Marlin Masters: The Big Haul Demo
Marlin Masters: The Big Haul Slot Review
Local fisherman, Big Bob, has been alerted to several elusive Marlin spotted off the coast. Quickly grabbing his rod, tacklebox and coconut-scented SPF, he leaves his beach house and heads to his fishing boat, with the sign now reading “Gone Fishing”.
With the water clear and the sun shining, the conditions are perfect for seeing what lurks beneath the surface level. As his trusted fishing boat, Bettsy the Beaut, makes her way across the soft waves, Big Bob blasts his favourite Reggae tunes, adjusts his hat, and casts off for the day.
Marlin Masters: The Big Haul from Hacksaw Gaming takes over from Marlin Masters, marking this their second entry into the competitive and popular Fishing-themed slots market. Hacksaw Gaming saw the potential being pulled from the water and decided they wanted a taste for themselves.
Marlin Masters: The Big Haul is essentially Hacksaw Gaming returning to the open waters with a bigger rod and even better bait. With a fixed RTP of 96.28% and a medium volatility score, players can reel in big prizes of up to 10,000x their bet.
Without further ado, let’s dive into Marlin Masters: The Big Haul and see if it catches players hook, line, and sinker!
Base Game & Features
Marlin Masters: The Big Haul is the latest fishing release from Hacksaw Gaming, featuring 5 reels, 4 rows, and 14 fixed pay lines. Wins are evaluated when 3, 4, or 5 identical symbols appear on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The highest-paying symbol falls to the Blue Fish, followed by the yellow, pink, and orange fish. Low-paying symbols consist of standard card suits: A, K, Q, J, & 10. Each paytable symbol includes a fixed payout between 0.1x and 7.5x your bet, where applicable.
Throughout each session, Wild & Scatter symbols appear on all reel positions, and are responsible for the following outcomes:
- Wilds: Substitute for all paytable symbols during a win evaluation
- Scatters: Are responsible for triggering up to 3 Free Spins modes
Marlin Symbols & LootLines
During gameplay, regular & golden Marlin symbols can appear across the reels, carrying a random Cash Prize between 1x and 1,000x your bet. When a Marlin symbol is part of a winning Lootline or collected by the Fisherman symbol, its respective Cash Prize is awarded.
Lootlines are created when there is an active winning pay line of Marlin symbols on the reels. When a Gold Marlin is part of a winning Lootline, it spreads its current Cash Prize to all regular Marlin symbols on the reels.
If multiple Gold Marlin symbols are present, but were unable to participate in a winning Lootline, they are activated by Fisherman symbols, where applicable, initiating the same function as previous Gold Marlin symbols.
Once all winning functions have occurred, the Fisherman symbol will collect the Cash Prizes of all available marlin symbols. If a Cash Prize is too large to display, it will be shortened to 2 decimal places – For example, 10,250,500 will be shown as 10.25m.
Fisherman Symbols
When a Fisherman symbol appears during a spin, it collects all present Marlin symbols on the reels, from top to bottom and left to right. Like Marlin symbols, Fisherman symbols can appear Regular or Golden, and activate after winning pay lines and Lootlines have been awarded.
Regular Fisherman symbols can award a multiplier that affects the current value of all Marlin symbols it collects. Alternatively, Golden Fisherman symbols reveal a random Multiplier between x1 and x20, which is applied to all Cash Prizes from Marlin symbols, once they’ve been collected.
If a Golden fisherman is present on the reels, it will activate once all regular Fisherman symbols are finished. The Golden Fisherman collects all Marlin symbols from the reels, in addition to the collected values from other Fisherman symbols in view.
Featurespins & Bonus Buy
Players within permissible and acceptable regions can purchase up to 5 Bonus Buy options:
- Bonushunt Featurespins: Each spin is guaranteed to be more than 5 times likely to trigger a Free Spins mode for 3x your bet (RTP 96.3%)
- Fin-tastic Featurspins: Guarantees at least 3 Marlin symbols and 1 Fisherman symbol for 50x your bet (RTP 96.3%)
- Sea-riously Epic Drop Featurespins: Guarantees at least 3 Marlin symbols, 1 Golden Marlin, and 1 Fisherman symbol for 100x your bet (RTP 96.35%)
- Don’t Be Koi: Awards 8 Free Spins and a Big Haul Bar for 75x your bet (RTP 96.28%)
- Catch Me If You Can: Awards 10 Free Spins, bigger Fisherman symbols, and a stronger Big Haul Bar for 200x your bet (RTP 96.24%)
Each of the above options has a fixed volatility score of ‘High’ except Don’t Be Koi (medium) and Bonushunt Featurespins (very high). Please note that the hidden bonus, Hooked on Paradise, is not available for purchase.
