by Those games have dominated the slots landscape for over a decade. Just three years ago, if I’d asked you which online slots franchise is the best known and most played in the world, you’d probably say Rainbow Riches, Age of Gods or perhaps Rich Wilde. In a few short years, one game studio has turned the slots world on its head with its Big Bass slots series. But nothing is forever.
You’ve probably played at least one of Reel Kingdom’s Big Bass slots, maybe even several. But until now, you may not know the story behind this gaming juggernaut, or truly understand what makes Big Bass slots so playable. It’s time to draw back the curtain on this slots phenomenon.
How Reel Kingdom found its Golden Goose
Reel Kingdom is a Pragmatic Play partner game studio based in Wales that started releasing games in early 2020. Oddly, given the vast success of their Big Bass slots, they keep a pretty low profile. But perhaps they see themselves as the Big Bass Banksy of gaming, releasing hit after hit without getting papped as they get their morning paper.
I discovered that many of their team worked for a company called Astra Games, some for over 20 years, and one or two cut their teeth on classic Barcrest slots. That experience set them up nicely for their future success, but they couldn’t have predicted what was about to happen.
Reel Kingdom released their first game, Hot To Burn, in April 2020 and their first six slots were relatively unremarkable. Then came Big Bass Bonanza and everything changed overnight.
From strength to strength
It’s hard to explain how successful that slot has been, and how hard it is to make a ‘Top 10’ slot, let alone one that stays at #1 for years despite competition from more than 5,000 others.
Slots are a volatile game type for players, but for game studios, it’s an extremely volatile business model. A studio as small as Reel Kingdom may only create 10 slots a year (in fact they’ve still only made 60 or so over the past 4 years), and they are basically looking for one smash hit to pay for all the others.
Studios make a share of the revenue of each game. So, if games sink without trace that’s months of work and potentially tens of thousands of pounds wasted. But if you get it right, one game can make your company profitable for a decade. It’s a bit like writing a Christmas number one!
Imagine making the UK’s most successful slot just seven games into your existence, and then doing it again 18 months later with Big Bass Splash, arguably an even more popular game.
One immensely successful slot is the goal for any studio, let alone two, but the real holy grail is a successful franchise. Once you’ve had a couple of successes using the same game theme, every sequel you release is guaranteed to get played by certain players, just because of its DNA.
Here’s the proof. Nine of Reel Kingdom’s 10 most beloved games are Big Bass slots. They account for over 25% of the studio’s lifetime output, and I would bet they account for over 95% of its revenue.
The Big Bass slots secret sauce
Why one slot becomes popular while other similar games bomb is a tough question to answer. It is never one element that makes a game successful, so we need to look at the combination of factors in games like Big Bass Bonanza to understand why a game from a completely unknown provider suddenly dominated the online casino world.
Bass fishing isn’t an obvious candidate for a smash hit in the UK particularly. It’s a sport that is better known in the USA, and aside from Fishin’ Frenzy, fishing slots have not traditionally been a go-to theme for UK slots players.
Big Bass Bonanza wasn’t a world-first for bonus features either, so what’s it got that 5,000 other slots haven’t?
Here are the reasons I and other industry-watchers like me feel are behind the success of Big Bass Bonanza and its many successors:
- The character: The bearded fisherman is credited with a good slice of the theme’s success.
- The fishing theme: Perhaps luck played a part, as fishing became a gaming trend in the early 2020s, and Substantial Bass was tat that moment.
- The design: Fishin’ Frenzy was a hit in spite of its basic, retro offline-style looks, but Big Bass’s crispy, eye-catching cartoon looks were a fine upgrade.
- The animation and gameplay: Let’s credit the game’s animators for some outstanding touches in both the symbols, bonus features and video clip sequences.
- Simple, catchy features: Reel Kingdom chose not to experiment with entirely new bonuses or cram the games full of features like Blueprint do. One perfectly formed feature with a small twist, is sometimes all a great game needs. Just look at Starburst, for instance.
My favourite big facts and stats about Big Bass slots
We’re now four years into the Big Bass story and its given birth to some intriguing numbers:
- There are 18 games (and counting) in the Big Bass franchise
- Big Bass Splash and Big Bass Bonanza are the two most-played slots at NarniumSlots in 2024
- Five of the top 20 UK slots come from the Big Bass series
- Seven of the top 50 casino games at NarniumSlots are Big Bass games
- The biggest Big Bass win (so far) at NarniumSlots is £43,488 on Big Bass Bonanza
- Big Bass Bonanza was the world’s no.1 online slot. 18 months later Big Bass Splash knocked it off the no.1 spot
The Complete Big Bass Slots List
My Favourite Large Bass Slots
Big Bass Splash
The most successful Big Bass slot ever, Splash is a must-play for fish slots fans. The simple genius of the modifier selector to enhance your free spins can’t be overstated. The bonus game has a progressive element to it, with better features as you level up. It’s a great concept, well executed and Reel Kingdom have been well rewarded for it by players worldwide.
Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways
Big Bass Hold & Spinner is arguably their third best slot, but this Megaways upgrade is well worth a go. It’s the only game in the Big Bass family that has a 20,000x max win, which makes it especially well-suited to low stakers like me.
Big Bass Day At The Races
I worked in the horse racing industry long before online gaming came along. I’ve always had a thing for racing-themed games, from donkey derby at the arcades to Rainbow Riches Race Day and even Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven jackpot slot. Big Bass Day At The Races is perhaps an unlikely success. But the horse-flavoured feature picker before free spins has made it a top five Big Bass slot.
Summary
In the slots world, Big Bass online slots are the Kardashians. The Clintons. The Roys from Succession, or any other wildly successful dynasty you care to mention. It looks like we’ll hit 20 games by early next year. Only a fool would bet against Big Bass slots continuing to dominate the UK’s top 10 for another 12 months. Then again, no one saw the bearded fisherman coming, so maybe I’m the fool.
If you want to see what else Reel Kingdom have come up with aside from Big Bass online slots, give Samurai Code a try. It’s probably their best non-Big Bass title. Happy fishing!
