Bingo and fishing, or even slot games and fishing, aren’t exactly combinations that you’d naturally bundle together. Yet, if you look at dedicated online bingo sites, you’d think it was the most obvious pairing in entertainment. Within the ocean of games available online, you’ll find whole schools of fishing games now.
While angling has long been a popular pastime in the UK, you have to imagine that these games aren’t just being made for those who own a rod and reel. So, what is it about the activity, the theme, and even the fish themselves that’s created such a surge in interest for these games?
The Games that Kicked Off the Fad
To chart the origins of the fishing games fad found in full force at platforms like Paddy Power Bingo, you have to go back to 2014. This is when Reel Time Gaming released Fishin’ Frenzy. Perhaps because of its classic-style aesthetic, or maybe because it was such a novelty at the time, Fishin’ Frenzy didn’t really take off right away.
It did, however, introduce those who were willing to take a dip to the fishing feature. During the base game, fish will land on the reels with various cash values as standard symbols. Hit the bonus round, and getting these same symbols with a fisherman symbol will collect it all up for a payout and even level up the feature.
In 2020, Reel Kingdom entered these waters with Big Bass Bonanza. Sporting much more modern graphics, an action-packed tile, and a slightly improved fishing feature, it popularised fishing as a theme in online gaming. Now, we have several games in the Big Bass series, and its popularity helped to give Fishin’ Frenzy a surge.
So, you’ll find the likes of Big Bass Splash, Big Bass Halloween, and even Big Bass Boxing Bonus Round alongside Fishin’ Frenzy Christmas and Fishin’ Frenzy Megaways. The success of these series rubbed off on other developers, leading them to ride the wave with releases like Fishing Trawler, Fishing Bob Slingo, and Cod Chaos: Stormy Seas.
Angling Has Become a Reliable Source of Entertainment
Much more subtly and indirectly than the rise of a hit mechanic within the games themselves, there’s also been a stark turn in the public perception of fishing. It wasn’t long ago that channels featured a couple of hit fishing shows, like River Monsters – which was so successful that its star, Jeremy Wade, ran out of monsters to catch!
Of course, River Monsters ended quite some time ago, and Robson Green’s Extreme Fishing faded from regular TV scheduling to a myriad of spin-offs on Prime Video. After a gap, angling returned in a much more laid-back way. Gone Fishing proved the ultimate form of relaxing, effortlessly funny TV, as The Guardian puts it.
It’s just a show about two old friends setting up their camping chairs and rods by the waterways of Britain – and sometimes a bit further afield – and having a chat while they wait for a bite. All of these shows have helped to form fishing as ripe for entertainment creatives.
While the popularity of a certain slot game series did much of the heavy lifting, it’s tough to overlook the impact of more mainstream angling-themed productions in charting the rise of fishing games at online bingo sites.
This is a submitted article written by Ben Spencer.
