How Fishing Became the Most Popular Theme in Online Slot Gaming
Fishing and online slots: on paper, they’re not exactly the most intuitively linked activities. Sure, when fishing and there’s a lot of downtime, like any other digital entertainment medium, slots can provide some fun. On the flip side, featuring iconic fish as symbols just adds to the ‘anything goes’ approach to themes in slot development.
Right now, however, fishing is the top theme in online slots, dominating the charts and being pushed high up on casino landing pages. The rankings are teeming with fishing games from two now-classic series. As well as these, just about every other reputable slot developer has tried to cast a line into the pool with their fishing slot.
So, where did this frenzy of fishing slots come from, and what is it about the core mechanic that’s caused such a bonanza in online slot gaming?
Getting the Chum in the Water
One angle some people will look at for the popularity of fishing slots is the popularity of the pastime itself. In the UK alone, the fishing equipment market of the UK was reportedly valued at over £743 million. So, there are loads of people out there fishing the bodies of freshwater and out at sea.
Still, preferences in one’s pastime don’t tend to influence slot choices. There is a bit of crossover with branded slots, having said that. When there are games that draw from popular films and games, people can have their eyes caught by brands that they already like. When it comes to fishing, though, there isn’t an official slot, as it were.
Instead, it was the creation of a feature that masterfully combines the slot game win potential that spinners seek and fishing. Originally seen in Fishin’ Frenzy from Blueprint in 2014, it still requires symbol matches. Here, though, you need a special fisherman wild symbol to collect the fish. Those fish also have cash values on them.
It creates an experience akin to sports fishing in that you’re trying to catch the biggest fish when they’re around. There’s still the randomness of getting a bite. So, the bonus rounds merge the unpredictability of fishing and making winning slot lines to show how well the two activities blend.
Meeting the Appetite for Fish
While the hit fishing mechanic hails from 2014, it took until 2020 for it to surge in popularity. Now, Fishin’ Frenzy is seen as the progenitor of the craze, with credit mostly being given to the Big Bass series. Big Bass Bonanza, which launched in late 2020, truly popularised fishing slots at the casino online.
Just looking at the section for the Top 20 games on the platform, you’ll see several fishing games. At the time of writing, nine were in the fishing theme. While Fishin’ Frenzy still has a place here with Fishin’ Frenzy Even Bigger Fish, the crown, undisputedly, goes to the Big Bass series.
A whopping seven of the Top 20 belong to the Big Bass series from Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom. This is owed to the sensational popularity of the original and the developer’s keen eye for adapting the series. More and more Big Bass games keep coming. One of the more recent was Big Bass Secrets of The Golden Lake, which features two hit features.
Fishing became the most popular slot theme because of an inventive in-theme feature that was then greatly expanded on. Now, there are loads of ways to experience the fishing mechanic, maximising its appeal.
