Complete Analysis of Money Collect and the Big Bass Series – How Does the Fisherman Collect the Money?

Money collect, where a fisherman collects fish values, became the signature formula of slots after Big Bass Bonanza in 2020. This covers its origins, developers, level and retrigger calculations, and variations from other providers in one place.

the-dog-houseAI Slot Magazine

Published2026.10.23

Reading time24 min

ProvidersPragmatic Play

Money Collect is a slot feature where ‘money symbols’ showing amounts or multipliers land on the reels, and collect symbols from the same spin gather those values all at once and turn them into a win. The key point is that the money is calculated separately from payline combinations, and Big Bass Bonanza, where a fisherman collects fish values, is the game that made this approach most widely known.

This article covers where Money Collect came from, how Reel Kingdom, the studio behind the Big Bass series, relates to its distributor Pragmatic Play, how much one fisherman collecting a few fish adds up to, and exactly how levels and retriggers work. It also covers how other providers like Money Train changed the same idea and what to watch out for when looking at data. If you only need a short definition of the term, the Money Collection entry in the wiki is faster.

The three parts that make up Money Collect

No matter which provider or which name, Money Collect shows its structure quickly once you break it into three parts.

• Money symbol: a symbol with a value written on it. In Big Bass it is a fish; in other games it looks like a coin, gold bar or banknote. The value is usually set as a multiple of your bet and shown on screen as a currency amount.
• Collector symbol: the symbol that gathers the values of the money symbols. The fisherman wild in Big Bass and the collector in Money Train fall into this category.
• Collection condition: the rule for when the collection happens. Whether the two must land together in the same spin, whether symbols stay locked on screen and are collected at the end, and whether it also works in the base game differs from game to game.

Changing just one of these three parts makes it feel like a completely different game. The Big Bass series could stretch into dozens of titles precisely because these parts were swapped in and out a little at a time.

Money Collect through a timeline

• September 2014: Fishin’ Frenzy from UK developer Reel Time Gaming is released. In free spins, the fisherman collects fish values.
• August 2019: Relax Gaming’s Money Train is released. A collector character is introduced in the respin-style bonus ‘Money Cart’.
• May 2020: Reel Kingdom’s first collaboration, Hot to Burn, is released through Pragmatic Play.
• September 2020: Money Train 2 is released, with a max win of 50,000x.
• December 2020: Reel Kingdom and Pragmatic Play release Big Bass Bonanza.
• September 2021: Bigger Bass Bonanza, with a grid expanded to 4 rows
• November 2021: Big Bass Bonanza Megaways
• June 2022: Big Bass Splash, which adds random modifiers before free spins
• March 2023: Big Bass – Hold and Spinner, and ELK Studios’ Pirots (CollectR)
• September 2023: Money Train 4, switched to a 6×6 grid, with a max win of 150,000x
• April 2025: Big Bass Bonanza 1000, with a max win of 20,000x
• February 2026: Play’n GO’s Book of Dead GO Collect, introducing the ‘GO Collect’ meter
• July 2026: Big Bass Blast, where collection also happens in the base game
• September 2026: Money Train 5
• October 2026: Big Bass Halloween Splash 1000

The roots – the British fishing slot Fishin’ Frenzy

The idea of a fisherman collecting fish values did not start with Big Bass. UK developer Reel Time Gaming got there first with Fishin’ Frenzy in 2014. In that game, a fisherman wild appears in free spins and collects the values of the fish symbols that land on the same spin. The approach where multiple fishermen each collect fish values separately was already there too. Fishin’ Frenzy later became a long-running series in the UK market, extending into a Megaways version and several sequels through Blueprint Gaming.

The overseas review outlet Bigwinboard described Big Bass Bonanza as a game that carries on the approach Fishin’ Frenzy popularized while adding a new device, the free spins multiplier. In short, the prototype of Money Collect is Fishin’ Frenzy, and Big Bass turned it into a worldwide formula.

Reel Kingdom and Pragmatic Play – Who Makes It and Who Sells It

The developer of the Big Bass series is not Pragmatic Play but Reel Kingdom, a studio headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, in the UK. Pragmatic Play’s 2020 launch press release described Reel Kingdom’s founding team as veterans who had designed games for land-based casinos and AWP (British-style arcade slot machine) manufacturers in the UK and Europe. There are also records that many team members had experience making games for Barcrest, a British land-based slot machine brand. That is why the feel of British land-based slots like Fishin’ Frenzy remains so strong in Big Bass.

