Splash raises the ceiling to 5,000× and makes you wait longer for it. Letting the multiplier fisherman into the base game is the biggest change to the Big Bass Bonanza formula, and the price is a thinner base game. It suits a fixed budget treated as a long shot. Offshore you can buy the feature at roughly 100× stake, which UK sites cannot sell.
What Big Bass Splash Is
Reel Kingdom's 2022 follow-up to Big Bass Bonanza lifts the top prize to 5,000× and lets the multiplier fisherman appear during ordinary spins.
The UK Build Against The Offshore One
Offshore lobbies sell a feature buy on this game for about 100× your stake. Since 2021 a UK-licensed casino may not sell bonus buys at all.
The 96.71% on this page is one published setting. Pragmatic Play certifies Big Bass Splash at several return levels and leaves the choice to each operator, as it does with Bonanza, so a casino can run the two games at different settings side by side. Those settings are reported by casinos and game databases, and Pragmatic has not published them in a document ReelTeller can cite, so use them as a guide to the range. The figure for the copy you load is in its information screen: how to check RTP in-game.
Splash versus Bonanza: the two changes that matter
Reel Kingdom kept the 5×3 grid, the ten lines and the fishing theme. Two things moved.
First, the multiplier fisherman can now show up during normal spins. In the original he only appeared inside free spins. Second, the top prize went from 2,100× to 5,000×.
Both changes cost money, and because the game's return is a fixed share of stakes, that money had to come from somewhere. It came from the small and medium wins in the base game. Splash pays less often during ordinary play so that the feature and the new base-game event can pay more.
What this means in practice. Both games cost you roughly the same per spin over time. Splash rearranges the payouts into longer dry spells and a bigger possible top end. Whether that suits you depends on how many quiet spins your budget can absorb.
When the fisherman turns up outside free spins
On Bonanza the base game is a wait for three scatters and little else. Splash gives ordinary spins a second route to a decent payout, because the fisherman can land and collect fish values without the feature.
That makes good sessions look different. A strong result on Bonanza nearly always comes from a free spins round that retriggered. On Splash a base-game collection can produce a meaningful win on its own, which helps explain why the game feels wilder even though the headline return is similar.
It is still rare. Most base spins on Splash feel like waiting, and the waiting is a little leaner than on the original because the new event was funded out of everyday wins.
Who gains from the 5,000× top prize
The headline number is more than double Bonanza's, and it sells the game. It helps to be clear about how rarely it comes into play.
Getting close to 5,000× needs a long feature with big fish values and a high multiplier stacked together. Most players will never see that, whatever they stake and however long they play. The cost of keeping it possible, a leaner middle, is paid on every spin by everyone.
So Splash fits someone who sets a fixed amount aside for a long-odds shot and accepts it will usually be lost. If you want your balance to last, Bonanza's lower ceiling gives you more of the same return in spins you will actually see. The guide to slot volatility explains why every slot faces this trade.
Buying the feature at about 100× stake
Casinos outside the UK system let you skip the base game and pay to enter free spins directly, for about 100 times the spin stake: £50 at 50p, £300 at £3. UK-licensed sites stopped selling feature buys in 2021.
The price is worked out so that the expected return from a bought feature sits at or slightly below the normal return. Buying does not improve your position. It skips the waiting and takes you straight to the most volatile part of the game.
On Splash that skip is especially sharp, because so much of the return lives in the feature. Fifty buys in a row at £2 a spin puts £10,000 through one round type, which is a quick way to spend a lot of money. Read the bonus buy guide before you press the button.
If you self-excluded through GamStop because your gambling became a problem, the safest move is to stay excluded. GamCare's free line is 0808 8020 133.
Splash among the other Big Bass games
Few slot brands have as many spin-offs as Big Bass. Splash is the one built for the highest ceiling, and the rest reshape a similar return in other ways.
| Title | Format | Ceiling | Main difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bass Splash | 5×3, 10 paylines | 5,000× | Covered here. The only entry that lets the multiplier fisherman into ordinary spins. |
| Big Bass Bonanza | 5×3, 10 paylines | 2,100× | The 2020 game that started the series. Multiplier only in free spins, steadier and easier on a small budget. |
| Bigger Bass Bonanza | 5×4, 12 paylines | Not confirmed | An extra row and different scatter rules change how often the feature lands. |
| Big Bass Bonanza Megaways | 6 reels, changing heights | Not confirmed | Ways replace paylines. The format is explained at Megaways slots not on GamStop. |
| Big Bass Hold & Spinner | 5×3 with hold and win | Not confirmed | Drops free spins for a hold and win round, the biggest break from the formula. |
| Seasonal and themed editions | 5×3 variants | Not confirmed | Halloween, Christmas Bash, Floats My Boat and Keeping It Reel each carry their own certified maths despite looking like reskins. |
Treat every title in the series as a separate game. Matching names and a shared lobby tile tell you nothing about return or volatility. Where this table says "Not confirmed", ReelTeller has no studio figure to rely on, so read the number in the game's own information screen.
What A Lower RTP On Big Bass Splash Costs You
Big Bass Splash is advertised at 96.71%. Casinos can load a lower configuration of the same game. Set the stake and session length to match how you play and the difference comes out in pounds.
These version figures are reported by operators and databases; we have not read them off a studio document, so treat them as orientation.
Worked example. Big Bass Splash at £1 a spin, 500 spins an hour for 10 hours is 5,000 spins and £5,000 staked.
| RTP version | Expected loss |
|---|---|
| 96.71% | −£165 |
| 96.50% | −£175 |
The lower version costs £10 more over the same play.
What A Session On Big Bass Splash Looks Like
Splash holds back more of its return for the free spins than Bonanza does, so most sessions are quiet, with a wide gap between the best and worst outcomes.
Worked example. £200 played at £1 a spin for 1,000 spins is £1,000 of turnover, more than the bankroll, because winnings are staked again.
| Starting bankroll | £200 |
| Turnover if the money lasts | £1,000 |
| Expected cost of that turnover | −£33 |
Enable JavaScript to run ten thousand sessions and see the spread of outcomes rather than this single average.
Where To Play Big Bass Splash Not On GamStop
- Welcome packs with no wagering
- 15+ provably fair Originals
- Rakeback and weekly cashback via loyalty
- Sportsbook on the same balance
- Originals with seed verification
- Large sportsbook
- Daily races and weekly raffles
- Very wide coin support
- Originals and lottery games
- Sportsbook
How this list is ranked: licence and transparency, UK access, bonus terms, cashier, games and track record. The full method.
Big Bass Splash: Questions Players Ask
How is Splash different from Big Bass Bonanza?
What does the feature buy cost, and is it worth it?
Can I play Splash without buying the bonus?
Is the RTP the same as Bonanza's at a given casino?
Play with money you can afford to lose. Casino games are built to return less than is staked over time. Set a budget and use your account's deposit limits. Free, confidential support is available from GamCare on 0808 8020 133. More on staying in control.