Introduction to Catfish Hunters
Catfish Hunters is a video slot from Nolimit City, where rods and shiny baits are just a backup, and real fishing goes down with the help of crackling electricity. The studio expands its range of games, where going after prey leads the action, having delivered such hits as Duck Hunters and Gator Hunters, and this time, it's fish that's the sought-after commodity, with their lucrative cash prizes of up to 100x the bet per symbol. If Cleetus's grinning mug led you to believe that this is a sequel to Ugliest Catch, it's a logical assumption, although the two games have little in common regarding the mechanics. Catfish Hunters discards the classic model of collecting prizes through a Wild symbol and uses randomly appearing Electrical Frames to hit the fish. Also, an entire cast of characters from the studio's previous productions comes in the form of Wilds that will apply various transformations to the symbols and the grid to boost the win potential even higher.
It's probably a good idea to first have a look from a safe distance at how the 'specialists' handle electricity while fishing, which you can do in the risk-free demo mode available at the top of the page.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Catfish Hunters is a video slot from Nolimit City with 6 reels, 3 rows, and 243 ways to win. The available stake range starts from a Min.bet of 0.20 and goes up to a Max.bet of 100. Behind the reels, a default RTP of 96.03% runs the game's engine, being on the lower end of the industry average. A couple of lower variants of 94.03% and 92.06% were also released, so make sure to check the version before playing. More valuable wins can be fewer apart when there's a hit, as the math profile comes with a high (extreme) volatility rating, while the maximum win you can land within a single game round is 20,000x the bet. Free spins trigger at an average rate of 1 in 200 spins, whereas wins exceeding 100x the bet occur with a frequency of 1 in 880 spins.
The fishing spot picked by the keen eye of American anglers takes you to the muddy shores of the Mississippi River, where the most impressive specimens await to be shocked and placed in a net. It's not an area that's famous for its picturesque views or clean waters, but at least there's a quirky, upbeat soundtrack to brighten the mood. The majority of the scene is set under the surface, with a lonely skeleton leaning against rocks on the riverbed and bubbles slowly rising from the bottom, acting as reel separators. Without too many attractions around, it's best to set up the gear and focus on catching whatever the current brings along. Thanks to the game's universal, responsive design, you can join in on the fishing gig from any modern device, whether you play on a desktop, a smartphone, or a tablet.
In the paytable, two distinct sets of symbols form the payout hierarchy. To score a win, you need to match at least 3 while using neighbouring reels, starting from the leftmost one. Among the low-paying icons, you'll recognise playing card ranks, such as 10, J, Q, K, and A, awarding from 0.25x to 0.45x the bet for a combination of 5 on a winning way. A beer can, a fishing hook, a can of worms, a fishing net, and a fishing rod represent the high-paying symbols, delivering payouts of between 1.5x and 5x the bet for a complete way running through all 5 reels. Alongside regular icons, there are also Fish symbols with cash prizes, xWays symbols in the form of seaweed, Impostor Wilds appearing as a mysterious hooded character, and Bonus symbols represented by a golden catfish.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Catfish Hunters?
You can win up to 20,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Catfish Hunters?
The features are Fish & Electrical Frames, xWays, Impostor Wild, Dark Water Spins, Deep Water Spins, Overcharged Spins, Extra Spin, Nolimit Booster, and Feature Buy.
Fish & Electrical Frames
At the beginning of any spin, at least one Electrical Frame appears in a random position. Whenever a Fish symbol lands inside the frame, it instantly awards its attached value. At the same time, all the remaining Fish values are increased by the figure visible on the global Fish multiplier next to the grid, which can reach a maximum of x1,024. By default, Fish symbols carry prizes worth 0.25x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x, or 100x the bet.
xWays
xWays symbols reveal any other icon except the Bonus symbol. If it's a regular symbol, it will be displayed as 2-4 instances. If it's a Wild or a Fish symbol, it's a single. Multiple xWays landing simultaneously always reveal the same outcome.
Impostor Wild
An Impostor Wild can land on any reel and transform into one of the following characters that will activate its respective feature.
Stacy = increases the global Fish multiplier by 2, 4, or 8 times.
Karen = adds Electrical Frames to her and all adjacent positions.
Granny = adds Electrical Frames to all positions on the grid.
Cletus = transforms all winning regular symbols into Fish symbols.
