Catfish Hunters

Catfish Hunters: Slot Overview

Gamblers know how popular fishing is as a theme, and the undisputed king of the online slot waterways has to be bass. However, there are plenty of other fish out there, and this time we're going an-anglin' for some whiskered freshwater fish. Catfish, to be precise, in developer Nolimit City's slot Catfish Hunters. This fishing trip takes place on the mighty Mississippi, rather than at sea, and stars a posse that includes several recognisable faces going by the names of Stacy, Karen, Granny, Cletus, and Bubba. And while some players may be connecting dots to games like Duck Hunters or Gator Hunters, Catfish Hunters has developed its own methods for catching prey, relying on Electrical Frames rather than reel and rod.

Catfish Hunters is not one of those Nolimit City slots that the studio has gone crazy designing the audiovisuals for. In fact, when the base game is at rest, it looks like the sort of slot any old studio might have churned out. Most of the background contains water, golden water in free spins, with a strip of land added at the top. So while the view is a conventional one for a fishing slot, it is somewhat spare for a Nolimit City production. There are humorous moments, but this is arguably a more restrained vision of hunting and fishing when compared to, say, Ugliest Catch or Duck Hunters. There are some games, Deadwood RIP for example, that seem like Nolimit City practically became desperadoes to produce, while others, such as Catfish Hunters, which feel like the studio held itself back rather than go hog wild and really live the moment.

Catfish Hunters' reel area is a 5x3 grid with 243 ways to win - left to right, from the leftmost reel. Mathematically, it is highly volatile and has three RTP variants, where 96.03% is the preferred value. Bets range from $/€0.20 to $/€100, with buys and boosters available.

Woody 10-A card ranks are the low pays, awarding 0.25x to 0.45x when a 5-of-a-kind winning combination hits. The highs are cans, hooks, worms, nets, and rods, awarding 1.5x to 5x for a 5 OAK hit. Wilds appear in various forms, and one thing they do is substitute any of the regular pay symbols. A full screen of wilds does not result in a payout.

Catfish Hunters: Slot Features

Catfish Hunters has the following features - Fish & Electrical Frames, xWays, Imposter Wilds, three bonus rounds, extra spins, Nolimit Boosters, and bonus buys.

Fish & Electrical Frames

At the start of each spin, one or more Electrical Frames appear in random positions on the grid. When a Fish symbol lands in an Electrical Frame, it awards its displayed value. Base fish values are 0.25x to 100x. When a Fish win is awarded, all the remaining Fish values are doubled. The global Fish multiplier indicates the amount by which all Fish values have increased, up to a maximum of x1,024.

xWays

xWays reveal any symbol except the scatter. They reveal 2-4 instances of a regular pay symbol, or a single wild or a Fish symbol. If more than one xWays symbol lands, then they all reveal the same symbol.

Imposter Wild

Imposter Wilds can land on any reel, and when one hits, it randomly transforms into one of the following: Stacy Wild - Increases the global Fish multiplier by 2x, 4x, or 8x; Karen Wild - Adds Electrical Frames to itself and adjacent positions; Granny Wild - Adds Electrical Frames to all reel positions; Cletus Wild - Transforms winning regular symbols into random Fish symbols; Bubba Wild - Transforms all regular symbols into random Fish symbols.

Dark Water Spins

Landing 3 scatters triggers 8 Dark Water Spins. The global Fish multiplier from the base game is carried over, and it halves on each new spin to a minimum of x1. Each landed scatter awards +1 spin. At the beginning of the feature, one of the following upgrades is randomly granted:

• Upgraded Bonus - Awards +2 spins instead of +1.
• Upgraded xWays - xWays always reveal a Fish or an Imposter Wild.
• +1 Electrical Frame - Adds a sticky Electrical Frame to the middle of the grid.

Deep Water Spins & Overcharged Spins

Landing 4 scatters triggers 10 Deep Water Spins, where 2 upgrades are awarded, while landing 5 scatters triggers 12 Overcharged Spins, which come with all 3 upgrades. Otherwise, the rules are the same as Dark Water Spins.

Extra Spin

At the end of a game round, players may be able to buy an extra spin for a calculated cost. The additional spin keeps the Electrical Frames and global Fish multiplier of the previous spin. New Electrical Frames can only be awarded by Karen or Granny Wilds during an extra spin.

Nolimit Booster & Nolimit Bonus

The Bonus Booster costs 3x and guarantees a scatter on the second reel. At 90x, players may activate Grand Catch, which guarantees at least 1 Imposter Wild, and Fish symbols only have values of 10x, 20x, or 100x. At 2,000x the stake, the Legend Catch guarantees at least 2 Imposter Wilds and Fish symbols only have values of 100x. In addition, at 5x, 60x, or 400x, Fishy Spins, Fishier Spins and Fishiest Spins set the initial global Fish multiplier value to x8, x128, and x1,024, respectively. Lastly, players have the option of buying 8 Dark Water Spins, 12 Overcharged Spins, or Lucky Draw for 70x, 600x, or 235x the stake, respectively.

Catfish Hunters: Slot Verdict

Catfish Hunters is an interesting addition to Nolimit City's huntin' 'n' fishin' line-up, though it did not immediately come across as one of the studio's more extravagant productions. Compared to visually intense releases like Das xBoot 2 or the cringe comedy of Kenneth Must Die, Catfish Hunters was surprisingly restrained at first glance. Strangely, one of the first slots that Catfish Hunters brought to mind was the decidedly non-fishing themed Golden Shower, which was also noticeably lighter in its thematic arrangement. Where once it seemed as if Nolimit City threw itself body and soul into every game it made, currently, it feels like the studio is more judicious with its attention, like a spurned lover cautious about who they are going to give their heart to next.

Even if this is the case, holding back at times doesn't mean the developer is tossing out bundles of throwaway games just cos, and Catfish Hunters is more than capable of sparking stabs of adrenaline. At first, all this talk of Electrical Frames formed expectations of gameplay mirroring something like Crab Trap, and while there are similarities, Catfish Hunters comes with a number of elements that are able to make the game more engaging. One of those things is the global Fish multiplier, which didn't make complete sense to start with. Basically, the multiplier displayed in the meter applies to base Fish symbol values. This means individual Fish symbols can carry massive bet multipliers, though they will need to land in a frame to cough up the dough. Imposter Wilds add to the suspense in several different ways as well, since they can alter vital inputs from the global multiplier, transform symbols to Fish, and add Electrical Frames.

Overall, Catfish Hunters may appear visually modest by Nolimit City standards, and it's unlikely to achieve classic status to sit alongside the likes of San Quentin 2: xWays and Deadwood. But dig a bit deeper, and the mechanics are potentially more complex and exciting than they first suggest, plus a 20,000x max win helps hide any fishy smell.