Fish Party Pokie
Aquatic life at a celebration is the theme of this pokie, which is hardly surprising given its’ name. Quality animations and design, colourful characters, a bonus game with richer reels and even a gamble round that can boost each win are featured, and it also has the 243 Ways to Win payout system which sees winning combinations landing just about anywhere on the reels.
Developed by Microgaming, this is game is guaranteed fair, and can be played with no software download needed, while a mobile compatible version has also been released.
Diving to the Depths
Open up this game and one aspect of the design is immediately apparent. Instead of a background that’s largely hidden by the reels, symbols seem to float against an ocean backdrop which some will see as a nice effect, while others may find it a distraction. But the symbols all look great, with fun cartoon characters rewarding payouts whenever 3 or more of the same one land anywhere on adjacent reels, running from the one on the left hand side, with 243 different ways that this can happen.
One aspect of this system that could put some players off is that there’s no option to make just a tiny bet on a single line, just to see how it plays, as the minimum stake is 0.30, and players can adjust up from there to reach the maximum bet amount of 75.00.
Fish Party
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Clicking the View Pays button reveals the amount won for each combination. Different creatures pay out at different rates, starting with a lowly hermit crab, who still seems happy enough even though he’s bottom of the food chain, through to a worried-looking worm on a hook, the starfish and then various fish, culminating in the blue guy who has a crown, just to show he’s the boss.
A treasure chest however, is the top-paying of the regular symbols, but to add some interest to proceedings there are wilds and scatters, each with their own duties.
The Fish Party logo symbol is wild, so any spin that doesn’t quite have enough symbols on adjacent reels to create a winning line, could become one if the wild is in the right positions, while to improve the odds of this happening, it will be stacked one on top of another, potentially completing several lines at once for multiple payouts with a single spin.
The wild is also the most rewarding symbol in another way, as getting between 3 and 5 of them across the reels will see the biggest payouts of the game.
A shy clam has a nice treat hidden within it. Not a pearl, but the chance of scatter wins and access to a free spins game. When the clam lands in at least 2 spots at once, players will get a win equal to 15x the total bet per spin amount, while landing 5 at once equals a great 1500x win.
Three or more will also trigger the bonus game, with a random number of free spins, which can be from 8 to 20, playing out. During these spins, the treasure chest and highest paying fish symbols will be stacked on the reels, as well as the wild, so some decent wins should be hit, while landing 3 more sactters will see another round played out at the end of any remaining ones.
Fish Party players will be given the chance to multiply wins several times over if they choose to play the gamble game. It’s a simple matter of guessing if a playing card will turn out red or black, or of a particular suit, doubling or quadrupling the amount won if correct, but losing the triggering bet if wrong.
Fishy Fun or a Damp Squid?
Microgaming have years of experience on developing online Poker machines and know what to do to attract players. Fish Party has a pleasing design and fun symbols which line up for decent wins, with the 243 Ways to Win format being a popular way for players to get lots of payouts.
The stacked wilds are a good way to see extra prizes paid out, and when several more stacked symbols are added to the mix in the free spins game, players can expect to see the ratio of wins to spins improved somewhat.
Quite why a random number of spins is awarded is beyond me and it would have been nice to see the number played out related to the number of scatters that triggered them, or at least just give a fixed amount. But that’s a minor drop in the ocean when compared to the rest of this fun pokie.