Ugliest Catch

Ugliest Catch

8 / 10
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

In most pokies that take you on a fishing trip the player is taken to a tropical ocean or a peaceful lake, but Nolimit City tends to do things differently. In Ugliest Catch you’ll be taken to a lake that has to deal with the outcome of structural pollution. This makes the grid different from all others and with 5 reels, 243 ways, Enhancer Cells, and xWays, the Big Bertha multipliers can reach values of 5000x the stake. With an RTP of 96.11% and top wins that go up to 50,000x the stake, we suggest you go ahead and find out more in the Ugliest Catch pokie review. There are more details about this game here below.

Ugliest Catch Review

In Ugliest Catch you’ll get to meet some odd looking underwater creatures that will make an everlasting impression. You’re invited for a fishing expedition that takes place in highly polluted waters which is already quite disturbing but don’t be surprised with the captain’s state. He looks munted and he doesn’t look to stop drinking anytime soon. Still, he’s your only hope on the waters and you’ll need him to finish your trip and hopefully make some wins. Other than its somewhat strange setting, Ugliest Catch is rather mainstream once you get used to the look and feel of the pokie. In the base game you’ll need to deal with the Kill N’ Grill Wild Fishing feature awarding payouts of 5,000x the bet. The bonus round looks familiar but adds the fish prize multiplier upgrade system a lot of Kiwis might have come across as this was made popular by related fishing titles like Big Bass Bonanza.

Nice to know

Launched 17 October 2023
RTP 96.11%, 94.19%, 92.37%, 87.30%
Volatility High
Software Nolimit City
Features Additional Free Spins, Additive Symbol, Bonus Bet, Buy Feature, Free Spins, Free Spins Multiplier, Reelset Changing, Scatter Symbols, Splitting Symbols, Wild
Theme Fishing
Paylines 376
Grid Layout 5-3
Min. bet/line $ 0.20
Max win 50,000x
Jackpot N/A

Positive points

  • ✅ Good Base RTP
  • ✅ Win Up to 50,000x The Stake
  • ✅ 7 Bonus Features
  • ✅ Bonus Buy Feature
  • ✅ Visually Outstanding
  • ✅ Excellent Soundtrack With Real Classics

Negative points

  • ❌ Ranging RTP
  • ❌ High Volatility

Review Ugliest Catch

Nope, we’re not sick of fishing games yet and even if we were, Ugliest Catch is different from all other pokies in the niche as the whole vibe is different which you’ll notice when you see the symbols. As Nolimit City states it themselves, players will be heading to the “dirty and slimy depths of a lake plagued by years of illegal and toxic dumping” which isn’t a description players will have seen for other online pokies. With payouts of 50,000x the stake, the trip might be worthwhile if you’re willing to take the risk as this is an extremely volatile release (10 out of 10 score) that might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Experienced fishers and punters are welcome to hop on board and make their real money spins.

How to Play

This online casino game does come with a 5×3 grid, but there are 243 ways. In addition, there are 7 different bonus features that will help you get to your wins. For players wanting to know how to play Ugliest Catch, here is the basic information you need to know:

  • Sign up at recommended NZ online casinos and stick to predefined limits. Most of our top list casinos work with betting limits. Make sure to use these.
  • Bets start $ 0.20 and go up to $ 100. Be sure to take into account your predefined budget when you make a real money bet. You can also try the game in the free demo mode. This will not cost any of your own money.
  • Go ahead and click on the Play button. This will allow you to make your first spin.
  • Take a look at the other options:
    • Autoplay: spin the reels for a certain number of rounds.
    • Turbo: for faster spinning.
    • Menu icon: general game info, payout scheme, audio settings.

Symbol Wins

As you normally do in fishing games, you’ll see a fishing hook with a worm wrapped around it, but there is more. Other symbols you’ll come across are a can of worms, a frog bait, a concrete weight with an ankle attached and the wellies. These are the low value symbols of this online pokie. The high value symbols are displayed with a red ugly fish, mohawk fish, green ugly fish, fish trophy and a blue ugly fish — they’re all called ugly and let’s say that you’ll understand why once you see them. The best paying symbol is the red ugly fish symbol which allows players to make wins of 1.2, 2 or 5x the stake for combos of 3, 4 or 5. The Fisherman Wild symbol is the one that substitutes for all paying symbols in the game. Other symbols include xWays, the Free Spins Scatter and Big Bertha. Here is everything you need to know about the symbols:

Symbol Payout for 3x Payout for 4x Payout for 5x
Fishing Hook with Worm 0.25x 0.25x 0.5x the stake
Can of Worms 0.25x 0.25x 0.55x the stake
Frog Bait 0.3x 0.4x 0.6x the stake
Concrete Weight with Foot Attached 0.35x 0.5x 0.65x the stake
Wellies 0.4x 0.5x 0.7x the stake
Blue Ugly Fish 0.6x 1x 1.8x the stake
Fish Trophy 0.7x 1.2x 2x the stake
Green Ugly Fish 0.8x 1.4x 2.4x the stake
Mohawk Fish 0.9x 1.5x 3x the stake
Red Ugly Fish 1.2x 2x 5x the stake
Fisherman Wild Substitutes for paying symbols above
Free Spins Scatter 3+ activates a free spins feature + opens up Enhancer Cells

Bonus Features

The Ugliest Catch pokie by Nolimit City comes with a total of 7 bonus features. The scatters unlock Enhancer Cells are the ones that can help you get to the xWays that allow more ways to win. The Big Berta multipliers go up to a comfortable 5,000x and Golden Fisherman Wilds are the ones that collect Fish Trophy symbols worth up to 5,000x the bet. There are also 3 FS features that come with 10 Enhancer Cells. Below, we’ll dive into the different bonus features that are waiting to be triggered in Ugliest Catch.

