Hacksaw Gaming has been pretty quick in carving a niche and collecting a loyal player base for its slot titles over the last few years. It is a prominent game provider available on the majority of online casinos in the UK. With around 100 games in its library already, Hacksaw Gaming is all about pushing boundaries and tackling gameplay mechanics in innovative ways.
The upcoming game Marlin Masters is going to be their latest offering, scheduled to be released on January 22, 2025. The game features a 5x4 grid layout, 14 paylines, medium-high volatility, and a bet range of £0.10 to £100. The game will have four RTP variants (96.24%, 94.39%, 92.35%, and 88.35%). The top end being 96% is good news, making Marlin Masters an excellent game to try for all types of players.
Notably, Marlin Masters is Hacksaw Gaming’s take on the fishing genre. So far, the provider has steered clear of this theme, but letting Big Bass Bonanza (Pragmatic Play) and Fishin’ Frenzy (Blueprint Gaming) take all the players is not ideal anymore!
Now, what is most exciting or different about this game is that it breaks away from the provider’s general MO—making games set in very expressive environments. Marlin Masters is quite toned down and relaxing, in comparison. Most likely, Hacksaw Gaming is trying to bag some of those casual slot players with this title.
The key attraction in the game is to collect Marlin (cash) symbols. With 5x to 7.5x high-paying symbols, the game has a very mellow progression. The Anchor is the Wild that can replace any other regular symbol.
At first glance, it would look grossly unoriginal. But when you take a closer look, Hacksaw has made some minor tweaks here and there to improve the overall experience, making it a better fishing-cash-collection slot. For example, the Fisherman symbol can land in the base game and have a multiplier attached to it—not just in the free spins round. Plus, there are three versions of the free spins round and three bonus buy types. As Fisherman symbols can land with a multiplier in the base game itself, the 7500x max win is not limited to just the free spins round!
Exciting Game Features
Hacksaw Gaming has done its homework and created a mainstream game that has all the ingredients to be a mass success among casual slot players. At its heart, the game has several features that make it worthwhile.
Cash Collection
Cash Collection is the main feature in the game (and in other fishing-themed games as well). The Lootlines and Cash Them All! features are based on Marlin symbols. They all have different values between 1x and 1000x. If three or more land in a payline (there are 14 paylines), they will be collected. Each Fisherman symbol (which is not the Wild, by the way) will also collect the values of the Marlin Cash symbols if one is in view. Its multiplier is in the range of 1x to 20x added on top of the collected Marlin symbols.
Free Spins Round
Landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatter symbols will get you in the free spins round. The mechanics vary slightly:
- Reel It In: Dubbed “Reel It In”, if you land three Scatters in the base game, you will be awarded 10 free spins. You will also see a Marlin Progress Bar in this bonus round. This progress bar increases with Fisherman symbols. So, every time you land a Fisherman (regardless of whether there are Marlin symbols or cash values to collect or not), the Bar will move one step further. You need 4 steps to fill it. Once filled, you will go to the next free spins round. There are three upgrades—all trigger 10 extra free spins while guaranteeing upcoming Fisherman symbols with multipliers. The minimum multiplier is 2x, 4x, and 10x in the three upgrades, respectively.
- Off The Hook: If you land four Scatters, you end up in an upgraded Free Spins Round called “Off The Hook.” You get 15 free spins and the major difference is that Fisherman symbols are guaranteed to begin with a minimum multiplier of 2x without needing any upgrades on the Progress Bar. The subsequent levels upon completing the Bar are also better, where you get 15 extra free spins with guaranteed multipliers on Fisherman of 4x, 10x, and 15x in each upgrade.
- Plenty of Fish in the Sea: The last one is triggered when you land five Scatter symbols. This one is fairly simple—you get 10 free spins with all the Marlin symbols carrying a guaranteed 5x or higher multiplier. One Marlin and one Fisherman symbol will land every spin for sure.
Marlin Masters Base Game
Bonus Buy
Bonus Buys have become increasingly popular across slot games—for better or worse. Following that trend, Hacksaw Gaming’s new slot game Marlin Masters also has it. In fact, you have the ability to buy three types of bonuses:
- For 3x your bet, you can make each spin 5x more likely to trigger the free spins round.
- For 50x your bet, you can buy a bonus where each spin will land at least two Marlins and at least one Fisherman for sure.
- For a whopping 65x and 200x your total bet, you can buy the most expensive bonuses in Marlin Masters—direct entry to Reel It In and Off The Hook, respectively.
Where to play the Marlin Masters game?
The upcoming Marlin Masters game is a big name. When it releases, you can be sure that the majority of online casinos hosting Hacksaw Gaming slots will add it to their catalogue pretty quickly. It has all the right ingredients to become a staple fishing game with cash collection features and multipliers. Here at Gambling Zone, we will offer a detailed guide. The online slot sites in our network will also add Hacksaw Gaming’s new game Marlin Masters to their platforms when it is released on January 22, 2025.
