Play Fish Party for Free

Fish are largely inexpressive creatures, but Fish Party is not exactly true to life. Consequently, the cartoonised fish that occupy the reels are of a decidedly boisterous comportment. In the interests of accuracy, not all of the symbols are actually fish. If we’re getting technical, a starfish isn’t a fish at all – it’s a marine invertebrate. But hey-ho, a red starfish is one of the symbols in the game, alongside a gaping green fish, a grinning yellow fish, a resplendent blue fish wearing a crown, a worm gored by a fish-hook (presumably not enjoying the party since he’s been, well, gored by a fish-hook), a clam peeking out of an open shell and a gormless purple fish wearing a jester’s hat. There’s also a treasure chest overflowing with pearls and gold, and a Fish Party logo. Refreshingly, there are no playing card symbols in the game. After all, why would playing cards be floating about the ocean? Tossed overboard by a disgruntled captain after losing a game of rum with his ship-mate? We digress…

Pay-outs for regular combinations of symbols aren’t all that impressive. As you might expect, the treasure chest rates high on the pay-table, followed by the blue, yellow and purple fish. But even five chests only pays out a measly 20 credits. The Fish Party logo is a little better, yielding 40 for five-in-a-row. The logo is also wild, though. And not just any kind of wild – it’s a stacked wild, meaning it floods the reels like nobody’s business. The wild can substitute for all symbols except the scatter, which is the aforementioned clam. This is the game’s true value symbol, paying 150 for five and 30 for four. Scatter winnings are also multiplied depending on your stacked bet.

All wins pay left-to-right except scatters, which pay any which way.

If you land three or more scatter symbols, you’ll trigger the free spins bonus feature. You can win eight to 20 free spins, not as many as some games but more than most, it has to be said. And when you are into this phase of the game, it gets fun quickly thanks to the number of super stacked wilds, which are wont to help you form some solid winning combinations. Free spins can also trigger more free spins.

Since there’s such a high hit frequency of the free spins bonus, Microgaming have dispensed with any further bonus game. To be honest, if you’re bagging free spins on the regular, you probably won’t take umbrage with this.

The software developer has also built a Gamble feature into Fish Party. Whenever you hit a win, you can opt in on a double-or-nothing gamble. Simply choose a card colour correct and you can double your earnings. Guess the card suit right, meanwhile, and you quadruple your win. Risky business, but then some gamers prefer life lived on the edge.

It’s worth taking a chance on Fish Party to “sea” how you fare – I mean see how you fare! With 243 ways to win, you can certainly make a splash. The game itself is lots of fun, with quirky sound effects, amusing symbols and a brilliant free spins bonus round. Dive into a Microgaming casino and see how the water is.