Alaskan Fishing is a 3-line, 5-reel slot from Microgaming, eschewing the traditional paylines system for their 243 ways to win system. Instead of needing to choose paylines and having a certain combination of symbols appear on that specific line to win, the 243 ways system has 243 different winning combinations of symbols, any of which can be won at any time; they need only appear anywhere on the reels, in left to right order.

The symbols are all unique images, and do a good job of presenting all the aspects of an Alaskan fishing expedition. There's a tackle box, a reel, a lure, a grizzly bear chowing down on a fish, a boat, a bi-plane, and a fisherman himself (complete with quite the old-school stache). Lastly is the Alaskan Fishing symbol. The images are all nice, though they can tend to blur together courtesy of the muted colors and aren't always easily differentiated at a quick glance.

The Alaskan Fishing symbol functions as the wild, which can act as any other symbol (save for the scatter symbol, represented by the tacklebox) to create winning combinations. Three of those tacklebox scatter symbols unlock the free spins bonus round, of which you're given 15. All wins in that mode are doubled in value, and further free spins can be unlocked. There's also a Fly Fishing Bonus mode, unlocked by nabbing the Fishermen symbols in reels 1 and 5. In this mode you are presented with 9 symbols, 5 of which you can choose to unlock the prizes beneath, which are multiplied by your bet amount. It should be noted that while this mode can be activated from within the bonus spins mode, doing so does not increase the value of the wins in the Fly Fishing bonus mode.

There is an autoplay feature available to automate any number of spins, allowing you sit back and relax as if you were out on the boat yourself, lazily lounging in the sun with your reel in the water. You can also access various game options and game statistics from the bottom of the slot. The statistics track your performance during the current play session, and can be reset at any time if desired.

Final Verdict

Alaskan Fishing is a nice looking game with a pleasant soundtrack and a couple of nice bonus modes that can ratchet up your winnings. Those looking for a fun experience with the unique 243 payways system will enjoy this offering from Microgaming. The game is available on mobile devices and Mac computers via flash play at most Microgaming casinos.