Epic Fish Marlin Madness  (Bigwinboard.com)

Epic Fish Marlin Madness  (Bigwinboard.com)

$/€1000 bonus

300 free spins

Get Bonus

18+ | terms apply

$/€1000 bonus

10% cashback

Get Bonus

18+ | terms apply

$/€1000 bonus

200 free spins

Get Bonus

18+ | terms apply

$/€1500

7500 free spins

Get Bonus

18+ | terms apply

Epic Fish Marlin Madness: Slot Overview

If a stranger’s just a friend you haven’t met, then prepare to be buds with Bazza McReel, head angler in developer Quickspin‘s burgeoning Epic Fish range of online fishing slots (which also includes Epic Fish Adventure and Epic Fish Net of Fortune). The game is Epic Fish Marlin Madness, and it moves the action to the Coral Sea, where a chase for the ‘fabled Black Marlin’ is on. As well as money symbol collection action, there is a focus on triggering and progressing through three free spins modes, where Black Marlin values can increase up to 5,000x, and various modifiers are introduced in order to, fingers crossed, potentially catch it.

Whilst a jolly jaunt across the water in order to reel in seafood, Epic Fish Marlin Madness isn’t likely to win a lot of awards for graphical originality. The gaming grid floats below murky blue water; above it is a palm tree-lined shoreline juxtaposed with a pleasant yet slightly out-of-place Celtic-ish tune. Perhaps the demo borrowed music from an older game. If not, oh well, the sounds are as pleasing as the visuals, though there isn’t much initially that separates Epic Fish Marlin Madness from a dozen or more other fish slots. Having said that, the Coral Sea location and the scenery changes throughout the Epic Fish range give the series a fun travel-around-the-globe effect.

Epic Fish Marlin Madness slot
Epic Fish Marlin Madness slot – base game

Epic Fish Marlin Madness is available in four RTP configurations from 96.12% on down. Quickspin has rated the volatility 3 out of 5, and it is played on a 5×3, 10-payline matrix. Regular bets of 10 c to $/€100 may be selected, or when activating the extra bet, the stake doubles to have an extra row added at the bottom of the grid, which can land more fish symbols, increasing the chance of triggering Fish Collection by 203%. In free spins, if the Black Marlin swims by the extra row, it will increase the Black Marlin multiplier meter.

Ten to ace card ranks draped in weeds and hooks are the low pays; fish, a can of worms, binoculars, shellfish, and turtles are the higher value symbols. Landing lines of 5 matching low pays awards 2x to 7.5x the bet, or 10x to 75x the bet is paid for hitting 5 matching premium symbols. Wilds are fisherman collector symbols, which also substitute for regular pay symbols. They are present on all reels and have double the payout value as the turtle when landing five wilds in a line.

Epic Fish Marlin Madness: Slot Features

Epic Fish Marlin Madness slot
Epic Fish Marlin Madness slot – free spins

Players can look forward to reeling in some money symbol collection, dodging Shark Attacks, and attempting to trigger or buy free spins, which come in three tiers and can be upgraded when starting at a lower level.

Fish Collection

Every wild symbol on the screen acts as a fisherman and catches all fish symbols in view. Each fish symbol comes with a prize of 1x to 25x that is awarded when they are caught. In free spins, the Black Marlin must be fully visible for its multiplier to be caught by a wild.

Shark Attack

If a wild symbol is on the reels, a Shark Attack may activate. When triggered, a shark will eat one or more low-pay symbols, replacing them with fish symbols. In the base game, this feature triggers randomly.

Free Spins

Landing 3 or more scatters anywhere on the reels triggers the free spins feature. When 3 scatters hit, they grant 10 free spins with the Black Marlin feature, 4 scatters trigger 12 free spins with the Nudge Up feature, and 5 scatters trigger 14 free spins with the Hooked feature. Each free spins mode includes the features from the previous modes. A meter at the top of the reels collects wild symbols during free spins. Each new wild increases the meter by +1.

  • Black Marlin – each time a Black Marlin lands, fully or partially, it increases the Marlin Multiplier, which starts at 30x and can go up to 5,000x. If a Black Marlin lands fully in view, the wild collects its multiplier value. Collecting 6 wilds upgrades to Nudge Up and awards +2 free spins.
  • Nudge Up – if a Black Marlin lands partially in view, it is nudged up one row. Collecting 6 wilds upgrades to Hooked and awards +2 free spins.
  • Hooked – if the Black Marlin is fully visible but not caught, it remains sticky for one spin.

Feature Buy

Players are able to buy features from the base game. They are the Black Marlin, Nudge Up, and Hooked bonus rounds costing 45x, 100x, or 200x the bet, respectively.

Epic Fish Marlin Madness slot
Epic Fish Marlin Madness slot – bonus buy options

Epic Fish Marlin Madness: Slot Verdict

If you’re in the mood for a fishing slot that breaks wild new ground while performing tricks with rod, reel, and bait no one has even dreamt of before, then Epic Fish Marlin Madness might not satisfy. However, fish slot gamblers with more modest requirements should be able to find them met here. First and foremost, Quickspin has provided the sort of warm, inviting environment endemic in this genre; the fisherman has charisma, as well as a name, meaning Epic Fish Marlin Madness looks like a nice place to cast out a line and see what bites.

However, there is an enormous stack of nice-looking fish slots on the market, so gameplay is critical. As for the features and mechanics in Epic Fish Marlin Madness, they’re not bad. Not crazy innovative, but they play well on the spirit of chasing and catching big creatures from the sea. Regular fish symbols aren’t super exciting, mostly because their values are restricted to 25x the bet at best, and since fisherman symbols can’t get a multiplier, that’s it. This means the game turns into a real hunt for the Black Marlin, and it was actually quite entertaining. Part of the success is the way free spins can be upgraded, and as they do, the chance of catching a Black Marlin (and its associated prize) increases as Nudges help push them fully onto the grid, and stickiness keeps them there longer.

Reel in the Coral Sea’s biggest beast and Epic Fish Marlin Madness’ max payout is 7,673x the bet (on the 96% version). Not a bad figure and not a bad game, which should suit players looking for an entertaining fish slot with a gripping focus on chasing after that one big haul.

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