Club Tropicana: Slot Overview

Few two-word phrases conjure up a place where the good times never end quite like ‘Club Tropicana’. The name has been attached to everything from hotels to clubs and, naturally, the 1983 Wham! hit, and now it also fronts an online slot from Pragmatic Play with partner Reel Kingdom. Club Tropicana may sound lively, yet it isn’t especially distinctive, and the same goes for how it plays. That’s because Club Tropicana is essentially a direct copy of Bigger Bass Blizzard, complete with Money symbol collecting and free spins where gathered wilds trigger money multipliers.

One thing to ask first: that bearded guy in sunglasses who keeps showing up across the Bass-themed slots—does he actually have a name? If he doesn’t, he’s definitely earned one by now. He’s been seen hauling in fish everywhere, and this time he’s cast as Club Tropicana’s bartender. He sways at the side of the screen, occasionally mixing cocktails, while greenery flutters on the opposite side of the grid and a strip of black palm silhouettes sits up top. Add a bouncy soundtrack and Club Tropicana becomes a fun spot to unwind for a while—maybe a bit cheesy, but in a pleasant way, and even with the theme swap, it still feels like a Big Bass cousin. That might just be in the mind, though.

We called it a straight clone in the introduction, and that description is spot on. While Bigger Bass Blizzard made a few small tweaks compared to Bigger Bass Bonanza, this release carries over the exact same stats again. The math model is just as volatile (rated 5 out of 5), and the maximum RTP when playing normally or with the Ante Bet is 96.08%, dipping slightly to 96.07% when purchasing free spins. The stake range is a bit quirky, beginning at 12 p/c per spin and climbing to $/€240, and enabling the Ante Bet, which adds more scatter, increases the cost by 50%.

Club Tropicana runs on any device and uses a 5×4 game grid with 12 fixed paylines. Standard symbols pay left to right, starting from the first reel along an active payline. Low symbols are cherries, lemons, oranges, plums, and watermelons, while the higher symbols include a pool ring, a cocktail, cocktail umbrellas, and a pouring drink. A five-of-a-kind low win pays 10x the bet, while you’ll get 50 to 200 for the high pays. Money symbols appear with random values of 2x to 4,000x the bet. They award the combined total of their values when a five-of-a-kind line of Money symbols lands.

Club Tropicana: Slot Features

The scatter is the trio of drinks symbol, and it can land on all five reels. Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters anywhere on the grid awards 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. During the base game, if 2 scatters appear, there’s a chance a hook randomly appears to pull the third scatter into view.

During free spins, wild symbols are added to the reels. Wilds substitute for any paying symbol to help form winning lines. Also, when Money symbols land, their values are collected by each wild symbol that’s visible at the same time. Wild symbols are collected when they land too. Every fourth wild collected grants +10 extra free spins along with a multiplier applied to any Money symbol collections. The multiplier is x2, x3 or x10 for the first, second, and third retrigger, respectively. Any retriggered free spins are played after the current set finishes, with the relevant multiplier active. Once the third retrigger has occurred, no further retriggers can happen. Additionally, at random, when 1 or 2 wild symbols are on the grid, at the end of a free spin, Money symbols can be placed in random cells. Alternatively, the reels may be randomly pushed up at the end of a spin to reveal wild and Money symbols.

Finally, where available, free spins can be purchased for 100x the bet. On the bought triggering spin, 3, 4, or 5 scatters can land.

Club Tropicana: Slot Verdict

This is a clear case of striking while the iron’s hot. With Club Tropicana, Reel Kingdom and Pragmatic Play are getting a little more out of a proven cash cow. Naturally, anyone who can’t get enough of the Big/Bigger Bass series should find plenty to enjoy in Club Tropicana too. It’s difficult not to, considering it’s a direct lift of Bigger Bass Blizzard, meaning the fish-catching—well, in this case, chasing money-covered Money symbols—is back again. The reverse is also true. If you’re completely tired of the Bass craze, you’ll want to steer clear, because Club Tropicana unfolds in exactly the same way.

The Big/Bigger Bass formula is hugely popular and has entertained a massive number of slot fans since Big Bass Bonanza arrived in the latter part of 2020. It was something of an unexpected success, as it felt like a straightforward Fishin’ Frenzy imitator—because in some respects, it was. Still, it hit the mark, and after multiple follow-ups, we now have Club Tropicana delivering another run-through. Nothing has been altered mechanically or in the numbers, including the 4,000x win cap, so Bass devotees will know exactly what they’re getting if they decide to spin up Club Tropicana.

Given how widespread the Big/Bigger Bass line-up has become, there’s probably little need to go deep into how it works. For newcomers, though, it’s worth noting that in the world of Fishin’ Frenzy-style slots, Pragmatic Play/Reel Kingdom’s many entries are among the strongest examples of Money symbol collection gameplay. Since Club Tropicana holds no hidden twists, dedicated Money symbol collectors can get ready for yet another Bass-style session, while anyone who’s had enough can simply bow out and leave the party behind.