Play Demo
Our first spin of the session landed three scatter boats and sent us straight into 10 free games. The fisherman showed up twice, collected a mix of fish values, and the round closed at 114.30 credits against a £1 stake. That kind of opening can flatter a game or offer an early glimpse of how its mechanics come together. With Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways, it feels more like the latter. Blueprint Gaming took the fishing collect format that built an entire franchise and stretched it across six reels and up to 15,625 Megaways, under licence from Big Time Gaming. The fisherman still lands and scoops up whatever fish values are on screen; that part hasn’t changed. What’s different is the scale of the grid he’s fishing on.
Each of the six reels can reveal between two and five symbols per spin, and the total ways to win shifts with every result. The counter above the reels shows the live number each time, anywhere from a few hundred up to 15,625. Wins pay left to right on consecutive reels regardless of symbol height, with all winning combinations paid simultaneously and results multiplied by total stake. The Megaways licence comes from Big Time Gaming, as noted in the info screen.
The fisherman acts as wild across reels two through six, substituting for all standard symbols. He cannot replace scatter or bonus symbols, and only the highest win per combination is paid. Outside the free games he contributes to payline wins but plays no collection role; that only activates when the bonus is running.
Three or more boat scatter symbols anywhere in view trigger the free games round. The allocation scales with how many scatters land: three awards 10 free games, four awards 15, five awards 25, and six awards a full 50. That top tier is new to this format. The original game caps at 20 with five scatters, and the sixth reel is what makes 50 spins reachable at all. Free games cannot retrigger, so the spin count awarded at the start is the full allocation.
During free games, fish symbols carry cash values ranging from 2x to 50x the total bet across seven size tiers. When a fisherman wild lands on the same spin as one or more fish, he collects the prize value of every fish visible on the reels at that moment. Where the feature gets interesting is when multiple fishermen land together. Each one collects all visible fish values independently, so two fishermen doubles every prize on screen, three triples it, and so on. That stacking behaviour is what drives the bigger payouts and what powers the 50,000x maximum win shown in the info screen.
The Fishin’ Frenzy Bonus Bet can be activated from the main game via the button to the left of the reels. At a cost of 100x the total stake, it guarantees a minimum of three scatter symbols on the next spin, forcing a free games trigger. The rules panel lists the Bonus Bet RTP at 96.60%, slightly above the 96.10% that applies to standard play. Availability depends on operator configuration and is not accessible to UK players at real-money sites.
The most noticeable thing about the Megaways format on first play is the win counter above the reels. It changes on every spin — 576 one spin, 3,600 the next, occasionally close to the 15,625 maximum, because each reel is independently deciding how many symbols to show. With more symbols in play across the reels, there are more ways for wins to form, with fewer, those chances tighten. Fixed-line play never has that variability, and it’s one of the things that makes the free play version worth a few sessions just to get a read on how the grid behaves.
The game runs on six reels with between two and five symbols showing per spin. Wins pay when matching symbols land on consecutive reels from left to right, regardless of vertical position, with only the highest win per combination paid and all valid results added together. Bets range from £0.10 to £10.00. RTP is 96.10% in standard play and rises to 96.60% with Bonus Bet active. The game is medium volatility, with a maximum win of 50,000x total stake.
Values below reflect a £1.00 total bet. The same multipliers apply proportionally at higher or lower stakes.
| Symbol | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seagull | 200x | 30x | 15x | 5x |
| Fishing Rod | 100x | 15x | 10x | 3x |
| Life Ring | 50x | 10x | 6x | 2x |
| Tackle Box | 50x | 10x | 6x | 2x |
| Quantity | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish | 10x | 5x | 3x | 1x |
| Symbol | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A / K | 5x | 2x | 1x | 0.5x |
| Q / J | 5x | 2x | 1x | 0.5x |
| 10 | 2.5x | 1x | 0.5x | 0.3x |
| Fish Size | Cash Value (x total bet) |
|---|---|
| Smallest | 2x |
| Second | 5x |
| Third | 10x |
| Fourth | 15x |
| Fifth | 20x |
| Sixth | 25x |
| Largest | 50x |
| Scatters | Free Games |
|---|---|
| 3 | 10 |
| 4 | 15 |
| 5 | 25 |
| 6 | 50 |
Fishin' Frenzy Megaways does exactly what it says. The Megaways format opens up the reels, the six-scatter tier adds a new upper end for free games allocation, and the fisherman collect feature remains as satisfying as it was in 2014. What it doesn't do is reinvent anything. A solid update to a reliable format.
The game loads looking exactly like the original: same underwater backdrop, same coral framing, same jingle that has been soundtracking this series since 2014. Blueprint have made no attempt to dress it up. If you played Fishin’ Frenzy in a betting shop a decade ago, loading this demo will feel like putting on an old coat. Comfortable, a little worn, recognisably the same thing, which is either reassuring or deflating depending on how much you wanted something new.
Standard play runs exactly as it does in any game in the series. The fisherman wild doesn’t collect outside the bonus, so between triggers the reels produce modest payline combinations from the seagull, rod, life ring, tackle box, fish, and card symbols. The Megaways counter shifts on every spin, sometimes 576 ways, sometimes 3,600, occasionally close to the maximum, but this doesn’t change the cadence of regular play much. The session feels patient regardless of the ways count, which is exactly what medium-volatility fishing slots tend to feel like.
The free games round is where the format earns its place. Our first trigger came from the opening spin of the session and ran for 10 spins with the counter sitting at 15,625 Megaways throughout. The fisherman appeared twice, collecting a spread of fish values each time. Most were in the smaller tiers, but a 10x and 15x fish landing on the same spin mid-round pushed the total significantly, and the whole thing finished at 114.30 credits from a £1 stake with nothing spent to trigger it.
The Bonus Buy told a different story. Three scatters again, another 10 free games, but only one fisherman appearance across the round and a smaller collection each time. It returned 50 credits against a 100-credit spend. The difference between those two sessions comes down to one extra fisherman landing, which is the most honest illustration of how this game actually works. The feature is simple, the results vary widely, and the fisherman’s landing frequency determines almost everything about where a session ends up.
The Fishin’ Frenzy series has expanded well beyond this entry, and understanding where Megaways fits matters when choosing which version to play. The original runs on 10 fixed paylines with a 5,000x maximum and tops out at 20 free spins. This version raises the ways to win dramatically, pushes the stated maximum to 50,000x, and adds the 50-spin six-scatter tier. What it doesn’t add is any structural layer to the bonus itself, no fish upgrade path like The Big Catch, no Pick A Fish selection and multiplier trail like The Big Splash.
The Megaways version is the purest translation of the original concept at scale, running the same collect feature across more reels and more ways to win. Players who find the upgrade systems in The Big Catch or the Pick A Fish screen in The Big Splash too layered will find this the more direct option. Players who want the bonus to do more than collect fish will find those sequels better suited.
As a Megaways slot it’s a streamlined one. There are no cascades, no win multiplier trail, nothing mid-spin to change the shape of a result. The ways-to-win format handles the structural work and the fisherman collect handles the rest. That simplicity is either the appeal or the limitation, depending on what you’re after.
Three scatters land on our first spin across the reels at 576 Megaways, triggering 10 free games.
The Catch of the Day summary board after free game 10 of 10 — 114.30 paid from a £1 stake.