The relationship between the two companies divides into ‘development’ and ‘distribution’. Reel Kingdom’s games are supplied exclusively through Pragmatic Play, and the screen and game list carry Pragmatic Play’s name. The first collaboration was Hot to Burn in May 2020, and the second was Ultra Burn in June of the same year. The year Reel Kingdom was founded is listed differently in different sources and is hard to confirm, but several sources agree that 2020 was the year it first brought games to market.

Introducing Big Bass Bonanza, released that December, Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development Officer at Pragmatic Play, described the game as one that “adds a money collect feature to the spins”. In other words, the term ‘money collect’ was used as this game’s identity from the press release stage.

Anatomy of Big Bass Bonanza

Big Bass Bonanza starts from a simple 5-reel, 3-row board with 10 paylines. According to the provider’s official page, the RTP is 96.71% and the max win is 2,100x the bet. The official description says fish money symbols in the bonus game can carry values of up to 2,000x. The release date varies a little by source. Pragmatic Play’s press release is dated December 14, 2020, while some review sites list December 3. Either way, the release was in December 2020.

There are no wilds in the base game. In the base game, fish are ordinary pay symbols, and the real stage is free spins. Landing 3, 4 or 5 scatters awards 10, 15 or 20 free spins respectively. In free spins, fisherman wilds are added, and each fisherman collects the value of every fish visible on screen. According to game information published by BigWinBoard, free spins trigger about once every 113 spins.

Following one spin in numbers

Say that during free spins, three fish land in one spin carrying values of 5x, 10x, and 2x.

• If 1 fisherman appears with them: 5 + 10 + 2 = 17x your bet
• If 2 fishermen appear with them: each collects separately, so 17 × 2 = 34x
• If the same screen appears at level 2 (2x multiplier): 34 × 2 = 68x
• If only fishermen appear and there are no fish: the collected amount is 0. However, the fisherman is a wild, so it still counts toward payline combinations.

There is something easy to miss here. The level multiplier applies only when fish values are collected. Pragmatic Play’s official description of Christmas Big Bass Bonanza also says the multiplier attaches to “money symbol collection,” and Bigwinboard also points out that it does not apply to regular payline wins. Reaching the 10x level does not make card symbol wins 10 times larger.

How Levels and Retriggers Stack Up

The most important invention in Big Bass Bonanza is the fisherman meter. During free spins, fisherman wilds that appear are stacked one by one on the meter above the reels, and they do not disappear until the round ends.

• 4 fishermen: 1st retrigger. 10 extra free spins, collection multiplier 2x
• 8 fishermen: 2nd retrigger. 10 extra free spins, collection multiplier 3x
• 12 fishermen: 3rd retrigger. 10 extra free spins, collection multiplier 10x
• After that, no retrigger happens even if more fishermen appear

In other words, whether the first entry is 10 or 20 spins, up to 30 more are added through retriggers. And the final stage, where the multiplier jumps from 2x to 3x and then to 10x, effectively decides the big wins in this game. That is why the moment when several fish and a fisherman land together at the 10x level became the signature moment of the Big Bass series.

There are also helper features not mentioned in the official description. Review sites describe a feature where fish are randomly added when a fisherman appears alone in free spins. In later sequels, these ‘dead spin rescue’ features become official features with names like dynamite, hook and bazooka.

How the series branched out

After Big Bass Bonanza, Reel Kingdom broadened the series by leaving the basic framework almost untouched (fish money symbols, fisherman collection, a retrigger every 4 fishermen, 2x, 3x, and 10x) and changing the surrounding parts. Sorted by branch, it looks like this.

The branch that enlarged the board

Bigger Bass Bonanza, released in September 2021, expands the grid to 4 rows. By the official description, fish values go up to 4,000x. Big Bass Bonanza Megaways, released that November, counts up to 6 scatters and awards up to 25 free spins, while keeping the rule of 2x, 3x and 10x for every 4 fishermen.

The branch that shakes up the board before the start

Big Bass Splash, released in June 2022, is the series’ second turning point. Before free spins begin, 0 to 5 random modifiers are applied, which can add fish, wilds or spins, or start you at level 2. By the official description, fish values go up to 5,000x. The idea later developed toward letting players ‘choose’ modifiers. Big Bass Amazon Xtreme let you pick from six modifiers before free spins, and Big Bass Reel Repeat let you choose one of 12 cards, with modifiers that raise the retrigger multiplier to 4x, 6x or 20x, or let 3 wild fishermen alone trigger a retrigger.

