Big Bass Christmas: Frozen Lake Slot Review
Charming the iGaming community with a little Christmas spirit once again is Reel Kingdom, with…yep, you guessed it…another Big Bass slot release to mark the upcoming festivities. At this point, we’re not even a little bit surprised to see the Fisherman return; we’re just amazed that Reel Kingdom hasn’t run out of ideas for the series.
“All I want for Christmas is a new Big Bass slot release”, said no one, ever, not even the most loyal Big Bass Bonanza players. Whether you wished for it or not, Reel Kingdom’s ongoing Big Bass franchise is certainly the gift that keeps on giving, and not necessarily in a good or meaningful way, either.
As of 2021, Reel Kingdom introduced its first Christmas-themed Big Bass Bonanza title, ironically named…Christmas Big Bass Bonanza. Throughout the years, more & more Big Bass Bonanza titles crept out of the woodwork, as did several other Christmas-themed variants in due course, including Big Bass Christmas Bash and Bigger Bass Blizzard Christmas Catch.
In Big Bass Christmas: Frozen Lake, we’re challenging the icy conditions of the frozen lake as we search for prized fish hidden beneath it, but will we be successful in our endeavour, or will the only thing we catch be a cold?
With a fixed RTP of 96.07% and a high volatility score, this game can produce wins worth up to 5,000x your bet, but will the lake reveal never-seen-before features & mechanics? Let’s find out…
Base Game & Features
Big Bass Christmas: Frozen Lake is a highly volatile 5-reel, 3-row video slot with 10 fixed pay lines. Winning combinations are granted when 2-5 identical symbols fall on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The highest-paying symbol falls to Santa’s Sleigh, followed by the Robin, Fishing Rod, Tacklebox, Fish, and A, K, Q, J, & 10 card ranks. When a win is confirmed on the reels, a fixed payout between 0.2x and 200x your bet is awarded.
Furthermore, Fisherman Wilds appear only in the Free Spins mode, substituting for all symbols except Scatters & Money symbols. Lastly, Scatter symbols appear on all reels and are responsible for triggering the Free Spins mode.
Money Symbols
The Fish symbol from the paytable also acts as a Money symbol. During each spin, Money symbols display a random Cash Prize between 2x and 5,000x your bet. These values can only be collected during Free Spins when a Fisherman Wild lands in view.
Scatters
When 2 Scatter symbols appear in the same base game spin, 1 of 2 Modifiers can trigger:
- Both Scatters move down by one position, triggering Respins until one or both Scatters reach the bottom of the reel set
- A random Hook animation can pull a random reel upwards to reveal the 3rd Scatter required for Free Spins
Big Bass Christmas: Frozen Lake Free Spins
Landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatters in the base game awards 10, 15, or 20 Free Spins, respectively. Before the round begins, players select 1 of 12 Cards to reveal the type of Free Spins awarded.
If the selected Card displays a standard Bonus, then the regular Free Spins mode is awarded. Alternatively, revealing a Secrets of the Frozen Lake Card guarantees entry into the Frozen Lake Free Spins mode.
During the regular Free Spins mode, each Fisherman Wild gathers the total of all Money symbols in view. For every 4th Fisherman Wild collected into the Retrigger Trail, an additional +10 Free Spins and x2, x3, and x10 for levels 2, 3, & 4, respectively.
Furthermore, additional Modifiers can trigger at random on the reels:
- Fisherman Wilds in view without Money symbols may cause them to appear in random cell positions
- Money symbols in view without Fisherman Wilds may trigger a Hook animation, which will pull 1 or more onto the reels
- In certain cases, paytable symbols may transform to create new winning combinations
Frozen Lake Free Spins
In Frozen Lake Free Spins, all regular paytable symbols are removed from the reels, leaving only Money symbols, Fisherman Wilds, & Blanks in play, awarding 10 Free Spins.
Similar to the regular Free Spins mode, Fisherman Wilds are responsible for collecting Money symbols in the same spin. Additionally, collecting 4 Fisherman Wilds retriggers the session, awarding +10 Free Spins and a Multiplier of x2, x3, and x10 for levels 2, 3, & 4, respectively.
The Frozen Lake Free Spins mode focuses directly on gathering Money symbols & activating Retriggers, making it a more volatile alternative when compared to regular Free Spins.
Ante Bet & Bonus Buy
Players may purchase any of the following Ante Bet & Bonus Buy options:
- Ante Bet: For a 50% bet increase, players can increase their chance of triggering both Free Spins options per spin
- Free Spins: For an additional 100x their bet, players are awarded the regular Free Spins mode with 10 Free Spins
- Frozen Lake Free Spins: For an additional 270x their bet, players can trigger the Frozen Lake Free Spins mode with 10 Free Spins
Big Bass Christmas: Frozen Lake has a maximum win potential of 5,000x your bet. If a single game mode reaches this, the current session ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Our Honest Verdict
Our thoughts about the repetitiveness of the Big Bass Series are well documented. We’ve praised many of them in the past, admitting that we can see the appeal. However, of late, we’ve grown tired of the tediousness of it all.
Reel Kingdom are creaming in the exposure for Big Bass Bonanza, it was there at the right place at the right time to take the crown from Fishin’ Frenzy. It’s everywhere online, and even cleverly included in free spins promos for casinos, and on billboards around towns in the UK and presumably elsewhere where Reel Kingdom are dominating the market share of fish.
If you’re in the streaming community, watch streaming, like the innovative games that streamers often play, then Big Bass Bonanza doesn’t feel like anything special, forgettable, even.
Big Bass Christmas: Frozen Lake is such a game. It’s got a limited shelf life because of its Christmas theme, so you can kind of forgive the lack of effort, but the whole series is kind of lacking effort.
Think us harsh, if you like, but Reel Kingdom knows and accepts that they’re milking this series a bit, and who could blame them? What a cash cow it is. Still, it’s not deserving of any meaningful praise.
Once again, we see the appeal, we see why it might be popular, but Big Bass, we think, is known for its sheer volume and presence.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
