Unusual Catch: Slot Overview

When detectives aren’t busy solving cases and locking up criminals, what do they do to unwind? It could be anything, though it’s easy to imagine at least a few of them heading out for a spot of fishing. The officer who previously starred in Northern Lights Gaming‘s slots Unusual Suspects and More Unusual Suspects is clearly one of those, returning as the face of Unusual Catch. And this release has more in common with the earlier ‘Unusual’ titles than just the name and main character.

In fact, Unusual Catch is a reskin of Unusual Suspects, meaning the underlying mechanics and technical setup are essentially identical. Of course, the presentation has been swapped out, placing players in an ocean setting instead of a city crime scene. The backdrop brings Bigger Bass Bonanza to mind, showing a lively sea beside a palm-lined skyline, with the base game set in daylight and the free spins shifting to nighttime.

The figures are virtually unchanged; the same medium volatility label applies to the math model, and the default RTP remains 96.04%. Stakes range from 10 c to $/€20 per spin, and players can either purchase access to the free spins feature or try to reach it via the gamble option. Gameplay takes place on a 5-reel, 4-row layout, with 25 paylines used to calculate standard wins.

On the paytable, the lower-value symbols are the fishy 10, J, Q, K, and A ranks, paying 1 times the bet for 5 of a kind on a payline. Land 5 matching higher-paying bottles, hooks, hats/glasses, or dinghies and you’ll receive 2 to 10 times your bet.

Unusual Catch: Slot Features

Just like in the earlier version, wilds drive much of the excitement in Unusual Catch, and they can appear on any reel. A full line of 5 wilds returns 10x the stake, and wilds also substitute for all other paying symbols. When a Purple Wild lands, it spawns more wilds or another Purple Wild symbol. Each time wilds land, they leave an x1 sticky frame on their positions. If wilds hit a spot that already has a frame, they increase the multiplier by +1 up to a maximum of x5.

Angler Wild Bonus

Whenever the Angler symbol appears, it populates all sticky framed positions with wilds. Any multipliers present on a payline are applied to wins that include them. In the base game, once the Angler Wild bonus finishes, all sticky frames are cleared away. In free spins, sticky frames stay active until the feature ends.

Free Spins Booster

Scatters may land anywhere on the reels. If exactly 2 scatters are visible, they add 1 token to the Booster Meter, and it takes 50 tokens to be filled. When those 2 scatters land in the top 3 rows, Nudging Respins begin. Reels showing a scatter are held and nudged down one row, while the remaining reels are respun. Nudging Respins keep going until a scatter reaches the bottom row or until 5 scatters appear.

Bad Bass Free Spins

Hit 3, 4, or 5 scatters to activate 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. Throughout the feature, Angler symbols that land are collected on the Bonus Trail:

• Collecting 3 Anglers unlocks Bad Bass 1, awarding +5 free spins with an x2 multiplier.
• Collecting 6 Anglers unlocks Bad Bass 2, awarding +5 free spins with an x3 multiplier.
• Collecting 9 Anglers unlocks Bad Bass 3, awarding +5 free spins with an x5 multiplier.
• Collecting 12 Anglers unlocks Bad Bass 4, awarding +5 free spins with an x10 multiplier.

If free spins were triggered and the Booster Meter was full, Big Boss 1 is unlocked. The meter resets after the free spins bonus.

Bonus Buy

Players can start the free spins feature instantly for a fixed price of 38.6x the bet. Sticky frames and free spins Boost Meter progress are not used when buying free spins.

Gamble

Free spins can also potentially be accessed through the gamble option. Players pick their bet, which increases or decreases the green segment on a wheel. If the needle stops on green, free spins are awarded; if it lands on red, they aren’t. Sticky frames and free spins Boost Meter progress are not used when gambling for free spins.

Unusual Catch: Slot Verdict

Unusual Suspects managed to create plenty of fun thanks to wilds bouncing in and the sticky frame multipliers building up. Unusual Catch can do the same, yet it didn’t feel quite as rewarding as the original. That’s a bit ironic, considering it uses the very same feature set, and the Angler collection mechanic—similar to Big Bass Bonanza‘s free spins collection feature—seems perfectly suited to a fishing theme. So what’s the issue? It may simply be that familiar “second time around” fatigue that often comes with cloned slots. It could also be that fishing games are everywhere compared to crime-themed ones—compared to most themes, really. The game’s understated pace and overall mood also don’t do it many favours. Most likely, it’s a mix of all of the above.

Still, fishing slots have a huge following, so Northern Lights Gaming might find Unusual Catch performs better than Unusual Suspects did. It’s hard to say, though the first game was more engaging to review mainly because it wasn’t yet another fish title. The moustached detective taking down underworld bosses had a bit of crime-solver cosplay charm to it. Unusual Catch is, well, fish. To be fair, it avoids the usual fish-money-symbol collecting routine, so credit where it’s due. The 8,000x the bet win potential is a nice extra, and if the game heats up, the grid can end up drenched in multiplier chaos.

A final complaint is that while Unusual Suspects at least carried a hint of originality, the reskin brings none of that novelty with it. Yes, fish slots have a built-in audience ready to bite, but they also risk disappearing in the flood, so a more imaginative reskin theme might have made a stronger impact.