Branches Combined with Other Mechanics

Big Bass – Hold and Spinner, released in March 2023, added a Hold & Spin bonus on top of the fisherman free spins, triggered when 3 coins land in the base game. By the official description, you start with 4 lives, which reset whenever a new coin lands. It is a representative case of money collect and Hold & Spin sitting side by side in one game.

The 1000 branch that raised the numbers

Big Bass Bonanza 1000, released in April 2025, raised the max win from the original’s 2,100x to 20,000x. Fish values go up to 1,000x, and it added a feature that pulls in a third scatter when only 2 appear, plus a device that randomly adds wilds and fish after a spin. The gap between 2,100x and 20,000x is not just a different number on the page; it signals a big change in volatility. Big Bass Splash 1000 and Big Bass Halloween Splash 1000 followed in the same line.

The Branch That Moved Collection into the Base Game

Big Bass Blast, released in July 2026, changed the backbone of the rules. The fisherman wild collects fish values in the base game too, and fishermen on reels 1 and 5 get a random multiplier from 2x to 10x. Free spins were shortened from 5 to 9… in other words, they now run 9 spins instead of 10, and the retrigger condition changed from ‘every 4 fishermen’ to ‘5 extra spins for every 7 fishermen’. The cap on fish values was lowered to 500x. It is an example of how moving a single collection condition can change the character of a game even under the same name.

Other Providers’ Collect Features – Different Names and Structures

Relax Gaming’s Money Train – Collection on a Respin Grid

Money Train came out in August 2019, more than a year ahead of Big Bass. It is a 5-reel, 4-row game with 40 fixed paylines, and its core is the “Money Cart” bonus. In a respin-style round that begins when bonus symbols land on reels 1, 3, and 5, money symbols lock onto the board and special characters move their values around. According to the official description of Money Train 2, the collector adds up all the values on the board and adds them to its own, the payer adds its own value to the board, and the sniper doubles the values of up to 8 symbols. There is a standard type that is used once and disappears, and a separate “persistent” type that works again on every respin.

The series’ max win rose from 20,000x in the first game to 50,000x in the second, 100,000x in the third in September 2022, and 150,000x in the fourth in September 2023. The fourth game changed the board to 6×6 and added new characters such as the Arms Dealer, Unlocker, and Upgrader. While Big Bass kept things simple with “one type of fisherman + level multipliers,” Money Train went the way of adding collector characters to increase the number of combinations.

ELK Studios CollectR – Collecting by Color

With Pirots in 2023, ELK Studios introduced its own system called CollectR. Four birds moving across the grid collect gems of their own color, and a value is paid for each gem collected. Pay is awarded just by matching colors, with no paylines or count requirements, so the structure is one where ‘collecting itself is the way you win’. By the official page, Pirots has a max win of 10,000x.

Play’n GO’s GO Collect and Quickspin’s Cash Collect

With Book of Dead GO Collect, released on February 26, 2026, Play’n GO added a meter-style collection called GO Collect. Coins that appear attached to symbols in the base game fill a meter, and when it is full, a Hold & Spin-style treasure vault bonus opens. Quickspin’s Brawlers Bar Cash Collect works by collecting all the cash symbols on screen when a Cash Collect symbol lands. Even with “Collect” in the name, whether it collects instantly or builds up on a meter differs from game to game.

How Is Money Collect Different from Hold & Spin?

The two features are often mixed up because both use ‘coins or fish with values written on them’. The dividing line is whether the money symbols stay on the grid.

• Money collect (Big Bass type): money symbols exist only for that spin. If there is no collect symbol on the same spin, the value disappears.
• Hold & Spin: money symbols lock onto the board, and during a set number of respins, the count resets each time a new symbol lands. At the end of the round, all locked values are paid.

Money Train is a hybrid that places collector characters on a Hold & Spin board, while Big Bass – Hold and Spinner puts the two mechanics into one game separately. That is why it is common for both tags to appear on the same game.

Money Collect Through AI Slot Data

Among the money collect games listed on AI Slot, Pragmatic Play accounts for by far the most. The Big Bass series has kept growing, and Pragmatic has also used money symbol collection widely in its own in-house games. Free spins account for almost all of the accompanying features, followed by multipliers. The result shows the formula Big Bass Bonanza created, ‘collect during free spins and grow it with multipliers’, coming through intact. By release year, the number has grown steadily every year since 2021, and the share of games supporting bonus buy is also higher than the overall average.

