Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake Free Play in Demo Mode by Pragmatic Play

Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake review

Theme and Style

Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake is a fishing-themed slot that was designed and developed by Pragmatic Play. It is one of several sequels and spin-offs from the original Big Bass Bonanza slot game.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

The Big Bass Bonanza series has taken some interesting themes since its inception in 2020. Fans have seen the series go to the races with Big Bass Day at the Races, take a trip down the Amazon with Big Bass Amazon Xtreme, and go deep undercover with Big Bass Fishing Mission.

In Big Bass Secret of the Golden Lake, the slot focuses on Arthurian legend, with the reels located at the bottom of the titular lake, with Arthur’s iconic sword sitting just to the right of the action.

A castle sits in the background while a golden glow fills the water as you spin the reels. As always with Pragmatic Play, it’s a solid design that manages to merge high-end graphics with some stylish animation and quirky characters.

Gameplay

Big Bass Secret of the Golden Lake keeps the action conventional in the base game. The game unfolds on a five-reel, three-row game grid, with 10 fixed paylines on each spin. Wins are formed when players land matching combinations of three or more across a payline.

The controls are found under the reels, with the +/- buttons on either side of the spin icon used to change the stake between spins. Betting ranges will vary between casinos.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The bonuses in Big Bass Secret of the Golden Lake have, for the most part, made appearances in previous entries in the Big Bass series.

Of course, players will instantly recognize the Fish Money symbols. These can display values between x2 and x5,000 and they can not be collected in the base game.

To trigger the Free Spins, players need to land three or more Scatters in the base game. Three, four, or five Scatters will reward 10, 15, or 20 spins, respectively. There is a chance the game rewards a third Scatter at random if you have already landed two.

Players will then pick a card at random and will trigger either the standard Free Spins or the Golden Lake Free Spins.

In the Free Spins round, if the Wild Fisherman lands alongside any Fish Money symbols, he will instantly reel them in. The Fisherman symbols are also collected, with ten additional spins and a multiplier for every fourth collection. There is also a global multiplier added of 2x, 3x, and 10x on the second, third, and fourth retriggers.

Standard symbols are removed from the grid in the Golden Lake Free Spins round. They are replaced with blanks, Fish Money Symbols, and Fisherman Wilds. Fishermen continue to collect any Money symbols, while Money symbols will also pay out if they land across a payline. The same rules apply in the round regarding retriggers and multipliers.

The game also likes to give players a helping hand from time to time. Money Symbols can appear randomly during the rounds if there is a Fisherman on the reels. Likewise, Fisherman symbols can be hooked onto the reels if there are Money symbols and no Fisherman. Symbols can also be transformed if there is a Fisherman and no Money symbols.

Depending on your location, you may have the option to buy your way into the game’s bonus rounds.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake uses a math model we have seen deployed in other iterations of the game. It has a modest maximum win of 5,000x your stake and an RTP of 96.07%, which is around average.

Pragmatic Play has given the slot a 5/5 volatility rating, which earns it top marks according to our online slot strategy guide.

Conclusion

Pragmatic Play hit a winning formula when they launched the first Big Bass Bonanza slot in 2020, and they have been happy to dine out on it ever since. The Big Bass Series of the Golden Lake gives the series a little bit of a fun makeover and adds the Golden Lake Free Spins round, but other than that; it is business as usual. If you are new to the series, I would recommend checking out some of the more creative titles, like Big Bass Day at the Races, but for long-time fans, this will continue to give you what you want.