Even with the best equipment and that innate instinct for knowing where to cast, the average sport fisherman is unlikely to have a good at the lake unless they possess another skill: patience.
Discipline and perseverance are vital if you’re going to fill up your landing net, which is a concept that the developers of fishing-based slot games have tapped into.
Players that can weather the slow times in the pursuit of the good are often best rewarded, which is true for both fisherman/women and slots like Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways, which are evidently influenced by the sport.
On paper, there is no cross over between the two. In reality, they’re much more alike than you might think.
Why Sport Fishing Fans Intuitively Understand High-Volatility Megaways Slots
Although by no means guaranteed, there can be handsome rewards for those willing to wait for a bite.
And that’s also the case in fishing-based slots of high volatility, where patience and diligence are very much a virtue.
In slot gaming, volatility refers to the win frequency of a game. In theory, a low volatility slot pays out more frequently than a high volatility title, however the prizes in the later tend to be more generous than in the former.
So players have to decide which side of the lake they want to cast from: small, regular wins or occasional bigger payouts.
Of course, it’s important to note that online slots are governed by a random number generator, which spits out millions of randomised number strings per second. When you hit the spin button, a code is selected at random that relates to the symbols that land on the reels.
So while volatility is prescribed to each slot game, the reality is that every single session of play will be different; sometimes a slot will underperform its volatility and other times it may pay out more frequently than you were expecting.
Slots are all about random luck, then. Fishing, meanwhile, requires preparation and strategy – where are you going to position yourself at the waterside? Which direction are you going to cast out in? Have you got an idea of the currents and natural movements of the species of fish that you’re after?
You can still wait a long time for a nibble, mind you, which is something that high volatility slot players can empathise with.
But the reward, when it comes, can make the wait worth it and then some…
Spinning the Reels
Whether you’re winding in a reel at lakeside or spinning the reels of your favourite game, an acceptance of high volatility is something that all sport fishermen and women share.
Megaways is a slot game mechanic that enables players to match symbols in patterns and unique ‘ways’, rather than the fixed paylines that traditional slots have. For context, that means that rather than having, say, 20 paylines, a slot like Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways has up to a mammoth 15,625 possible winning combinations.
A plethora of fishing-based slots contain the Megaways mechanic, including Fishin’ Frenzy, which can also deliver a dynamic reelset with a different number of positions on each reel – keeping the game enjoyable and unique every time (like spending an afternoon by the fishing lake).
In some respects, Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways perfectly replicates the pursuit of angling. Released by Blueprint Gaming in 2019, this slot features a base game in which the emphasis is on spinning the reels and hoping for the best – pretty much like casting out.
In slots and in fishing, sometimes you don’t get a reward for your endeavour. Other times, if the stars align, you’ll get a bite – and then the true battle begins.
The equivalent of a bite in Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways is landing three or more of the scatter symbol, which usually transports players from the base game and into the free spins round.
As the name suggests, every spin of the reels is free of charge here, so any payouts that come along are a bonus. Sometimes nothing will happen and it’s a case of casting out again, but other times players might trigger a basic win or perhaps even a multiplier payout.
After casting out, you might pull in a little roach – satisfying, and enough to scratch the angling itch, but your real pursuit is a nice carp or bream; that’s the equivalent of a slot game bonus feature.
The ultimate prize might well be reeling in an albino carp, a catfish or a 30lb pike; this is like hitting the jackpot in a slot game.
You’re probably tired by now of reading about the synergy between sport fishing and slot gaming. But, as you’ve learned, the feelings that either can elicit are very similar… while those who showcase patience and discipline perhaps stand a higher chance of landing their ultimate reward.