Big Bass Return to the Races: Slot Overview
Pragmatic Play’s fishing-obsessed partner, Reel Kingdom, is back at the racetrack—again—bringing yet another twist to its ever-expanding Big Bass series. This time, we get Big Bass Return to the Races, a slot that once more delivers the signature wild-catching Money symbol action. If you were hoping for fresh mechanics, brace yourself for disappointment—this quirky blend of horse racing and fishing is essentially Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake with a racetrack makeover.
Visually, Big Bass Return to the Races is a grassy paradise. The game’s backdrop features a lush green racetrack, while the reels themselves are covered in—you guessed it—more lush green grass. Interestingly, the demo version even uses the exact same soundtrack as Golden Lake, reinforcing the connection and sparking a quiet chuckle. Whether Reel Kingdom will update the audio before launch remains to be seen. Then again, Big Bass fans have proven time and time again that they don’t mind a bit of recycling when it comes to these slots.
Big Bass Return to the Races: Game Mechanics & Paytable
The Big Bass Return to the Races action unfolds on a 5×3 reel grid, serving as the metaphorical racetrack where 10 fixed paylines determine winning combinations. Players can tweak their strategy with two bonus buy options, an ante bet, and a stake range of $/€0.10 to $/€250. Regardless of the setup, the game’s RTP maxes out at 96.07%. Activating the ante bet increases the stake by 50%, boosting the likelihood of triggering free spins.
On the reels, players will find ten different pay symbols. The lower-value 10 to A card ranks pay 5x to 10x the bet, while the high-paying symbols—horses, binoculars, beer, boxes, and a champagne bucket—offer 20x to 200x the bet for a five-of-a-kind win. Wild symbols can substitute for any regular pay symbol, but they only appear during the bonus round, not in the base game.
Big Bass Return to the Races: Bonus Features & Free Spins
Free Spins Activation
Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols triggers 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. If only 2 scatters land in the base game, there’s a chance to get a third scatter through a respin mechanic—scatters may shift down a position and stay on the grid, or a random scatter might appear to complete the set.
Before free spins begin, players pick one of 12 cards, revealing the type of free spins awarded:
- Bonus Card: Triggers regular free spins.
- Golden Cup Card: Activates Golden Cup Free Spins for an enhanced feature.
Regular Free Spins
During regular free spins, each wild symbol collects all values from Money symbols on the reels. In this game, horse symbols act as Money symbols, with values ranging from 2x to 5,000x the bet.
Wilds are also collected throughout the round, and every fourth wild collected retriggers the feature, awarding:
- +10 extra free spins
- A multiplier increase for Money symbol collection:
- x2 on Level 2
- x3 on Level 3
- x10 on Level 4
After the fourth level, free spins cannot be retriggered.
Golden Cup Free Spins
In Golden Cup Free Spins, the game grid contains only blanks, Money symbols, and wilds. Each spin pays out all winlines or combinations with Money symbols, while any wild in view collects the value of all Money symbols on the reels. Otherwise, the feature follows the same rules as the regular free spins.
Random Free Spins Modifiers
During any free spins round, random enhancements can occur:
- No Money Symbols? At the end of the spin, random Money symbols may appear in empty positions.
- No Wilds? A lasso may pull a reel to bring a wild symbol into view.
- Only Wilds on the Reels? A curtains animation may transform all other symbols into something different.
Feature Buy
For instant access to the bonus rounds, players can use the Feature Buy option:
- 100x the bet to trigger either regular free spins or Golden Cup Free Spins.
- 270x the bet to guarantee Golden Cup Free Spins.
Big Bass Return to the Races: Slot Verdict
Just when you thought there were already enough Big Bass slots, Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom reel in yet another one—this time with a horse racing twist. We’ve already been to the track with Big Bass Day at the Races, and unfortunately, Big Bass Return to the Races doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel. It’s the same old waiting game in the base round, hoping for free spins to kick in so wilds can start collecting Money symbols and stacking multipliers. At this point, it’s tried, tested, and thoroughly exhausted—so much so that it’s hard to tell if it’s just a little boring or completely monotonous.
At its core, Big Bass Return to the Races is simply a reskin of Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake, which was a decent but forgettable entry in the series to begin with. The only real standout feature here is the Golden Cup Free Spins round, which at least adds a minor variation to the usual gameplay. But is it game-changing? Not really. Since Golden Cup Free Spins are just regular free spins with non-paying symbols stripped away, does that make them inherently more exciting or more likely to hit the 5,000x win cap? Maybe, maybe not—it’s anyone’s guess.
And speaking of guesses, when will this Big Bass madness finally end? No signs of stopping yet. Will the series eventually go out with a spectacular finale, or will it simply fizzle into obscurity? While Big Bass Secrets of the Golden Lake at least had some novelty (fishing in the Middle Ages, why not?), Big Bass Return to the Races feels like it’s leaning heavily toward the fizzle side of things.
