Fat Fish Festival Slot Review
A tiny angler in a red rowboat sits on the horizon at sunset, rod bent over a calm sea, five padlocked chests waiting above the reels. Fat Fish Festival hides its best game behind a lock: the reels you spin matter less than which of those chests happens to crack, and a session lives or dies on that one roll of the padlock.
Wishbone runs it on a 5×4 grid with 20 paylines, 96.25% RTP, medium volatility and a 6,000x cap. The studio’s range runs from Kingfisher to Poseidon’s Rage and Dragon PrimeX, but the collector-with-upgrades design is what sets this one apart. The paylines are the supporting act. The chests are where the money lives.
Base Game & Features
Wins run left to right across 20 fixed paylines, and only the highest combination on each line pays. Bonus wins and payline wins can land on the same spin, which matters here more than usual: the payline side of the game is thin, and the bonus side carries it. Stakes run from 0.20 to 40.00 per spin.
All symbol values are multiples of the total bet:
- Wild (Fish): 10x for five, 2x for four, 1x for three
- Boat: 5x for five, 1x for four, 0.5x for three
- Fishing Rod: 4x for five, 0.8x for four, 0.4x for three
- Lure/Fly: 3x for five, 0.6x for four, 0.3x for three
- Worm Can: 2x for five, 0.4x for four, 0.2x for three
- Ace: 1x for five, 0.2x for four, 0.1x for three
- King: 1x for five, 0.2x for four, 0.1x for three
- Queen: 1x for five, 0.2x for four, 0.1x for three
- Jack: 1x for five, 0.2x for four, 0.1x for three
- 10: 1x for five, 0.2x for four, 0.1x for three
The Wild Fish substitutes for everything except Scatters and Special symbols, and it doubles as the richest symbol on the grid. It out-pays the best themed symbol by two to one, which tells you where the real money is meant to come from.
The Fisherman and the Chests
Fisherman symbols are Scatters, and they can land on any reel. When one lands, it has a chance to trigger the Chest sitting above that reel. Each of the four outer chests carries its own enhancement, and they combine if more than one triggers on the same spin. The larger gold chest on reel 3 is a different beast altogether.
Landing five Fisherman symbols anywhere awards the max win. Five-of-a-kind Fisherman lines don’t trigger the bonus, so the scatter pays one way and plays another.
The four outer enhancements and the golden one, at a glance:
- Reel 1, Multiplier: starts x2, climbs to x5 with X symbols
- Reel 2, Adder: starts 1x stake, builds to 5x stake with + symbols
- Reel 3, Golden Chest: 19 spins, all enhancements active
- Reel 4, Symbol Upgrade: turns royals into value carriers
- Reel 5, Respin: sticky Fisherman collection with heart chances
Fat Fish Festival Bonus Spins & Chests
Opening one or more chests in a single spin, excluding the Golden Chest, awards 10 bonus spins for the first chest and 3 more for each additional chest, with each opened chest’s enhancement active from the start. Fish symbols carrying values between 0.20x and 1,000x bet join the reels during the round. Whenever a Fisherman is present, it collects every value in view.
Chests that weren’t active on entry can still be opened during the feature, each one adding 3 spins and its enhancement. Once a chest has been activated it can’t trigger again in the same feature. If the Golden Chest is achieved, no retriggers of any kind are available for the rest of the round, and winnings are collected automatically at the end.
Reel 1: Multiplier Enhancement
Opens at x2 and climbs by 1 for every special X symbol that lands during the feature, to a maximum of x5. It multiplies the value of every Fish or upgraded symbol at the moment of a Fisherman collection, so a late X symbol is worth more than an early one.
Reel 2: Adder Enhancement
Starts at 1x stake and adds 1x stake for every special + symbol, capped at 5x stake. The chest’s displayed value gets added to every Fish or upgraded symbol during a collection, which turns a screen full of small fish into a screen of slightly better ones.
