Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake

Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake: Slot Overview

Players, and keyboard anglers, here comes another instalment in Pragmatic Play and buddies Reel Kingdom's long-running, seemingly unstoppable range of Big Bass slots. This one is titled Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake, a fishing slot designed to be played around the Christmas holidays, though there's nothing stopping gamblers from loading it up at other times of the year, of course. What's that you're saying? We already have Xmas-themed Big Bass slots? That might be true, but redundant repetition has never stopped the studios before, and hasn't in this instance either, as Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake is an icy-skinned clone of Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake.

Since it's predecessor was located in a golden lake, it should come as no surprise to learn that Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake takes place in a, yep, frozen lake. This makes sense, being a Christmas slot, due to the season's links with cold, snow, and getting all cosy by the fireplace while the world turns white outside. Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom have sprinkled elf hats about the place, added sleighs, and the Fisherman wild is dressed up like Santa, so Christmas is fairly well represented. But still, the festive makeover does ring a bit hollow, and it's hard not to form the impression Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake was a quick and easy clone to cash in on the holidays.

A 5x3 gaming area is where the ice fishing takes place, and there are 10 paylines evaluating regular winning combinations. The math model has been recycled, which brings with it high volatility and a maximum RTP of 96.07%, though two lower return configurations are something to be aware of. Bet selection ranges from $/€0.10 to $/€250 per spin, while activating the ante bet increases the stake by 50%, increasing the chance of winning free spins. The RTP remains the same no matter how the game is played.

On the table of symbols, we find a mix of fishing and Christmas in the form of 10-A card ranks, fish, boxes, reels, birds, and sleighs. Five-of-a-kind royal wins pay 5x to 10x the bet, and the same size win made of premium symbols pays 20x to 200x the bet. The Fisherman wild substitutes all regular paying symbols, but it only appears during free spins.

Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake: Slot Features

Not much of note happens in the base game, so it's not till 3, 4, or 5 scatters hit that they trigger 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. Should 2 scatters land, there is a chance more scatters are brought into view by a respin feature or just randomly appearing after the initial spin.

Money Symbols

Fish pay symbols are also money symbols. On each spin, money symbols have a random value that can be won during free spins of 2x to 5,000x the bet.

Free Spins

Before the round starts, players pick 1 of 12 cards to reveal the type of free spins won. If a bonus card is revealed, regular free spins trigger. If a Secrets of the Frozen Lake card is revealed, Frozen Lake Free Spins are activated. In regular free spins, when the Fisherman symbol lands, it collects all values from money symbols in view. Fisherman symbols also get collected. Every 4th Fisherman symbol collected retriggers the feature, granting +10 free spins with a multiplier for money symbol collections increasing to x2, x3, or x10 for the second, third, and fourth level, respectively. After reaching the fourth level, no more retriggers are possible.

Frozen Lake Free Spins

All regular pay symbols are removed from the reels for this bonus, so only blanks, fish money symbols or Fisherman symbols may land. The round starts with 10 free spins. On each spin, money symbols that create winning lines are paid, plus, Fisherman symbols collect money values. Collecting Fisherman symbols can lead to retriggered free spins and multis as described in the previous bonus.

Free Spins Features

During any type of free spins, if there are Fishermen symbols on the grid but no money symbols, then money symbols may randomly appear at the end of the spin. If money symbols are in view but there are no Fisherman symbols, then at the end of a spin, a hook may randomly pull a Fisherman symbol into view. Thirdly, when a Fisherman symbol is on the grid, but there are no money symbols, all symbols except Fisherman symbols may be transformed into something else.

Feature Buy

With the bonus buy option, players are able to trigger the free spins feature at a cost of 100x their bet, where they then pick a card to determine the bonus, or Frozen Lake Free Spins may be bought for 270x the bet.

Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake: Slot Verdict

Generally speaking, it might be a good idea not to expect a whole lot from a Christmas slot before plunging in. Oftentimes, studios use the opportunity to stretch a festive skin over an older game and call the job done. This practice is understandable in a way, because why squander your best ideas on a game that might only get played at a certain time of the year? Anyway, couple the cloning tradition with Big Bass' having no issue making copies of copies, and the expectations of getting anything special from Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake were way down there in the dirt.

Those expectations weren't exceeded either, since Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake runs in exactly the same way as Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake did. That means a pretty low energy base game, and regular free spins which operate very closely to the way the original Big Bass Bonanza bonus round did. Golden Lake Free Spins are admittedly quite interesting, and so by extension, though less so, are Frozen Lake Free Spins since they do away with regular symbols to concentrate on fish and Fisherman symbols. What's nice is the Frozen Lake bonus round's focused way of collecting rewards - by Fisherman wilds, hauling them in alongside fish symbols, creating winning lines. This has resulted in potential of more than double BBB's at 5,000x the bet, and a more favourable probability of the max win occurring, as well.

Ultimately, though, however festive and functionally sound Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake might be, it is also deeply uninspired. Gamblers who simply want another excuse to cast their line in familiar, yet icy waters with an Xmas makeover may well embrace the game as a competent seasonal clone. For others, Big Bass Christmas Frozen Lake is closer to a Meh-rry Christmas than a Merry one.