Fishin’ Frenzy Christmas

Theme and Design

A Proper Festive Makeover For A Classic Fishing Game

The Fishin’ Frenzy series isn’t usually one to shake things up in terms of appearance. However, Fishin’ Frenzy Christmas has been given a veritable yuletide makeover. The once deep blue sea is now icy, with ice floes, snowflakes falling, and the tundra in the distance. The reels too have received a dusting of snow, and even the symbols are feeling festive. Expect a cosily dressed pelican, a bait box full of baubles, and those famous blue fish each wearing a Santa hat. It’s over the top, kitsch, and frankly, exactly what Christmas is all about.

RTP and Variance

Fishin’ Frenzy Christmas has a fixed RTP of either 93% or 95% depending on the casino you’re playing at. It’s super important to check this out before you start playing, as a 93% RTP is hardly a lovely Christmas surprise. Those looking for something a little more generous, with a similar fishy/Christmassy theme might prefer Christmas Big Bass Bonanza with an RTP of 96.71%.

If you are struggling to find a casino where this game runs at 95% then we recommend heading to MrQ from Lindar Media - they are one of the few UK slot sites to ALWAYS run Blueprint slots at the optimum RTP rates.

You’ll also find a medium variance, meaning you’ll likely hit some of those bigger wins, but might have to bankroll your way through a dry spell every now and again.

Maximum Win

The top payout of 2,500x your stake is firmly on the lower end for this series of games. If you’re after a Christmassy slot with a bumper prize win then Wonders of Christmas should hit the spot with its impressive 100,000x max win. Of, if you want to stick with Fishin' Frenzy games then try Fishin' Frenzy The Big Catch with a max win of 50,000x.

Symbols and Paytable

The usual setup of 5 reels and 3 rows is in play here, with 10 paylines, albeit a little frostier than normal. To make wins you need to match 3 or more pay symbols (or 2 or more pelicans) across a payline. These should be on adjacent reels from leftmost to right. If you get stuck, the nifty payline labels are visible on either side of the reels. 

There are 10 pay symbols which have all been given a Christmas makeover. The low-paying symbols are the snow covered cards which pay from 0.5x the bet for 3 up to 10x the bet for 5. The premium symbols are the pictures, each decorated with baubles, tinsel, or a Santa hat. These pay from 2x the bet for 3, up to 200x your bet for 5 pelicans. 

You’ll also find a wild symbol, the fisherman. He substitutes for all pay symbols to complete paylines, but is also worth a considerable amount himself - up to 200x for 5 matching. The boat is the scatter symbol, which starts the free spins round.

Features and Gameplay

Blueprint Gaming has provided a real Christmas gift when it comes to the bonus features here. Not only is the excellent cash collect round, seen in all Fishin Frenzy games, still in operation, but there’s also the pick a fish round, and a festive fishing feature too. Let’s take a look in more detail.

Wild Symbol

The fisherman is the wild symbol. In the base game he substitutes for any pay symbol, paying out 0.5x, 5x, 20x or 200x for 2, 3, 4, or 5 in a line. The wild symbol has a different function in the free spins round, which we’ll cover below.

Festive Fishing Feature

Unusually for a Fishin' Frenzy game, there is a proper base game feature here too. 

Above the reels, you’ll see a net. If you land any blue fish then they are gathered up and placed in this net. If and when the net becomes animated you’re given the chance to score one of the following bonuses:

• Free Spins: 10, 15 or 20 free spins
• Cash Collect: collects all fish on the reels and adds to your prize pot
• Cash Streak: increases the value of all fish on the reels and collects and adds to your prize pot
• Extra Fish: adds more fish to the reels, triggering a guaranteed win.

Scatter Symbol

The scatter symbol is the boat, the only function is to trigger the free spins round. To do so, you’ll need to land 3, 4 or 5 of them, starting the free spins round with 10, 15 or 25 spins respectively. Once the free spins round starts, you can’t land any further scatters. 

Pick a Fish

After you’ve triggered the free spins round by landing scatters, but before the free spins round begins, you’ll see the pick a fish feature. This gives you one upgrade which stays in place for the duration of the free spins round. The options you could win are shown below. 

• Cash Tag: a high paying symbol gets a cash value for this game
• Fish: receive more fish on the reels
• Fisherman: receive more fishermen on the reels
• Collect: collects the cash value, often multiple times
• Re-spin: grants a respin of all of the basic symbols, providing an improved win
• Games: grants a number of extra free spins 

Free Spins Round

After the pick a fish feature is over and your upgrade is chosen, the free spins round starts. In this round, the fisherman acts as part of the cash-collect mechanic. He collects fish whenever he lands on the reels at the same time as them. Each fish has its own value of between 2x and 50x your bet.  

Fishin Frenzy Christmas also uses the free spins round trail feature found in Fishin' Frenzy The Big Splash. So, fisherman wilds are collected on a trail above the reels during the feature. Once you land a total of 2, 6 or 10 fishermen, you get another turn at the pick a fish feature.

Once you land a total of 4, 8, or 12 fisherman, you retrigger 10 free spins. These also have a potentially powerful multiplier of 2x, 3x, and 10x (respectively) which are applied to any collected cash symbols.