Big Bass Blast: The Angler Picks Up a Bazooka… Multipliers Up to 10x for Every 7 Wilds
A rundown of Pragmatic Play’s new release Big Bass Blast. 5×3 with 10 paylines, wild multipliers up to 10x, Fish Money values up to 500x, Hook and Bazooka features, and a 10x free spins multiplier. RTP 96.50%, max win 5,000x.
Key takeaways
- Pragmatic Play released Big Bass Blast, the newest entry in the Big Bass series, on July 6.
- In the base game, the angler wild on reels 1 and 5 comes with a random 2-10x multiplier.
- 3-5 scatters trigger 5-9 free spins, and every 7 wilds adds 5 more spins while the multiplier rises to 2x, 3x, and 10x.
- Low volatility, with free spins opening once every 59 spins on average.
Electric cables run across the deck of a ship. On both sides stand battery drums with lightning crackling. The angler in sunglasses has come out with a bazooka this time instead of a fishing rod. This is the opening scene of Big Bass Blast, released by Pragmatic Play on July 6.
Big Bass is Pragmatic Play’s flagship series, made together with Reel Kingdom. The framework of an angler wild collecting fish money symbols stays the same, and each entry adds a new feature. This time the features are electricity, the hook, and the bazooka.
Multipliers appear from the base game
The grid is 5 reels by 3 rows with 10 paylines, a familiar size for series fans. The difference is the base game wild. The Fisherman wild appears only on reels 1 and 5, and when it lands it can come with a random multiplier between 2x and 10x.
Regular symbols pay from the left along 10 paylines. Card suits handle the low payouts, while fishing gear such as dragonflies, floats, rods, and tackle boxes handle the high payouts. By the look of the board alone, it is not very different from the original. What has changed is what happens on the board.
In earlier Big Bass games, base game wilds had little role until the free spins. This time is different. The angler collects the values of all the fish money symbols on the board even in the base game. A single fish is worth up to 500x. With multipliers on top, big wins can happen outside the bonus too. It is a structure that brings the money symbol collection formula down into the base game.
Even when only two scatters land, there is a chance. Sometimes the hook appears and pulls a third scatter up onto the board. It rescues bonuses that would otherwise be narrowly missed.
Hook, bazooka, and dynamite
This game has three features that shake up the board. The names differ, but the goal is the same: bringing the angler and the fish together on one board.
| Feature | When | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | Base game | With 2 scatters, a third is pulled in, or money symbols and wilds are pulled in |
| Hook | Free Spins | If there is no angler, reel 1 or 5 is pulled up to guarantee a wild |
| Dynamite | Free Spins | If there is an angler but no fish, random symbols burst and turn into fish |
| Bazooka | Free Spins | Replaces every symbol except wilds with a new symbol |
The bazooka is what stands out most. The entire board is covered with bazooka icons, and everything except the wilds is replaced at once. A board with no fish at all can suddenly fill up with fish.
All three features target a long-standing complaint about the series: spins where fish fill the board but there is no angler, or the angler shows up but there are no fish. The hook covers the first case and dynamite covers the second. The bazooka rebuilds the whole board when neither applies.
A wild is guaranteed on every spin in free spins
Landing 3 to 5 scatters starts 5-9 free spins. During the bonus, at least one wild is guaranteed on reel 1, and if no angler drops, the hook pulls up the reel to create a wild. Spins where fish are on the board but there is no angler to collect them are gone. Longtime fans of the series will welcome the change.
The progression follows the series tradition. Every 7 wilds collected adds 5 free spins and raises the win multiplier. The stages are 2x, 3x, and finally 10x. The last step, jumping straight from 3x to 10x, creates the biggest moment in this game.
The starting number of spins depends on the scatter count. 3 scatters give the fewest at 5, and 5 scatters give up to 9. Even if the start is short, every 7 wilds adds 5 more, so the real length depends on how many wilds you collect. Raising the multiplier to 10x requires 21 wilds. Along the way, 15 more free spins are added.
If you reach the 10x level and then land a 500x fish, the number jumps considerably. The max win is 5,000x your bet. It is set lower than the top Big Bass titles, but the bonus is designed so that something is always happening.
Big Bass Blast by the media pack numbers
This is the hit frequency published in the Pragmatic Play media pack game overview.
| Category | Average frequency |
|---|---|
| Base game wins | 1 in 9.40 spins |
| Free spin entry | 1 in 59.10 spins |
| 1,000x or more | 1 in 331,187 spins |
| Up to 5,000x | 1 in 24,282,976 spins |
The number that stands out is the free spins at 59 spins. Compared with recent new releases where reaching the bonus takes hundreds of spins, it opens fairly often. The media pack classifies volatility as low. It leans toward opening often and paying big less often. However, base game wins come once every 9.4 spins, which is not especially frequent.
The other end is worth a look too. Wins of 1,000x or more come once every 330,000 spins, and the max 5,000x once every 24 million spins. As you would expect from a low volatility game, the top is far away. The math is built so that mid-sized wins come often.
Bets range from 0.1 to 240, and the max payout limit is $1.2 million. Bonus buy costs 100x your bet, and ante bet costs 1.5x. In a game where free spins open once every 59 spins, a 100x buy does not offer much advantage by the numbers. Turning on ante bet raises the bonus chance.
Blast’s place in the series
The original Big Bass Bonanza created the fish collection formula, and Big Bass Splash expanded the random features before the bonus. Blast turns those random features into visible devices: the hook and the bazooka. Attaching multipliers to base game wilds is also an uncommon choice in the series.
Pragmatic Play releases up to 8 slots a month. Among them, Big Bass is the series that comes back with a new name most often. Promotions director Sharon McHugh said, “The strength of this series is that you can keep the core gameplay while exploring new territory,” adding, “Blast does that with electrified reels and a new bonus.”
RTP is 96.50%. The number looks ordinary on its own, but low volatility combined with frequent bonuses makes this a game that is well suited to short sessions.
In short
Big Bass Blast builds on the series’ familiar framework by adding base game multipliers and three board-changing features. With free spins opening often and wilds guaranteed, bonuses rarely end in disappointment. On the other hand, the 5,000x max win is smaller than the series’ top titles. If you want frequent bonuses rather than one big hit, this is the right game. You can see the bazooka reshape the board for yourself in the free demo.
Source: Pragmatic Play official news · Pragmatic Play media pack game overview