Enhancer Cells feature

The Enhancer Cells feature has a 5×5 setup which comes with different locked Enhancer Cell positions (both top and bottom of each reel). When a FS Scatter symbol lands on the grid, the scatter opens up locked positions on its reel. Increasing the number of ways to win, all positions can get up to 3,125 ways to win. In case a Free Spins scatter opens an Enhancer Cell position it will reveal a Golden Fisherman Wild, Big Berta, or xWays. It can also activate a normal paying symbols. Here is what they do:

  • xWays: Reveals between 2 and 4 symbols of the same kind transforming into a paying symbol. These will also increase the number of ways to win.
  • Golden Fisherman Wild: Activates the Kill N’ Grill Wild Fishing feature.
  • Big Berta: comes with a random multiplier value of 100x, 250x, 1000x or 5000x.

Kill N’ Grill Wild Fishing feature

This feature is activated when a Golden Fisherman Wild lands in the opened enhancer cells. When this happens, a multiplier value is collected via Fish Trophy symbols which are added and multiplied with the stake which adds to the symbol payout, if any. The Fish Trophy multiplier values can go up to 2x, 5x, 25x, 100x, 250x, 1,000x or 5,000x the stake. Landing a Fisherman Wild symbol on any open reel position during any of the FS feature will activate the Kill N’ Grill Wild Fishing feature.

Free Spins Features

The 3 bonus round tiers in Ugliest Catch are called Lunker Spins, Hawg Spins, and Honey Hole Spins. This works as follows:

  • 3 scatters: 8 Lunker Spins and 6 Enhancer Cells for the duration of the feature.
  • 4 scatters: 8 Hawg Spins and 8 active Enhancer Cells.
  • 5 scatters: 10 Honey Hole Spins and 10 Enhancer Cells.

There is also the chance to open extra enhancer cells by landing scatter symbols in the 2 lower-tier bonus rounds and +1 extra free spin per scatter. Fisherman Wilds are collected when landed in Enhancer Cells, increasing Troll Level Multiplier to x2, x3, or x10 for 4, 8, and 12 collected wilds.

Boosted xBet Feature

If you’re willing to pay 75% more per spin, you can make use of the Boosted xBet feature. This comes with a Free Spins Scatter symbol on the second reel. This will also open Enhancer Cells leading the player to Golden Fisherman Wild, Big Berta or xWays symbols.

Nolimit Bonus Feature

Ugliest Catch comes with a bonus buy feature which is readily available for players in New Zealand. This feature is also referred to as the Nolimit Bonus Feature and lets you buy your way into the 3 free spins features for between 94 and 866x the total bet. Here are all the details:

  • 94x the bet for 8 Lunker Spins.
    • RTP of 96.44%.
  • 300x the bet for 9 Hawg Spins.
    • RTP of 96.22%.
  • 886x the bet for 10 Honey Hole Spins.
    • RTP of 96.34%.
  • 390x the bet for the randomized Lucky Dip option.
    • RTP of 96.36%.

Payout Metrics

The RTP of Ugliest Catch is labelled 96.11% which is just fine. Be aware though that there are 94.19% and 92.37% RTP versions as well which might be used by some casinos. For this reason we always recommend New Zealand gambling enthusiasts to check this in the game’s pay table. As for the top tier 96.11% RTP version, a percentage of 56.22% is set aside for the base game, with 35.58% for the Linker Spins, 4.04% for the Hawg Spins and finally 0.27% for the Honey Hole Spins. As for the variance of Ugliest Catch, this game is labelled extremely high which pretty much means that it’s set as 10 out of 10. With a hit frequency rate of 22.99%, the average winning combination falls every 4.35 spins on average. It will eventually take about 252 spins to activate the free spins in the game. Please note that these numbers are average numbers and that short time fluctuations may occur. The Ugliest Catch pokie offers payouts of up to 50,000x the stake. Top prizes are called Kiss My GO-TO-HELL and are triggered 1 in 20 million spins on average for the top version of 96.11%. Wins of 100x the stake will happen 609 on average.

Summary

We don’t see NoLimit City looking at other providers, but they might just have found their inspiration in the popular fishing games that were popularised by other game developers such as Pragmatic Play. Still, NLC has managed to give its own twist to the game and they still maintain their crazy touch. The lake the drunk fisherman will be taking you to is polluted although this might be the accumulation of beer as well. As for the graphics you’ll get what you expect from Nolimit City whilst the same is true for the 7 bonus features.

Out of these, the xBet might just be a good idea if you are eligible, and the good thing about the game is that you can win vast prizes in the base game too. The game is taken deeper underwater when one of the bonus features get triggered, giving the player the chance to catch something when the Enhancer Cells are open and fisherman wild activates the reel ‘em feature. The x10 multiplier can make you fish in the 50,000x top win.

Ugliest Catch is a fishing trip that is going to be different from all other trips, but the potential for a life changing catch is out there if you’re not unafraid to hop on board.