Marlin Masters: The Big Haul has a fixed max win potential of 10,000x your bet. If a game round exceeds this figure, the current mode ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Marlin Masters: The Big Haul Free Spins
Triggering the ‘Don’t Be Koi‘ Free Spins mode requires 3 Scatter symbols to land in the base game, awarding 8 Free Spins.
In this mode, the game retains the same mechanics found in the base game, with the addition of a Big Haul Bar displayed outside the main reel set. Each time a Fisherman symbol appears in view, the Big Haul Bar increases by +1 Step.
This increase occurs whether the Fisherman symbol collects Marlin symbols or not. Furthermore, Gold Marlin symbols will reveal a minimum Cash Prize of 3x your bet. For every 4th Fisherman symbol collected, a new Upgrade Level is achieved within the Big Haul Bar:
- Upgrade 1: Awards 8 Free Spins and a Fisherman Multiplier of at least x2
- Upgrade 2: Awards 8 Free Spins and a Fisherman Multiplier of at least x4
- Upgrade 3: Awards 8 Free Spins and a Fisherman Multiplier of at least x10
Catch Me If You Can
The Catch Me If You Can Free Spins mode triggers when 4 FS Scatters land within the base game, awarding 10 Free Spins.
This round follows the same mechanics of ‘Don’t Be Koi’, with the addition of an advanced Big Haul Bar, a guaranteed Fisherman Multiplier of at least x2, and a guaranteed Gold Fisherman multiplier of at least x5.
- Upgrade 1: Awards 10 Free Spins and a Fisherman Multiplier of at least x4
- Upgrade 2: Awards 10 Free Spins and a Fisherman Multiplier of at least x10
- Upgrade 3: Awards 10 Free Spins and a Fisherman Multiplier of at least x15
Hooked On Paradise
The Hooked On Paradise mode triggers when 5 FS Scatters land within the base game, awarding 10 Free Spins. In this hidden mode, the game retains the same base game mechanics.
During this round, Sticky Fisherman symbols can appear in view, remaining in play throughout spins, whilst collecting any Marlin symbols that appear on the reels. To begin the mode, 1 Sticky Fisherman symbol will be added to the reels, with the chance to land Sticky Golden Fisherman symbols.
Please note that this mode is limited to 1 Golden fisherman symbol per session. At the end of the mode, the total value of all Sticky Fisherman symbols is added together and applied, with Golden Marlin symbols having a minimum Cash Prize of 3x your bet.
Our Honest Verdict
Fishing really is a wonderful sport, wouldn’t you agree? With fishing on the way to being one of the best pastimes in the UK, especially in peak seasons, it’s no wonder that we’re seeing a fluctuation in Fishing slots.
Granted, it’s an incredibly risky move from software developers, particularly those with little to no experience on the subject. Another reason is that there are already hundreds, if not thousands, of Fishing slots already accessible to players on the iGaming market.
Admittedly, the Big Bass Bonanza series is still the top dog of the fishing industry, but this release and its sibling slot are not bad choices, either. Marlin Masters: The Big Haul graced us with suitable upgrades that certainly make it more appealing than the original, thanks to the additional Golden Marlin and Fisherman symbols.
Thematically, it has clear indications that it’s a certified Hacksaw Gaming release, indulging players in high-quality graphics, a stunning backdrop, colourful aesthetics, and charming sound effects.
Another area Hacksaw Gaming excels in is the multiple Free Spins modes and the occasional hidden Bonus, which is a viable option here. Overall, Marlin Masters: The Big Haul is quite the catch, so to speak.
When it all comes down to it, is this game a much better offering to the entire Big Bass series? Probably not, but it is just as good quality. The first Big Bass release just happened to appear at the right time and place, and it’ll take something really inspiring to sink them, once and for all.
The 10,000x max win potential puts this release above its predecessor, but only by a hair. The game is, however, more in line with the majority of Hacksaw Gaming releases, so it sits about average on the max win scale.
Perhaps a larger max win potential would have pushed the Big Bass series off its pedestal indefinitely, or maybe not. Hopefully, Hacksaw Gaming will really go off the hook with the next Marlin Masters release, if there is one in the making.
All in all, Marlin Masters: The Big Haul is another grand entry from Hacksaw Gaming, but as always, the Big Bass Bonanza series remains the number one fishing series by choice.
*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.
