Play Big Bass Return to the Races

Fishing and horse racing make strange stablemates, but Big Bass has never been especially worried about sensible career planning. Big Bass Return to the Races from Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom moves the familiar collector setup to a racetrack, using five reels, 10 paylines and two versions of free spins. Horse Money symbols carry potential values, while the Fisherman Wild collects them during the bonus. A card pick before free spins decides whether we get the regular round or Golden Cup Free Spins. 

The turf is doing a lot of work here. Green grass fills both the racetrack behind the reels and much of the play area, while grandstands and racing details make the setting clear before we even reach the horse symbols. Champagne, binoculars, beer and a small case of racing gear handle the premium icons, so we get more of a day at the races than a fishing trip. 

We still recognise the Big Bass cartoon style straight away. The fisherman returns during free spins, and the horse imagery gives the familiar online slots look a different backdrop without pretending the series has suddenly changed species. Our only visual quirk is the amount of green on screen. The racecourse commits fully to the colour, perhaps in case we forgot what turf looks like. 

We get the card ranks at the bottom of the paytable, followed by the horse racing symbols, beer, binoculars, the racing case and champagne. The champagne bucket produces the strongest regular potential payout. 

• We see the Fisherman Wild only during free spins. The symbol substitutes for regular paying symbols but not Scatters or Money symbols, and each Fisherman Wild also collects the potential values from all visible Money symbols. 
• Horse symbols double as Money symbols during the bonus. Each one receives a random potential value from 2x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 100x, 200x, 500x, 1666x, 2500x or 5000x the total stake. 
• The Scatter can appear on every reel. Three, four or five Scatters trigger 10, 15 or 20 free spins respectively. 

The collector structure will look familiar to anyone who has seen the wider Big Bass family across online casinos, although the card selection gives us two possible versions of the main bonus. 

Scatter Assistance 

When two Scatters land without a third, the base game can occasionally give the trigger another chance. We may see a respin where the visible Scatters move down one position while the other reels spin again, provided the Scatters can remain inside the grid. A separate random event can also place one additional Scatter onto the screen after the initial result. 

Card Pick 

Before free spins begin, we choose one card from a set of 12. A regular Bonus card sends us into the standard Free Spins round, while a Golden Cup card activates Golden Cup Free Spins instead. The pick changes the structure of the feature rather than simply adding more spins. 

Free Spins 

Three Scatters award 10 free spins, four provide 15 and five provide 20. During the regular round, every Fisherman Wild collects the potential values carried by all Money symbols currently visible. 

We also collect the Wilds themselves. Every fourth collected Wild adds another 10 free spins and increases the Money collection multiplier. The second level uses x2, the third uses x3 and the fourth uses x10. Once we reach the fourth level, no further retriggers can take place. 

Golden Cup Free Spins 

Golden Cup Free Spins strip the reels back to blanks, Money symbols and Fisherman Wilds. We therefore lose the ordinary paying symbols and spend the round concentrating almost entirely on the collection mechanic. 

Money symbols can still contribute potential results, while every Wild gathers the values from all Money symbols in view. We use the same Wild collection and retrigger progression as in regular free spins, so every fourth collected Wild can still move us through the multiplier levels. 

Random Bonus Events 

A few extra events can step in during either free spins version. When Wilds are present without Money symbols, random Money symbols may be added after the spin. We can also see a curtain effect change the non Wild symbols into new symbols. 

When Money symbols appear without a Fisherman Wild, a lasso can pull a reel and bring a Wild into view. These random additions mainly exist to create a meeting between the collector and the Money symbols when one side of the pair is missing. 

We use five reels, three rows and 10 fixed paylines. Potential combinations form from left to right across adjacent reels, starting with the first reel, so the base game follows a traditional payline structure. 

The regular spins remain fairly simple until the Scatters get involved. Three or more send us towards the card pick, while two can occasionally trigger one of the extra Scatter events. From there, the mechanics shift towards Money collection, Wild accumulation and retrigger levels. 

Regular Free Spins keep the normal reel contents in place alongside the Money symbols and Fisherman Wilds. Golden Cup Free Spins remove most of that clutter and leave us with a much narrower symbol pool. We therefore get two bonus rounds built around the same collector system, but with noticeably different reel contents.

For nearby comparisons, we'd stay with the Big Bass family and other recent collector slots where Wilds gather Money symbol values. 

• Big Bass Surf's Up: Big Bass Jackpot Bonanza: We get another seaside branch of the Big Bass series with Fisherman Wilds, Money symbols and retriggers that strengthen later stages of free spins. 
• Roaring Lions Big Bass Jackpot Bonanza: We swap the racetrack for the savannah, but the familiar collector structure remains easy to recognise beneath the animal theme. 
• Golden Retriever: We lose the fishing connection, though Reel Kingdom again uses a character Wild to collect Money values and ties bonus progression to additional Wilds. 

Big Bass Return to the Races is familiar ground wearing a different hat, and we don't need a photo finish to spot the family resemblance. The Fisherman Wild, Money symbols and retrigger levels all behave much as regular Big Bass followers would expect. 

Our preference goes to Golden Cup Free Spins. Removing the ordinary paying symbols gives the collector mechanic more room to take centre stage, while the card pick adds a little suspense before the round starts. The regular version is dependable, though hardly a surprise after so many Bass releases. 

We would've welcomed one genuinely new mechanic in the base game. Still, the racing theme is cheerful, the bonus rules remain easy to follow, and the series has at least found a horse before somebody inevitably sends the fisherman to space.