Fishtastic

Theme and Design

A Classic Fishing Slot With Underwater Visuals and Sounds

Fishtastic’s visuals are fairly basic but in line with classic fish-themed games. We are underwater with coral, jelly fish and deep blue colors in the background. The reel set is transparent and houses some kooky looking bug-eyed fish and intrepid divers wielding cameras. It’s pleasant enough but lacking the charisma of a Big Bass game or the ominous big-fish danger of Beware the Deep or Mega Don.

RTP and Variance

Fishtastic has a default RTP of 95.65%. That is a little under the average for an online slot, but not untypical for Red Tiger games. There are lower RTP settings available so make sure you check before you spin to avoid getting short changed. My recommendation for Red Tiger slots is MrQ from Lindar Media which consistently runs the games at the optimum rate.

The volatility level in Fishtastic is medium-high, so it can be a volatile game with an unpredictable pay distribution. Set your stake to a sensible level to account for this.

Maximum Win

The maximum payout from one spin here is 6,125x. This is a long way off the potential found in the highest max win slots out there, but again it’s not far off what we expect from Red Tiger games with a mid-high variance.

Symbols and Paytable

The game area shows a 5 reel by 3 row grid with 25 paylines in play at all times. Wins are triggered by landing 3 or more identical symbols across a line from left to right, starting at the left most reel. You will also see an extra reel to the left of the main set which sometimes is empty and other times displays a stacked Diver symbol. More on that in the next part of our review.

There are 10 symbols on the paytable. These are the cards, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. These are valued at up to 3x for 5 Aces on a line. The premiums are the 5 fish, in different colors. These are valued at up to 40x for 5 on a line.

There are also Wild symbols which substitute for any pay symbol to complete a line. These also pay out at the same rate as the top paying premium and perform other functions in the gameplay as we will find out.

Features and Gameplay

Fishtastic has a mix of classic fishing-themed game features and a novel progressive gameplay system where fish are unlocked and added to the reels one by one. Here is how it all works:

Fish Symbols, Wilds and Stacked Divers

You will notice that fish symbols and Wilds land with a prize value, represented by a multiplier of the stake. As with other fishing slots like Big Bass for example, another symbol has to land to activate the prize. In this case it is the Diver or Golden Diver than lands on the extra reel to the left of the screen.

The prize values of fish and wilds are as follows:

• Green – 0.3x to 0.2x
• Blue – 0.5x to 5x
• Orange - 0.7x to 10x
• Pink – 1x to 20x
• Gold – 2x to 30x
• Wilds – 5x to 50x

If a Diver symbol lands on the extra reel, ALL fish and wild prize values are collected and paid out. If the Golden Diver lands then ALL fish and wild prize values are collected and TRIPLED before being paid out!

Red Tiger have added an important progressive element to the gameplay. Not all fish and Wild symbols are present from the start of the game. Instead, they are unlocked, one by one each time free spins are triggered, starting at the low value end of green, add moving up the scale to blue, orange, pink and gold. You’ll see which are unlocked in the display above the reels. The last symbol to be unlocked is the Wild.

So to get the best value out of Fishtastic, you will need to keep triggering free spins!

Free Spins Round

Unlocking the free spins round requires you to land THREE scatter symbols anywhere across the reels. Each time you trigger it, another fish is unlocked and is now active during that round and in every subsequent spin after the round.

And importantly, in EVERY spin during free spins, a Diver or Golden Diver will land to collect all visible fish and wild prize values. 

Bonus Round With 5,000x Win 

The climax of the game is the Bonus Round which is only available once ALL fish symbols and the wild have been unlocked. You’ll need to land 3 scatters again to unlock this.

Now, the fish and wild symbols displayed above the reels are removed and in their place are FOUR multiplier prizes – 50x, 250x, 1,000x and 5,000x. And to win these prizes you need to land 4, 5, 6 or 7 scatters on one spin.