.

Or, check our list of the highest max win slots from Pragmatic Play for more high potential adventures on the reels.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

Secrets of the Golden Lake uses the standard 5 reels and 3 rows game format preferred throughout the series with 10 paylines in play. Wins are triggered by landing 3 or more matching icons across paylines from left to right, starting at the left most reel.

Secrets of the Golden Lake Paytable
Paytable with 200x for 5 floats

The paytable will have a familiar look to it for anyone who has played other Big Bass slots. There are 10 symbols. They are the 5 low payers – 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace – valued at from 0.2x for 3 10s up to 10x for 5 Aces. The premiums are the bass fish, tackle box, may fly, rod and reel and float. These are valued at from 1x for 3 bass up to 200x for 5 floats.

There is also a Fisherman Wild but he only appears in the free spins round and he has no pay value of his own. Instead, he substitutes for all pay symbols to complete paylines AND collects the cash value displayed on fish symbols. More on that in the next part.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 8

Like all Big Bass slots, Secrets of the Golden Lake is all about hitting the free spins round. Here is how it works.

Firstly, you’ll need to land 3, 4 or 5 of the Big Bass scatters to trigger the round. They land on any reel. That gets you 10, 15 or 20 free spins for the regular free spins round or just 10 for the Golden Lake free spins round.

Now, if you land just TWO scatters, then all is not lost because on occasion a THIRD scatter may randomly be added when the spin ends. OR, if your two scatters can drop down one row each on their respective reels without dropping off, then they do so before a re-spin takes place on the other 3 reels, with the aim of landing that third scatter.

Pick Me Game

Before free spins start, a Pick Me game takes place to decide which free spins round you get. A pick is made from 12 cards to reveal either the regular free spins or the Secrets of the Golden Lake free spins.

Regular Free Spins Round

During regular free spins, fish symbols land with cash values printed on them. These may be 2x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 100x, 250x, 500x, 1,666x, 2,500x or 5,000x. IF a fisherman wild lands then he collects up the total value of all cash symbols visible and they are paid out.

When fisherman wild symbols land they are also collected. And every 4th one to be collected extends the round by 10 spins. Also, a multiplier is applied to all cash symbol collections at 2x when 4 wilds are collected, 3x when 8 are collected and 10x when 12 are collected.

After 12 wilds are collected there are no more free spins or multipliers to be added.

Secrets of the Golden Lake Free Spins Round

The Golden Lake free spins round is more like a classic Cash Collect game. The standard reels are replaced with a new set onto which only cash symbols, fishman wilds and blanks may drop.

You get 10 spins and cash symbols pay either when they drop onto paylines OR when the fisherman wild lands at the same time.

The fishman wilds are also collected. When 4 have dropped, then the round extends by 10 spins and a 2x multiplier is applied to all wins. When 8 have dropped, 10 more spins are awarded and the multiplier goes up to 3x. When 12 have dropped, 10 more spins are awarded again and the multiplier goes up to 10x.

Near Miss Features

As with other Big Bass games, Pragmatic Play have added ‘near miss’ features to BOTH free spins rounds.

So, if a fisherman wilds land WITHOUT cash symbols then cash symbols may be randomly added OR a curtain may be drawn across to change ALL symbols bar the fishman wilds into new symbols, potentially including cash ones.

And if cash symbols land WITHOUT fisherman wilds then a hook may appear and randomly pull one reel up to reveal a fisherman wild.

And that’s your lot!

The Final Verdict

The Big Bass games keep coming thick and fast in 2024. With that, there is always a danger of a drop in quality, but so far, that has not been the case. Whilst the themes might get weirder, Pragmatic are so confident in their game format that each new release never deviates from the same high risk maths model mixed with core features of cash symbols, fisherman wilds and free spins. It hardly needs saying: if you like Big Bass games, you’ll like Secrets of the Lake!

Useful Tips When Playing Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Choose A Low Stake

Like all Big Bass games, it’s volatile! So exercise good Bankroll Management and choose a low stake relative to your balance to absorb the hits as you chase down the free spins round.

2. Watch Out For Scatters

You need to enter the free spins round to get the best out of Secrets of the Golden Lake. So look to land scatters, and remember, if only 2 land you might still get a random extra OR a re-spin with your two scatter reels on hold for a chance to land that third.

3. Look Out For Fisherman Wilds In Free Spins

Those fish symbols are no good without a fisherman to reel them in, so keep your eyes peeled for the wilds at all times during the bonus round. The more wilds that land the bigger your multiplier gets too!

4. Play At Recommended Slot Sites

Choose from our recommended UK slot sites on this page. They are all licensed in the UK which means they offer safe, fair and secure gambling and provide responsible gambling tools to help you manage your spend.

Who Made Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake?

  • Name: Pragmatic Play
  • Established: 2015
  • UK License: Remote 046683-R-325951-014
  • Total Games: 500 +
  • Known For: Wide range of themes and styles, live casino including gameshow formats, and bingo
  • Popular Slots: Fruit Party, Dog House Megaways, Big Bass Bonanza, Release the Kraken
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