Epic Fish Marlin Madness

The Epic Fish series continues with Epic Fish Marlin Madness, a brand-new lighthearted and action-packed fishing slot from Quickspin. Epic Fish is Quickspin’s response to the fishing slot craze that swept up the industry a couple of years ago. Since then, we’ve seen a couple Epic Fish releases, each with a new and unique take on fishing slots.

In the Marlin Madness sequel, you are guided by Bazza McReel on the cool seafaring expedition to the Coral Sea in search of the elusive Black Marlin. The game starts out with a 5×3 grid with 10 paylines, offering payouts up to 7,673x the stake. However, the slot does not have a very high variance, which means it’s slightly better for medium and low rollers looking for some quiet fishing time.

Combining money symbol collection with a progression-style bonus mechanic, Marlin Madness offers solid win potential, but an even better part is the adventure. See what’s familiar and what’s new in the Marlin Madness review below.

The third Epic Fish slot in the fishing slot series by Quickspin is Marlin Madness, a 5×3 slot with 10 ways to hit wins. In the sequel, we are headed into Coral Sea in search of a Black Marlin. Not very inventive, we know, but it doesn’t need to be.

As soon as you load the game, you will find yourself below sea level, the water serving as the backdrop for the reels. To play, first select the stake (0.10-$100) and click play.

In case you want to increase your chances of triggering the Fish Collection feature by 203%, you can enable the Extra Bet. Bear in mind that this will double your stake and add a sixth row to the game reels.

If you want, you can also use Autoplay.

To win, you need to land 3+ matching symbols from left to right across any of the 10 paylines. The Wild Fishermen appear on the grid as well. He collects all fish symbol values in view, which is very important for bigger wins.

The game’s betting range in the base game stretches from $0.10 to $100 per spin. However, if you are using the Extra Bet, it will be from $0.20 to $200.

The game has medium volatility and a default 96.12% RTP rate. This is also the highest RTP, with four other variants, which are all lower than this.

When you start lining icons on paylines, you can get payouts that go from 2x to 7.50x for 5 OAK for low-value icons (card royals 10, J, Q, K, and A).

Other icons with higher values are classic fishing items, such as fish, a can of worms, binoculars, and shellfish. These pay 10x to 75x for 5 matching icons.

Ultimately, you can also use Wilds to get a payout as they pay 150x for 5 Wilds (they pay double the turtle’s value).

But that’s not all. The game also has Fish Symbols which are money symbols that carry prizes from 1x to 25x. the Black Marlin is the game’s top prize that can carry 30x – but can grow up to 5000x during Free Spins.

The game also has a Buy Feature.

The game rests on money symbol collection as well as Free Spins. Here are the details for all game features in Marlin Madness.

Fish Symbol Collection

Every Wild Fisherman symbol on the grid collects the values of all visible Fish symbols, awarding instant cash wins. Fish symbol icons carry prizes (1x-25x). The mechanic remains central throughout the base game and bonus rounds.

Shark Attack

Shark attack is a random base game feature.

It triggers if a Wild is on the grid, so then a Shark may swim through and eat one or more low-paying symbols. When they do, they will be also replacing them with Fish symbols, creating more collection opportunities. This is great for increasing winning chances and chances of getting a better payout.

Free Spins

Free Spins are the game’s central feature. To get them, you need 3+ Scatters. Now, there are also three different free spins levels, each with its own mechanic. They can be unlocked or upgraded progressively:

• Black Marlin (3 scatters): 10 free spins; the Black Marlin multiplier increases each time it lands.
• Nudge Up (4 scatters or upgrade): 12 free spins; partially visible Black Marlins get nudged up one row to become fully visible.
• Hooked (5 scatters or upgrade): 14 free spins; fully visible but uncaught Black Marlins stay sticky for 1 spin.

Each mode includes features from the previous level, and collecting 6 Wilds during a round upgrades the feature and adds +2 free spins.

Feature Buy

For those who prefer to jump straight into the action, you can buy entry into the following:

• Black Marlin: 45x the bet
• Nudge Up: 100x the bet
• Hooked: 200x the bet

Like always, Quickspin ensures a seamless mobile experience with fantastic visuals and controls. In fact, the visuals are crisp across all iOS and Android devices. Switching from a bigger screen to a smaller one will not sacrifice any part of the experience.

Should you decide to enjoy the full fishing adventure on the go, you will have two options: playing within apps or directly from browsers. There’s no difference in experience, but players pick them based on their personal preferences. We tried it out for a few spins in browser mode, and it was fun.

Theme, Visuals & Sound

It’s a fishing slot, so we’re mostly on the water (or underwater).

The underwater setting is peaceful, complete with a palm-fringed shoreline in the distance offering a sunny, cool backdrop. Below us is murky blue water, which fits.

While the game is very visually familiar to fans of the genre, it’s execution is clean, polished, and easy on the eyes. In fact, it’s prettier than most other games of the category that we’ve seen in the past year.

The Celtic-style soundtrack feels slightly out of place but strangely calming. Overall, it’s giving the slot a unique charm, regardless of it being a bit thematically inconsistent. Bazza McReel’s charismatic presence and the sense of progression as you chase fish across the globe in the Epic Fish series is the overall highlight of the game for us.

Our Experience Playing Epic Fish Marlin Madness

We dove in expecting a typical fishing slot and ended up enjoying the game’s layered bonus system more than we previously anticipated.

Simply put, it may be a classic fishing slot, but one that’s beautifully done.

The free spins upgrades give a nice sense of momentum. While regular fish values didn’t make much of a splash, the Black Marlin chase absolutely did, especially once we reached the Hooked mode, where persistence really paid off. The Shark Attack and Fish Collection features added variety, but it was the Black Marlin multiplier that kept us hooked (pun very much intended).

The Extra Bet is worth using, especially if you’re chasing bonus rounds, but it’s not a guaranteed win boost. We tried a few feature buys too, and they’re good, but not for everyone. Plus, bear in mind that in some markets (like the UK) feature buys are not allowed.

How We Rate Games

Our rating system is based on a number of factors:

• Gameplay & Mechanics: Does the game offer engaging, smooth, and rewarding mechanics?
• Originality: How unique is the theme, design, or feature set?
• Payout Potential: Is the max win competitive and realistically achievable?
• Design & Audio: Are visuals polished and sound effects/music immersive?
• Accessibility: Is the game playable on all major devices and platforms?

With Epic Fish Marlin Madness, the rating process was fun, even though it yielded the results of a classic fishing game. What we enjoyed is not innovation (because the game is not pushing the envelope in that regard) but rather the game’s fun and playability. It’s a fun game for fans of Quickspin or the theme, very well made and with interesting features, which is a huge plus.