You can’t be a respectable, seasoned slot developer nowadays without your own fishing franchise, so it’s with little surprise that I find myself checking out Realistic Games entry into the fishing genre titled “Catch 22”. Get it? This is a big game by the standards of this developer with a massive 4,096 payways, a maximum jackpot prize of 12,000x the total bet, and it still comes with a close-to-standard RTP of 95.92%. Does Catch22 have what it takes to keep up with the competition, or is it just bait? Let’s find out!
One of the big headline features of this machine is the huge number of free spins that it is capable of awarding – you can catch up to 50 free spins if you manage to hit all six of the scatter symbols simultaneously. Aside from this, the game includes several features borrowed from the more popular fishing franchises, such as the fisherman symbol being used to catch all of the cash prizes presented on the special fish money symbols. Realistic has gone a little further though, by including a “fisherman respin” feature invoked when a fisherman lands with no fish to catch, and even a “Catch 22” feature that activates if two fishermen land with no fish in view. When that occurs, all other symbols are automatically replaced with golden fish.
It sounds like Realistic could be on to something with this machine – the feature set certainly appears good enough to compete with the big boys! Check it out for yourself with our Catch 22 demo, available to play below.
| Provider | Realistic Games |
| Reels | 6 |
| Rows | 4 |
| Paylines | 4,096 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.10 - 5 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 12,000x |
| Bonus Buy | No |
| RTP | 95.92% |
| Our Rating | 7.5 |
Catch 22 Casino Bonuses
Catch 22 Demo
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Catch 22 Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
There are almost infinite fishing-themed slots on the market today, and many play quite similarly to one another. The two biggest franchises are the Fishin’ Frenzy and Big Bass Bonanza titles, but every developer and their dog has had a crack at creating something similar by now. Games such as Big Catch Bass Fishing and The Rodfather Megaways are fun machines, but I’ve never really understood the appeal of fishing as a theme personally. In fact, even if I imagine myself as the world’s biggest fan of fishing, I still can’t imagine wanting to play slots based around the pastime! Each to their own I suppose though, and as far as these games go, Catch 22 looks every bit as good as the rest of them to my eyes.
The highest-paying symbol on the paytable is the spinner bait with a return of 160x the total bet for all six symbols – not bad at all for a 4,096 payway machine. The fishing rod will net you 120x for a complete payline, whilst the tackle box and life preserver offer 80x and 40x the total bet, respectively. There’s a big drop after these high-paying symbols, with the Aces/Kings only worth 2x for all six symbols, whilst the Queens/Jacks/Tens return just 1x for a six of a kind combination. As for the fish money symbols, any combination of six will pay you 10x your bet – the cash values displayed on them can only be collected by the fisherman.
There’s a relatively tiny betting range offered in Catch 22 with minimum/maximum permitted stakes of €0.10 and €5.00 per spin, respectively. This limited bet spread means that the small number of just eight permitted bets probably won’t bother too many players.
Base Game & Modifiers
The basic gameplay of Catch 22 revolves around a 6×4 reel set with 4,096 payways. In contrast to many other similar fishing games, this one has a massive advantage in my eyes in that the fish money symbols are active during the base game as well as during the bonus round.
Fisherman & Fish Money Symbols
Whenever a fisherman symbol lands in view, he will collect the cash values displayed on any visible blue fish money symbols. If the fish money symbols also happen to complete a pay way, you’ll be paid out the paytable prize for that as well.
Fisherman Respin
If a fisherman lands when there are no fish in view for him to catch, his reel will become locked in place, and the remaining reels will re-spin indefinitely until at least one fish money symbol (or an additional fisherman) lands on the reels.
Catch 22
This is the big one! The eponymous Catch 22 feature will transform all other positions into fish money symbols if two fishermen land simultaneously with no fish in view. This will typically award a very large win, although the final total can vary dramatically as each of the 24 possible fish can be worth between 2x and 50x the total bet.
Catch 22 Slot Bonus Features
Three or more scatter symbols landing in any position on a single base game spin will award 10, 15, 25, or 50 free spins for three, four, five, or six scatter symbols, respectively.
Free Spins Feature
In this mode, the scatter symbols are replaced with additional wild fishermen, meaning the bonus cannot be re-triggered. There are several sizes of fish on the reels in this part of the game; the smallest of these are worth between 2x and 4x per fish, whilst the largest will pay 50x the total bet each. The various fisherman features from the base game can also be triggered in this part of the game as well.
Pros
- The huge jackpot of 12,000x the total bet.
- Unlike many competing fishing slots, fish money symbols are not useless during the base game.
- Catch 22 feature is a great addition to the established fishing slot formula.
Cons
- Although the information page lists an RTP of close to 96%, the demo lists this number at less than 90% - be sure that your favourite casino is running the game at the 96% setting before beginning to play.
Final Thoughts
I must admit to being shocked by this one – I wasn’t expecting much, just another dull fishing-themed slot, but in the end, I was pleasantly surprised. Catch 22 both looks and pays great, and if I had to pick a fishing-themed slot to play, I reckon this one would come somewhere near the top of my list!
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