Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy: Slot Overview

2022 (when this review was written) may have been the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac, but across iGaming it also felt like the Year of the Fish. Providers kept rolling out titles that let players test their fortune alongside our finned friends. Here, software house Light & Wonder steps up with an online slot called Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy. The name doesn’t exactly hide what it’s about, giving players a pretty clear first impression, while the gameplay highlights include fishing rod prize collections, full reel multiplier wilds, free spins with wild conversions, and a buy pass.

One area where developers have excelled is giving fish-themed slots very different looks. To explain: most of these games—Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy included—are set on or around water, either above the surface or below it. Still, the art style can range from the rich spectacle of something like Golden Catch to a more retro approach like Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy. This one nods to the earlier era of angling slots, especially the genre trailblazer Fishin’ Frenzy. The graphics are straightforward, the palette is loud and bright, and the soundtrack is relentlessly cheerful. Overall, Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy’s style will likely split players between those who appreciate the no-frills approach and those who find it painfully plain.

Offered in two RTP versions, Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy’s top theoretical return is 95.92%, with the alternative set at 94%. If you choose to buy free spins—guaranteeing at least 3 scatter symbols on the reels—it costs 51 times the bet and adjusts the maximum return slightly to 95.89%. Playing normally, you’ll select a stake of 10 p/c to $/€20 per spin and spin away on whichever device you prefer, whether that’s desktop or mobile.

Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy runs on a 6-reel layout, with 3 symbols per reel and 729 ways to win. With ways, any matching symbols landing on adjacent reels starting from the far left create a winning way. The extra four-position reel along the bottom will be explained shortly. Wins require at least three matching symbols, and when you land a full six-symbol hit, payouts range from 1.5 to 3 times the bet for the 9-K royals, or 5-10x the bet for six nets, hats, tackle boxes, rings, or hooks. Sharks are wild, meaning they can substitute for any standard pay symbol to help form a win.

Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy: Slot Features

Horizontal Reel of Fish

Time to cover that lower reel. It’s called the Horizontal Reel Of Fish, and each spot can show a blank, a Cash Fish, a Swordfish, or an Electric Eel. At the beginning of every spin, the Horizontal Reel Of Fish moves left by one step, with a fresh symbol (or empty space) appearing in the far-right position. If a Fishing Rod symbol lands on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5, it drops its hook and catches any symbol sitting below it on the Horizontal Reel of Fish, paying out that prize. If the rod lands above a blank, nothing is awarded.

Cash Fish pay bet multipliers of x5 to x50, while the Electric Eel is a progressive wild symbol which fills the whole reel once it’s caught by the Fishing Rod. Any wins that involve the Electric Eel are multiplied by x4. Up to two Electric Eels can be present at once, with their multipliers multiplying together.

Free Spins

Free spins are awarded by hooking a Swordfish symbol or via a combination of Swordfish and scatter symbols. The pay table shows several possible triggers, but in simple terms you can collect between 8 and 15 free spins depending on how many scatters and/or Swordfish land. The free spins play much like the base game, except a shark can swim onto the reels and turning up to 5 symbols wild. Lastly, it’s worth noting that free spins cannot be retriggered.

Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy: Slot Verdict

Starting with the good, when Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy first appeared on-screen, it felt like Light & Wonder wanted to stroll players down to a digital fishing spot in shorts and flip-flops, completely unconcerned with what anyone else might think. And honestly, ignoring outside opinions isn’t always a bad approach. Back to the game: it doesn’t really feel like Light & Wonder pushed the boat out visually. The audio, on the other hand, is sharp and lively, moving along at a brisk pace. The graphics, though—less certain. They’re probably something you either grow to like or you don’t, and they brought to mind Dave Lame Bad Magician, another Light & Wonder title that didn’t exactly wow. It can cut either way: some players will love the 1990s-style look and feel, while others won’t be sold at all.

One interesting point is that the fish cash symbols may not be the main source of excitement in Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy. When you consider the ways setup, the possibility of landing two multiplicative full reel wild multipliers is a pretty tempting thought. Two Electric Eels never showed up together during testing, but they do exist in theory, floating around until the right spin comes along to snag them. That, along with Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy’s max win of 8,259x the bet, could be exactly what’s needed to reel certain players in.

Reel ‘Em In A Bit Fishy delivers some fun moments, and while it doesn’t simply copy the biggest names in the fishing slot space, players can still land a decent catch. The somewhat flat visuals might be a loud deal breaker for some, but if they don’t bother you, there’s entertainment here for the right couch-bound angler.