Golden Fish Tank 2 Gigablox: Slot Overview

Some folks would rather head outdoors, wrestle a fish, prove who’s in charge, and maybe drag a few onto the bank. Others are happier bringing the “nature” indoors—watching fish circle a bowl, darting around miniature shipwrecks and plastic plants. If you fall into that second camp, you may be drawn to the follow-up to Yggdrasil’s classic 2016 aquatic slot Golden Fish Tank. The sequel, Golden Fish Tank 2 Gigablox, updates plenty of elements while holding onto the fizzy underwater vibe that made the original so popular.

Oddly enough, even with “Fish Tank” in the name, neither title really feels like it’s set inside a tank. There’s simply too much sand, seaweed, and bubbling action. Visually, Golden Fish Tank 2 can even come across as more old-school than the first—cleaner and more basic in style. Still, it has loads of character: the rows of fish along the transparent grid have a Pixar-like, endearingly goofy look. The calming effect is boosted by ocean-themed music, along with the same kind of satisfying pop sounds when the reels stop and wins tick up.

A major update is the inclusion of Yggdrasil’s Gigablox mechanic. The studio has licensed it out to various partners, with mixed results, but here it fits perfectly. In short, the slot uses 6 reels. On each spin, reels can combine to form Gigablox symbols measuring 2×2, 3×3, or 4×4 – in the base game. When a Gigablox symbol contributes to a win, it then splits into standard 1×1 symbols for the payout calculation.

The maths have been refreshed too. Volatility, for example, has been bumped up from medium to medium-high, while RTP stays roughly the same at 96%. Like before, it runs smoothly on any device, and the stake range is 25 p/c to $/€100 per spin. That’s for regular play, though. If you enable the Golden Bet feature, your wager increases by 20%. In return, you receive an extra feature pick when free spins are triggered.

On the standard 4-row grid, there are 25 paylines for landing three to six of a kind. The low-value symbols are the four card suits, while the four premium icons are the same fish from the original—only now they look even more wide-eyed and confused. Hitting six premium symbols on a payline returns 6 to 12 times the stake. The top line payout is 20x the bet for six of the wild symbol, which can land anywhere and substitute for any regular pay symbol.

Golden Fish Tank 2 Gigablox: Slot Features

The feature set blends familiar ideas with fresh twists: alongside Gigablox and the Golden Bet, there are free spins, a treasure chest feature, and a buy bonus option.

Treasure Chest

Treasure chests land on the last reel and always deliver a prize, even when only part of the chest is visible. A stream of bubbles drifts across the screen, bursting one by one until a single bubble remains and reveals the reward. In the base game, prizes can be 2-500x the bet or 5-16 free spins. During free spins, you can win 2-500x the bet or 1-5 extra free spins. The bigger the chest, the better the average prize.

Free Spins

Hitting at least 5 scatter symbols in the base game activates the free spins feature. You’re awarded the same number of free spins as the number of free spin symbols visible. After that, players are given a random number of feature picks. With the Golden Bet enabled, you always receive 1 extra feature pick at this stage.

If the number of feature picks doesn’t suit you, there’s the option to gamble for more. Here, 3 starfish appear. Choose one: if it shows gold, you gain another feature pick; if it shows a black starfish, you’re returned to the base game.

For the feature pick, various underwater objects appear on screen. Players select them one by one to uncover these modifiers:

• Wild Fish – one of the fish symbols is turned wild.
• x2 Multiplier – is applied to all wins in free spins.
• Expanded Reels – 2 rows are added to the reels. This allows Gigablox up to 6×6.
• Extra Wild – 1 to 2 wilds are added in random positions on each free spin.
• Fish Stacks – one fish symbol type can land stacked on the reels.
• Extra Free Spins – 1 to 5 free spins are added to the total.

Buy Bonus

There are 2 ways to purchase entry into the bonus. The first is the standard option, granting 5-16 free spins for 60x the total stake. The second includes the Golden Bet, meaning you get the +1 pick; this option costs 100x the stake.

Golden Fish Tank 2 Gigablox: Slot Verdict

It’s fair to say Gigablox suits this Yggdrasil classic perfectly. The developer hasn’t drastically reworked the presentation, so anyone who enjoyed the original’s straightforward underwater setting will be pleased it’s largely been kept intact. If anything, it’s been pared back even more, so when the reels are quiet it’s easy to drift off and simply watch the fish glide around.

Thankfully, the game is built to minimise long stretches of nothing happening. Gigablox adds constant uncertainty, occasionally snapping together into something worthwhile, and free spins appeared to land fairly often without needing to use the bonus buy. Still, the pick feature can feel as agonising as real fishing—especially when you’ve secured the maximum number of picks and they don’t reveal anything exciting. Unless you manage a strong combination of wilds, the x2 multiplier, and the reel expansion modifier, the payouts are unlikely to be particularly memorable.

Compared with other Gigablox titles from Yggdrasil, Golden Fish Tank 2 isn’t as intense as Hades Gigablox, but it’s aiming for a different mood. It strikes a solid middle ground between laid-back nature vibes and sharper, modern maths. It’s also clearly a stronger performer than the first game. If you never played the original—or haven’t touched it in years—it’s surprising to remember it promoted wins up to x300. That may have felt fine in 2016 when Golden Fish Tank launched, but it now seems oddly modest next to Golden Fish Tank 2’s stated 5,000x max win.

The first game was a massive hit thanks to what was, at the time, cutting-edge tech, design, and features, so expectations were naturally high. Golden Fish Tank 2 is a polished sequel that makes Gigablox feel right at home, though there’s still a sense the creators could have pushed things just a little further.