Reel 3: Golden Chest
The centre reel’s chest is the premium route: 19 spins with every enhancement running at once, and a shot at pushing the enhancement values higher before a single spin plays out. It’s the only path to the full game, and it shuts the door behind it. Once it’s achieved, nothing retriggers for the rest of the round.
Reel 4: Symbol Upgrade
Starting with the 10 symbol automatically awarded, every Arrow Up symbol that lands adds monetary value to the lowest-paying symbol and highlights the next royal in sequence, running 10, J, Q, K, A. The added value lasts for the whole feature and is collected whenever a Fisherman lands.
Reel 5: Respin Upgrade
The first Heart is automatic, and every Heart that lands adds another chance to the respin chest. When a Fisherman lands, it and all Fish and upgraded symbols stick while the remaining positions respin. New paying symbols stick too; every spin that lands none burns a chance.
The respin runs until the chances are gone or every position is filled, and no paylines are active while it plays, so it’s pure collection. It’s the most intricate of the five enhancements and the one that builds the biggest single moments.
Buy Feature
The buy skips the wait and triggers the Golden Chest feature directly, played at the current bet and available in the base game only, and not above a certain bet threshold. The cost is 300x stake.
The RTP with the buy is 96.25%, identical to the base figure, so you’re paying for speed rather than a better deal. Hitting the cap ends the feature early too: if a bonus total reaches 6,000x, only the limit is awarded and the round stops.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.1/10
Most of a session on Fat Fish Festival is spent watching the water. The line pays so little that the base game is effectively a loading screen for the chests, and the reason to choose this one over a dozen other fish-collectors is that the round you eventually get isn’t decided in advance. The same game can hand you a plain multiplier collector or a sticky respin that fills the screen.
That’s the strength: five enhancements that genuinely mix, and a respin that builds real tension as the hearts tick down. The weakness is the waiting. The themed symbols top out at 5x for five, and the wild beats them all, so the spins between bonuses are close to silent.
For anyone who enjoys a collector with moving parts and doesn’t need the base game to pay its way, there’s plenty in this tin. Anyone who wants regular line wins while they wait should cast their line somewhere quieter. The chests make the wait worth it; the sea between them doesn’t.
Fat Fish Festival FAQs
-
How do you trigger the bonus in Fat Fish Festival?
Fisherman symbols are Scatters that can land on any reel, and each one has a chance to trigger the Chest above its reel. Opening one or more chests in a single spin awards 10 bonus spins plus 3 more for each additional chest. -
What does the Golden Chest give you in Fat Fish Festival?
The Golden Chest on reel 3 gives 19 bonus spins with every enhancement running, plus a chance to push the enhancement values higher before the spins start. Once it’s achieved, no retriggers are available for the rest of the feature. -
How much does the Buy Feature cost in Fat Fish Festival?
The Buy Feature costs 300x stake and instantly triggers the Golden Chest feature at your current bet. It’s available in the base game only, isn’t available above a certain bet threshold, and runs at 96.25% RTP, the same as the base game. -
Can chests retrigger during the Fat Fish Festival bonus?
Chests that weren’t active on entry can be opened during the feature for 3 extra spins each, but an activated chest can’t trigger again. If the Golden Chest is achieved, no retriggers of any kind are available for the duration of the feature. -
What do Fish symbols pay in the Fat Fish Festival bonus?
Fish symbols carry values between 0.20x and 1,000x your bet, and any Fisherman on the reels collects every value in view. During a respin, the collection happens at the end of the respin session instead. -
What is the RTP of Fat Fish Festival?
The RTP is 96.25%, and the Buy Feature runs at the same figure. -
Is Fat Fish Festival high volatility?
No, it’s a medium volatility slot, with a hit frequency of 28.14%. -
What is the maximum win on Fat Fish Festival?
The maximum win is limited to 6,000x your bet. If a bonus feature’s total win reaches that limit, only the capped amount is awarded and the feature ends.
