Crab Trap: Slot Overview
Crabs, the aquatic sea creature kind, not the itchy kind, are one sort of creature which pops up in online slots every so often. Not so often as big-name beasts like bison, perhaps, but often enough to have carved out some sort of niche in the gambling world. They don't tend to star in big-hitting, monstrous slots very often, and NetEnt's Crab Trap is unlikely to upset that trend either. Crab Trap is a classic example, really. Full of charm, fairly simple, mid-volatile, has a crab collect feature and caps it all off with a modest max win. If this sounds appetising, let's get to hauling in a different seafood group than fish for a change.
Since crabs are typically caught from the sea, it makes sense that Crab Trap's base game takes place near it, where a sizable fish hangs from a beam next to a structure which houses a 6-reel gaming panel. Each reel holds 4 rows and uses a scatter pays system to calculate wins rather than paylines or ways. As these sorts of slots tend to be, whether it's fish or crabs in the leading role, Crab Trap is presented in a positive, upbeat way, brightly graphiced, with a cheerful soundtrack providing extra bounce.
The math model powering Crab Trap is medium volatile, producing a default return to player of 96.07%. Being a scatter pays slot, players collect a win when at least 7 identical low pays, 6 identical mids, or 5 identical high pays land in view on any position of the board. Pays are awarded when this occurs, yet no cascading or tumbling occurs at any point. To get the crab nippin', players start by picking a bet of 10 p/c to £/€400 or by using the bonus buy should you wish to jump straight into the crab pond. When changing the bet, any Trap frames on the reels are removed but reappear if returning to the previous bet (more on this below).
What Crab Trap considers low pays are J to A card ranks, its medium pays are starfish and a bucket of water, while the high pays are a float and a boot. Not the most exciting symbols but fine enough. As for values, a 7 low pay symbol cluster is worth 1 times the bet, up to 8 times the bet for a 10+ cluster, a 6 OAK mid pay cluster is worth 1 times the bet, up to 8 times the bet for a 9+ cluster, while a 5 OAK high pay cluster awards 0.4x the bet, up to 10 times the bet for a 9+ cluster. Crab Trap does not have wilds, but it does have boats and crabs as its remaining symbols.
Crab Trap: Slot Features
To be precise, Crab Trap has two types of boat symbols, Red and Blue, which led to Trap frames being placed and respins being triggered. As well as this, be on the lookout for free spins and the buy feature.
Respins
The Blue Boat symbol appears on all reels in the base game and in free spins. Each Blue Boat adds a Trap frame to its own position and 1 to 5 Trap frames on random positions that do not already have Trap frames on them. The Red Boat symbol appears in the base game on reel 4 and in free spins on reel 3. It may appear in the base game when there are at least 5 Trap frames on the reels and awards a Respin. A Respin can also be awarded whenever there is a Blue Boat and Trap frames added to all reels. When a Blue Boat and Red Boat land at the same time, Trap frames are added before a Respin is triggered. During Respins, scatter winning combinations cannot appear, only wins from Crab symbols are awarded.
Single Crab symbols can land anywhere on the reels, 2x2 colossal Crab symbols may land on reels 1-2 and 4-5, while 3x3 colossal Crab symbols can appear on reels 1-3 and 4-6. Colossal Crab symbols may land fully or partially in view. Single Crabs have values of 1, 2, 5, or 10 times the bet, 2x2 colossal Crabs have values of 10x, 20x, 50x, or 100x the bet, while 3x3 colossal Crabs have values of 100x, 200x, 500x, or 1,000 times the bet.
If a Crab symbol lands on a position with a Trap during a Respin or on the spins which triggered a Respin, it locks in place. Another Respin is awarded if this occurs on a Respin. Colossal Crabs lock in place, even if Trap frames do not cover them entirely. Respins end when no new Crabs land on positions with a Trap frame. Then, all Crab symbols in positions with Trap frames award wins according to their values. If Colossal Crabs are not completely framed, they break into single Crabs possessing values of 1 to 10 times the bet each. Partially visible colossal Crabs transform into 2, 3, or 6 single Crab symbols. All Trap frames with captured Crabs in them are removed from the reels. Trap frames without Crabs remain on the grid.
Free Spins
Landing 3, 4, 5, or 6+ scatter symbols in the main game awards 5, 7, 10, or 15 free spins, respectively. Scatter symbols are collected in the free spins round, and for every 3 scatters collected, players are awarded +1 extra free spin. Any Trap frames from the triggering spin are carried over to free spins. Repsins will play before free spins if both are activated on the same spin. In free spins, a Respin is awarded whenever a Red Boat appears, and Traps are not removed after a Respin. Repsin play before the next free spin. When free spins end, all Trap frames disappear from the reels, and when returning to the base game, 4 Trap frames are added to the grid.
Buy Feature
Players are able to buy 6 free spins for the cost of 50 times the bet. When buying free spins, the RTP remains the same, and all Trap frames from the main game are saved. Ten new Trap frames are randomly added to the reels, and when free spins end, the saved Trap frames return to the reels.
Crab Trap: Slot Verdict
Phew, that was quite a lot of rules for what is a fairly straightforward crab-catching slot. To boil it all down, what you want to happen is for the Blue Boat to add as many Trap frames to the reels as possible, then hit a Red Boat to trigger the Respin feature. Then it's a case of hitting as many Crab symbols (the bigger, the better) in positions framed by Traps. When Respins end, players collect loot should Crabs be caught, of course. The same goes for free spins, too, but there you've got the added benefit of Trap frames not being removed from the reels following a Respins sequence. Within this framework are various rules and fine print to govern how the game goes. One of the most important rules to be aware of is that colossal Crabs will not pay their full potential unless they are completely in view and completely covered by Trap frames. If they are not, then they break down to the single 1x1 Crab symbols to award lesser values.
This does make it harder to bag big Crabs, and really, Crab Trap is not a big potential slot in general. With a max win of 1,191 times the bet, it would seem this is not the most lucrative crab fishing business on the waters. If you've ever seen the show 'Deadliest Catch', there is no way those hardy individuals would be braving the dangerous Bering Sea for rewards like that. Of course, Crab Trap doesn't compare to real-life rough-seas crab fishing. It feels like Crab Trap is pitched at players with a certain risk/reward taste, gamblers who prefer things on the 'lighter' side of things, let's say.
One mental image which came to mind was of a barefooted fisherman sleeping next to the water, a line of string tied to their big toe to catch fish from. Laid back, keeping things easy, that sort of thing. If the gambling equivalent, with crabs, sounds appealing, then Crab Trap might suffice. Otherwise, to keep things crabby but upping the potential rewards, maybe something like Lobster Bob's Crazy Crab Shack from Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom might be a better suit.
