Introduction to Bubble Up!
Bubble Up! is a casino slot from Pragmatic Play featuring more colorful fish than you can cram into an aquarium. The style reminds us of Yggdrasil’s classic slots Golden Fish Tank and Golden Fish Tank 2 Gigablox, which makes us really excited to try this game out. This game has a bigger grid than Yggdrasil’s releases and also more paylines than the first one. A cool detail in Bubble Up! is the Frame Feature, which can produce one or two frames on the grid, awarding all the cash prizes for every Money Symbol that lands in a frame. A frame can randomly pop up on a base game spin, and you’re guaranteed a frame on every Free Spin. Let’s head down underwater to see how this works.
Theme, Gameplay, and Payouts
Bubble Up! is a video slot from Pragmatic Play with 6 reels, 6 rows, and 40 paylines. The Min.bet is 0.2, and the Max.bet of 240 can be increased to 360 using the Ante Bet. The game’s RTP is set to 96.52% at default, but there are also versions of 95.55% and 94.51%. Bubble Up! has high volatility and a max win capped at 10,000x the bet. The max win is awarded 1 time in 4,342,087 spins, and the Free Spins trigger once in 170 spins, on average. The hit frequency is 15.08%.
We’re in a cartoonish underwater world, which may make you think of Disney’s classic The Little Mermaid from 1989. Colorful corals stand to the sides of the reels, and to the right of them sits a smiling octopus on a statue. Above the reels is a display of the jackpots, and to the left are buttons to activate the special bets or go straight to the Free Spins through the Feature Buy option. To make a win, you need to land at least 3 matching symbols on one of the 40 paylines going left to right. All wins must start on the first reel to the left, and you can access the game on mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers.
The lower-paying symbols in Bubble Up! are yellow seastars, red seastars, snails, shells, and shrimps. They pay between 2.5x and 3.75x the bet for a 6-of–a-kind win. The higher-paying symbols are seahorses, green fish, purple fish, yellow fish, and clown fish. They will give you between 3.75x and 25x the bet for wins of 6 symbols. There are no Wild Symbols, but Scatter Symbols that can trigger the Free Spins.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Bubble Up!?
You can win up to 10,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Bubble Up!?
The features are Money Symbols, Frame Feature, Free Spins, Special Bets, and Feature Buy.
Money Symbols
On every spin, the Money symbols are given random cash values. You can win these values if the symbols are part of a winning combination or if they land inside a frame. Possible values range from 0.5x to 10,000x the bet. The higher values are the jackpots of 20x (Mini), 40x (Minor), 80x (Major), 200x (Grand), and 10,000x (Maxi).
Frame Feature
The Frame feature can trigger randomly during the base game, showcasing a frame measuring 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, or 6x6. Sometimes, a second frame may also appear on the same spin. If the two frames overlap and a Money symbol lands in the overlapping area, that symbol receives a random multiplier of 2x, 3x, 5x, 8x, or 10x. The multiplier increases the value shown on the Money symbol. At the end of the spin, all Money symbols inside a frame are added together and paid out.
Free Spins
Land 3, 4, 5, or 6 Scatter symbols to trigger the Free spins feature. You will receive 6 free spins along with 1, 2, 3, or 4 special modifiers, depending on how many Scatter symbols you land.
Before the feature begins, 8 coin items appear on the screen. Click on them to reveal modifier names. Matching two of the same modifiers activates it for the upcoming round. The available modifiers are More Money symbols, More Scatter symbols, Level up, and Dual.
The More Money symbols modifier increases the number of Money symbols on the reels during the feature. More Scatter symbols add extra Scatter symbols to the reel strips. Level up starts the feature with the frame already expanded to 3x3. The Dual modifier guarantees that two frames appear on every free spin.
At least one frame is guaranteed on every free spin. Every Scatter symbol collected is added to a trail above the reels. For every 3 Scatter symbols collected, the frame grows one size larger, moving from 2x2 to 3x3, then 4x4, 5x5, and finally 6x6. Each upgrade also awards 2 extra free spins.
Frame upgrades take effect from the following free spin. If you collect more than 3 Scatter symbols in a single spin, you receive all the corresponding upgrades and extra spins at once. Special reels are also used throughout the feature.
The maximum possible payout is capped at 10,000x your bet. If your total winnings reach this limit, the feature ends immediately.
Special Bets
You activate the Ante Bet by increasing your base bet by 50%, which will give you more power-ups during the Free Spins. You can also pay 20x the bet for Super Spin 1, where one frame is always active, or 100x the bet for Super Spin 2, where you play every spin with dual frames.
Feature Buy
You can purchase the Free Spins for 100x the bet.
Final Thoughts on Bubble Up!
Bubble Up! turns out to be a solid underwater adventure, although it falls short in comparison to the previously mentioned Fish Tank slots. Let’s say it’s entertaining, but without any intention to reinvent the ocean. The graphics look great, the lively sea creatures create a pleasant atmosphere, and the expanding Frame Feature adds a unique twist to the gameplay. It’s always satisfying to see a frame appear and start collecting Money symbols like an octopus grabbing snacks at an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet.
The Free Spins feature is where the game really starts swimming. The growing frame mechanic adds a nice sense of progression, and the modifiers help keep different bonus rounds from feeling exactly the same. Sometimes you'll get lucky with dual frames and plenty of Money symbols, while other times you'll mainly be collecting bubbles and wondering if the fish are secretly laughing at you. That’s the nature of high-volatility slots, after all.
The default RTP of 96.52% is great, a fair bit above the industry standard. Just make sure your internet casino isn’t offering any of the other versions with lower RTP. The max win of 10,000x the bet is also solid.
Bubble Up! from Pragmatic Play may not become the undisputed king of the aquarium, but it offers enough bubbles, fish, and framed cash prizes to keep most players happily swimming for quite a while.