Bubba = transforms all regular symbols into Fish symbols.
Dark Water Spins
Landing 3 Bonus symbols anywhere on the grid during the base game activates 8 Dark Water Spins. During the round, each Bonus symbol awards 1 extra spin. The global Fish multiplier from the base game is carried over to the bonus feature and increases according to the same rules; however, it's also halved at the beginning of each new free spin. At the beginning, one of the following upgrades will be awarded to be active throughout.
Upgraded Bonus = each Bonus symbol awards 2 extra spins instead of 1.
Upgraded xWays = xWays always reveal Impostor Wilds or Fish symbols.
+ Electrical Frame = adds a sticky Electrical Frame to the central position of the grid.
Deep Water Spins
With 4 Bonus symbols ending up simultaneously on the grid in the base game, you activate 10 Deep Water Spins. The feature follows the same rules as Dark Water Spins, but activates 2 upgrades at the beginning instead of 1.
Overcharged Spins
You need 5 Bonus symbols scored at the same time to trigger 12 Overcharged Spins, which play identically as the previous variants, but with all 3 upgrades active.
Extra Spin
The feature can trigger automatically at the end of a bonus round, offering the possibility to play another spin with the Electrical Frames and the global Fish multiplier kept from the previous spin. The price of the Extra Spin depends on the conditions of the last round and can only be triggered if it doesn't exceed the total win.
Nolimit Booster
To enhance your base game spins, you can use several options available in the Nolimit Booster menu.
3x = Bonus Booster, guaranteeing a Bonus symbol on the second reel.
5x = Fishy Spins, setting the initial global Fish multiplier to x8.
60x = Fishier Spins, setting the initial global Fish multiplier to x128.
400x = Fishiest Spins, setting the initial global Fish multiplier to x1,024.
90x = Grand Catch, guaranteeing at least 1 Impostor Wild and Fish symbols with values of 10x, 20x, and 100x the bet.
2,000x = Legend Catch, guaranteeing at least 2 Impostor Wilds and Fish symbols with values of 100x the bet.
1,969x = Steamiest Spin, boosting the initial multiplier of all positions to x128 and guaranteeing a Drain symbol, which upgrades its position to x999.
Feature Buy
If you want to skip the base game grind, you also have the possibility of triggering any of the bonus rounds instantly.
70x = 8 Dark Water Spins.
600x = 12 Overcharged Spins.
235x = Lucky Draw with 50% chance for Dark Water Spins and 25% each for Deep Water Spins and Overcharged Spins.
Final Thoughts on Catfish Hunters
If you're a fan of Nolimit's edgy, elaborate themes brimming with bold ideas intricately woven into the game, Catfish Hunters may initially come across as a bit underwhelming. Despite the artwork deliberately leaning into the unkempt style of symbols and a humorously unpleasant environment, the entire setup seems to be missing the studio's usual 'no F's given' approach. Productions from under the yellow lightning are usually recognisable from miles away, yet this one manages to blend with the crowds. It's undeniably well-crafted, with all the effects and animations working seamlessly to deliver a consistent and dynamic experience, plus the various character cameos tie the theme nicely with the provider's portfolio, but in the end, it's another similarly structured fishing slot.
The base game in Catfish Hunters positively surprised us, even though the main mechanism used here is pretty straightforward. But that's the elegant simplicity kind, not the lazy one. Catching fish in Electrical Frames to obtain their instant prizes undoubtedly makes each spin radiate additional anticipation, as even if you don't hit anything on consecutive reels from left to right, there's always a chance for a random hit in a single position marked by the blue crackling field. Moreover, a bunch of different Wilds efficiently boost that core element's attractiveness by adding more frames or transforming symbols into Fish to trigger the collection. They can be a hit and miss, though, as seeing Granny flood the entire grid in frames whilst there are no Fish present can get your blood boiling. The bonus round was the most confusing part of the game, not because of complexity, but due to the decreasing multiplier. Rarely do we see in slots something being taken away from players (aside from the number of spins), so that global value halving on every spin wasn't exactly a welcome sight. With the counter growing on every Fish caught in the frame, it's somewhat understandable, but we can't help but think there was a more pleasant way to mitigate it.
Catfish Hunters is one of the studio's milder releases in terms of boldness and complexity, but it provides an interesting alternative to the sea of fishing slots out there.