Things to watch when reading the numbers

The fish value cap and the max win are different numbers

Fish values in Big Bass Bonanza are described as reaching up to 2,000x, but the max win for the whole game is capped at 2,100x. If you work out collecting several large fish at the 10x level, you can easily exceed that cap. The actual payout stops at the max win limit. When comparing sequels, look at the max win limit before the fish value cap.

The Same Game Can Have Several RTPs

The official page lists Big Bass Bonanza’s RTP as 96.71%, but review sites note that lower versions, such as 95.67%, also exist. Since operators can choose which RTP version of a Pragmatic game to use, the figure on the in-game info screen is the one that counts. Details are covered in the RTP versions entry.

The level multiplier applies only to collection

It is easy to see the number 10x and assume every win becomes 10x. In the Big Bass family, the level multiplier applies to the fish value collection, and it is calculated separately from regular payline wins. Some sequels attach a separate multiplier to the base game fisherman (Big Bass Blast and others), so check each game’s rules screen.

The starting level changes volatility

In games with a “start at level 2” modifier, like the Splash line, the distance to the first retrigger is shorter. Even within the same series, the variance of a single bonus differs greatly between games with and without the modifier. This is why the feel differs even when the max wins look similar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Big Bass Bonanza made by Pragmatic Play?

Development was handled by Reel Kingdom, a studio in Cardiff, UK, and distribution and service are handled by Pragmatic Play. Because Reel Kingdom’s games are supplied only through Pragmatic Play, they appear in game lists under the Pragmatic name.

What was the first Money Collect slot?

As for a fisherman collecting fish values, Reel Time Gaming’s Fishin’ Frenzy came out in 2014, before Big Bass. The idea of collecting money symbols itself has been used by many providers around the same period, so it is hard to pin down a single ‘first’. Big Bass Bonanza is the game that added level multipliers to this approach and made it an industry standard.

What exactly changes when you gather 4 fishermen?

10 free spins are added, and from then on a 2x multiplier applies to fish collection. At the 8th fisherman, another 10 spins and 3x apply, and at the 12th, 10 spins and 10x. After that, no further retriggers occur. The fisherman count accumulates until the round ends.

What happens if only fish appear and there is no fisherman?

In the original Big Bass Bonanza, the fish values in that spin are not paid. In the sequels, random features such as the hook, dynamite, and bazooka often trigger in this situation and add a fisherman or fish.

Do money collect games tend to have a high RTP?

The collect feature itself does not determine RTP. RTP is set by the math design of the whole game, and the same game can differ depending on the version the operator chooses. It is more accurate to see Money Collect as a device that, within the same RTP, concentrates wins in the collection scenes of the free spins.

Are Money Train and Big Bass the same mechanic?

They only share the fact that money symbols are collected. In Big Bass, the fisherman collects instantly within a single free spin, while in Money Train, money symbols stay fixed on a respin grid and characters such as collectors, payers and snipers move and grow the values.

Related reads

You can read the history of Megaways, which was paired with Big Bass, in the complete Megaways analysis guide, and the evolution of chain-reaction mechanics in the complete tumble analysis guide. The mechanic of coins locking onto the board is covered in the wiki’s Hold & Spin entry, and the sequels that raised the max win significantly are covered in the 1000 version entry.

If you want to check it yourself in the demo, open the original Big Bass Bonanza and Big Bass Blast in turn. Just look at three things: how far the fisherman meter fills in free spins, how often you get dead spins with fish but no fisherman, and whether collection happens in the base game, and the differences within the same series become clear. If you are curious about structures with multiple collector characters, it also helps to compare the Money Cart bonus in the Money Train 2 demo.

Sources: Pragmatic Play official game pages and press releases (Big Bass Bonanza, Bigger Bass Bonanza, Big Bass Bonanza Megaways, Christmas Big Bass Bonanza, Big Bass Splash, Big Bass Hold & Spinner, Big Bass Amazon Xtreme, Big Bass Reel Repeat, Big Bass Bonanza 1000, Big Bass Splash 1000, Big Bass Halloween Splash 1000, Big Bass Blast, Hot to Burn), European Gaming (June 2020), LCB News (December 2020), Relax Gaming official press releases and game pages (Money Train, Money Train 2), Gaming Intelligence (Money Train 4), ELK Studios official (Pirots), Play’n GO official (Book of Dead GO Collect), Quickspin official (Brawlers Bar Cash Collect), Bigwinboard, SlotCatalog, Brighton Journal, CB Insights