Samurai Code

Samurai Code: Slot Overview

Samurai Code is an online slot created by Pragmatic Play and compadre Reel Kingdom that involves a wild symbol collecting fish Money symbols in a free spins round where wilds are also collected to grant multipliers in retriggered batches of spins. Sound familiar? Gotcha, cos the game in question is not a continuation of the two studios' monstrously reproductive Big Bass series. However, you know what? It kind of is a continuation, for Samurai Code, despite the obvious theme change is a clone of Bigger Bass Blizzard with an Asian twist, though it still involves collecting fish.

Bigger Bass Blizzard (and the slot it forked from Bigger Bass Bonanza) built on the original Big Bass Bonanza slot in a number of ways. One was the introduction of a larger gaming area, which grew by an extra reel, and 2, yes 2, extra paylines. The same setup has returned for Samurai Code, which plays out on a 5-reel, 4-row grid where the 12 paylines make bet levels a little awkward. Naturally, players' eyes get to rest on different optics since Samurai Code is all about Japanese noble warriors instead of woolly-capped, sunglassed-up, puffer jacket-wearing anglers. The visuals are okay; it's Reel Kingdom so we probably shouldn't be expecting the slot equivalent of a fine Japanese woodblock print.

We can expect a wide range of betting options, though, from a low of 12 c per spin up to a maximum of $/€240. Or you can click the ante bet, which provides a higher chance of winning the feature for an extra 50% on the stake. The RTP for using the ante bet or not is the same, at the default level of 96.08%, while the volatility is high.

Fishing references are absent from the paytable, which lists 10-A card ranks as the low pays, then dragonflies, swords, a coffer of money, and a lady character as the highs. Lines of 5 matching royals pay 10 times the bet; lines of 5 matching highs are worth 50 to 200 times the bet. The Fish symbols also land on the reels, and if 5 of them create a winning line, they award the money values they display. Wilds appear only in free spins where one thing they can do is substitute for all symbols except the scatter.

Samurai Code: Slot Features

There is something eerily familiar about Samurai Code's features since they've been ripped right out of the Big Bass range's playbook. Namely, free spins where wild symbols collect Money symbol values, which in turn get collected themselves, leading to Money symbol multipliers.

Money Symbol

The fish are the Money symbol. On each spin, the Money symbols show a random value of 2x to 4,000 times the bet. The cash values on fish Money symbols can be won during free spins.

Free Spins

Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols anywhere on the reels awards 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. When 2 scatter symbols only are in view in the base game, there is a chance a sword appears and brings the third scatter onto the screen. During free spins, each wild symbol collects the values of Money symbols on the reels. All wild symbols that hit are also collected. Every fourth collected wild symbol retriggers the feature, awarding +10 free spins and a multiplier for Money symbol collection. The multiplier is x2 for the first retrigger, x3 for the second retrigger, and x10 for the third retrigger.

At random, when there are only 1 or 2 wilds on the screen, at the end of a free spin, Money symbols may appear in random positions. In addition, randomly, 1 or 2 swords may appear at the end of a spin and pull the reels upwards to reveal wild and Money symbols.

Buy Free Spins

The free spins round can be bought for 100x the current total bet. When buying the round, 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols randomly land on the triggering spin, and the RTP is 96.07%.

Samurai Code: Slot Verdict

Eerily similar or just getting boring at this point? What's funny about Samurai Code is that Bigger Bass Blizzard was a close, though not totally exact, copy of Bigger Bass Bonanza already, with minor changes and a lower RTP. This thing is unstoppable. The Big Bass range as it stands now brought back memories of the scene in the TV show Chernobyl, where the scientists are conducting a test which got out of control, and, well, we all know how that turned out.

Fortunately, the Big Bass phenomenon isn't as dangerous, but it is getting a little tedious. There is nothing wrong with what each individual slot can do; it's just the endless twists, turns, and innovations are hard to keep up with, not to mention somewhat repetitive. No issues when the innovations led somewhere interesting, like Big Bass Amazon Xtreme, all good. Questionable reskins make it harder to stifle a yawn. Putting an end to the negativity for a moment, if you do like the cut of Samurai Code's jib, then its 4,000x the bet win cap is a fairly mid/standard figure to aim for in a BB-related slot.

Prag, Reel Kingdom and Big Bass Bonanza, it's like an addiction by this point, but if it's working out for the two studios, then great for them. No doubt there are a bunch of gamblers happy with the continuation of the series/set of features, while others are surely getting sick of the endless repetition. Oh well, at least Samurai Code is a copy of Bigger Bass Blizzard and not the dire Star Pirates Code.