Net Gains: Slot Overview

With its online slot Net Gains, Kindred-owned studio Relax Gaming links up once more with the casino streaming community Casinogrounds, marking their third collaboration following Iron Bank (2020) and Beast Mode (2022). Here, a crew of human-like animals leaves Venice Beach behind to chase treasure out on the open sea. And honestly, why not? In 2019, a 600+ pound bluefin tuna reportedly sold in Japan for $3.1 million to sushi restaurant owner Kiyoshi Kimura. Land a few of those and you’d probably be “printing.” Yes, it may be tough to dodge a couple of streamer-style lines as we work through Net Gains. The upside for anyone tired of yet another Fishin’ Frenzy or Big Bass Bonanza copycat is that Net Gains isn’t trying to be either. It stands on its own, with a broad mix of features packed into its haul. So, let’s set sail and see what turns up. Sorry in advance—there may be a fishing phrase or two along the way.

As hinted, Net Gains takes place offshore: a boat rises and falls on the waves while upbeat, feel-good music keeps things lively. On deck, the Lion returns with his mates—the Shark, Croc, and Rhino—dangling traps into the water to snag sea creatures. Visually and tonally, it’s a clear departure from both Beast Mode and Iron Bank, and it may not look quite as rich as its predecessors. Still, the sound and visuals are polished, and there’s not much to fault. The atmosphere is upbeat, and once the gameplay gets going, any concerns about the simpler detail level quickly fade away in a wash of salt spray and fishy chaos. Tip – hit the bell in the top-left corner to hear casino streamer Letsgiveitaspin (Kim) drop his “ding ding” catchphrase.

Since it was created alongside a streamer community, it’s no shock that Net Gains is a highly volatile slot, scored 5 out of 5 for volatility. It also offers several ways to play. The default route is simple: choose a stake of 10 p/c to $/€60 per spin and keep spinning. Alternatively, players may be able to enable the Special Bet, which increases the spin price by 20% while upping the chance of triggering the bonus round by 82%. Lastly, where offered, bonus access can be purchased for 100x the stake. As you’d expect from Relax Gaming, the RTP is solid: 96.1% in standard play, rising to 96.5% when using the feature buy.

Net Gains plays out on a 5-reel, 4-row layout, delivering 4,096 ways to win. Wins land when matching symbols connect from the first reel, moving left to right across consecutive reels. You’ll need at least three matching symbols to score, while six-of-a-kind returns 0.6-1.2x for the 10-A card ranks, or 2 to 25 times the bet for chests, liquor bottles, octopi, crabs, and the lion premium symbols. When a win hits, the winning ways are cleared, letting symbols cascade into the empty spaces. If the drop creates another win, the cascade continues again. To round things off, shark wilds can land on reels 2-6, and their core role is substituting for any regular paying symbol to help form a ways win.

Net Gains: Slot Features

Net Gains clearly has a thing for the number three. The base game, for example, includes three separate mystery symbol types, and there are three bonus rounds to pick from when they trigger naturally or are purchased. In the base game, the three mystery symbols are:

• Regular mystery symbols uncover the same symbol type.
• Octopus mystery symbols transform the chosen symbol type into mystery symbols.
• Bomb mystery symbols behave like regular mystery symbols, but also wipe out any non-mystery symbol after wins are added.

When 2 scatter symbols have already been collected, there’s a chance that a mystery symbol will reveal a scatter symbol. Mystery symbols are not removed either, remaining on the grid for the next cascade.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatter symbols activates free spins, and players can select one of three options – Sticky Mystery Free Spins, Stacked Wilds Free Spins, or Coin Collection Free Spins. Across all three modes, hitting an extra spins symbol grants +2 more free spins. This symbol is removed from the grid if other symbols are destroyed. Also, Lucky Boost may randomly trigger at the start of any bonus round. When it does, there is a greater chance of hitting something big.

Sticky Mystery Free Spins

This option awards 5 free spins where, on reels 2-6, mystery symbols (regular, octopus, or bomb) can appear. After each cascade, all mystery symbols reveal the same symbol type. Any octopus mystery symbol that lands reveals a symbol type, and every instance of that symbol currently visible on reels 2-6 will convert into mystery symbols. The octopus then turns into a regular mystery symbol. Bomb mystery symbols reveal a symbol in the usual way, then remove any regular symbols not included in wins. After that, they also convert into regular mystery symbols. During this feature, each cascade adds +1 to a meter, and on every third increment of the meter, players receive an additional free spin, plus 1 mystery symbol is added to the reels at the end of the spin. The meter does not reset between spins.

Stacked Wilds Free Spins

This mode begins with 7 free spins, and features two types of wilds that can land on reels 2 to 6. The first type is multiplier wilds showing values from x2 to x5; the second is countdown wilds that always start with a counter of 3. Each time countdown wilds contribute to a win, their counter decreases by 1. If they’re part of a win while displaying 1, they’re removed from the grid. Countdown wilds that remain in place at the end of a spin will drop to the bottom of the reels on the next spin, provided there are spins still to play.

Coin Collection Free Spins

Coin Collection kicks off with 8 free spins where coin symbols can land, showing bet multiplier values within set ranges. The coin types are Bronze (1x-40x), Silver (3x-100x), and Gold (10-2,500x). A collector symbol may appear on the rightmost reel on the first spin or during cascades. If it lands at the same time as coins, their values are awarded. Coins that drop in on the next cascade are still paid as well. There’s also a chance to land a persistent collector (one per spin), which stays at the bottom of the grid for the rest of the feature and gathers any coins that appear. When a persistent collector lands, it also grants +5 free spins. If 4 or more coins land but there are no collectors, the coins are removed and their values stored. That stored total is paid if a collector lands on a later cascade within the same spin. Coins that land also add +1 to a meter. Once the meter reaches 10, an extra spin is awarded and the value ranges for each coin type increase. After five full collections, the ranges stop increasing, though an extra spin is still awarded. Finally, a coin rain can happen, dropping 10 coins of the same type onto the reel.

Net Gains: Slot Verdict

It may read like a lot on paper, but in practice Net Gains isn’t particularly hard to follow. It moves briskly through its phases, kicking off cascades when wins land and dropping in the occasional mystery symbol—though at times they can feel as rare as pearls. The bomb mystery symbol, in particular, felt notably difficult to come across. Perhaps because this is the third Relax Gaming and Casinogrounds collaboration, it didn’t hit quite as hard as the two earlier releases. That could be down to the less intricate visuals, or the fact that the storyline isn’t as developed as a bank heist or the cultural mash-up vibe of Beast Mode. Net Gains is upbeat enough, but at its core it’s essentially a group of friends out on the water doing some fishing.

Thankfully, the gameplay brings enough punch to cut through that and still deliver excitement. The ability to choose between multiple bonus rounds has become a signature across the three titles so far, and having that flexibility is genuinely welcome. In testing, each of the three could produce lively sequences, with the reels sometimes flooded with wilds or mystery symbols. Coin Collection carries a light nod to the classic money-symbol collect mechanic often seen in fishing slots, though it comes with several upgrades. That may well be intentional, giving fans of collection-style features something to enjoy without needing to jump to another game when the urge hits. As for win potential, Beast Mode‘s max win was roughly half of Iron Bank‘s, and Net Gains steps down again to a maximum of 15,000 times the bet.

That reduced max win reflects, to a degree, a slight drop in the inventiveness shown in Net Gain’s gameplay. To be clear, Net Gains was still a very fun slot to test and review, with plenty of substantial features to dig into. It may not reach the same wow factor as the previous two, but when it gets going, Net Gains can still haul up a lot of entertainment.