Crab Trap slot
Crab Trap is a NetEnt slot released in July 2023, played on 6 reels and 4 rows where matching symbols pay anywhere in view rather than along lines. The game turns on two boats. Blue Boats scatter wooden trap frames across the grid, and a Red Boat sets off respins in which every crab that lands inside a frame is caught and its cash prize held until the round is over.
Editorial note: this guide explains how Crab Trap works. Rules, features and payout figures are set by the studio and can differ between operators and game versions, so check the game’s information panel before you play. Slots are games of chance, and nothing here predicts results. Availability at Fortune Games can change.
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Crab Trap: key facts
| Studio | NetEnt |
|---|---|
| Released | July 2023 |
| Reels and pays | 6 reels, 4 rows; scatter pays, with wins for matching symbols anywhere in view |
| Top symbol | Boot: 10x stake for nine or more in view |
| Starfish and bucket | 8x stake for nine or more in view |
| A, K, Q and J | 8x stake for ten or more in view |
| Blue Boat | Can land in any position; turns its own position and up to five other random positions into trap frames |
| Red Boat | Lands on reel 4 in the base game and reel 3 in the free spins, and always starts a respin |
| Crab respins | Each crab caught in a trap frame gives another respin; when no new crab is trapped, the respins end and the caught crabs pay |
| Crab prizes | Single crabs 1x to 10x stake; colossal crabs 10x to 100x or 100x to 1,000x stake |
| Free spins | 5 to 15, awarded by Lifebuoy scatters; trap frames carry over into the round |
| Extra free spins | One more spin for every three scatters collected during the round |
| Autoplay and turbo | Not available at sites licensed in Great Britain; UK rules require at least 2.5 seconds between the start of one game cycle and the next |
| Stakes | From 10p a spin in the studio’s range. UK rules cap online slot stakes at £5 a spin, or £2 if you are 18 to 24 |
| RTP | Shown in the game’s information panel |
| Series | Stand-alone |
All values (Bet Levels, Maximum Wins etc.) mentioned in relation to this slot game are subject to change at any time.
How Crab Trap plays
Nothing here runs on paylines. A spin pays when enough of one symbol shows up anywhere on the 6x4 grid: the card royals A, K, Q and J need the most copies, the starfish and the bucket a few fewer, and the boot sits at the top of the paytable. The two boats carry the game. A Blue Boat can land in any position and paints wooden frames onto the grid, and a Red Boat is what puts those frames to use. The Lifebuoy is the scatter, and it opens the free spins. The crabs come in three sizes: single squares, 2x2 and 3x3, the two larger ones known as colossal crabs.
Blue Boats and the trap frames
A Blue Boat turns the square it lands on into a trap frame and splashes up to five more frames onto random squares elsewhere, so the grid fills out gradually over a run of spins. These frames are where crabs are caught once the respins begin, so the Blue Boat does its work before any prize is in sight.
Red Boat respins
When a Red Boat lands, a respin starts straight away. Crabs can now fall onto the grid, and any crab that drops into a frame is trapped, stays where it is and earns one more respin. The sequence carries on until a respin traps nothing new, and then every caught crab pays its prize at once. The 2x2 and 3x3 colossal crabs cover several squares and carry larger prize ranges than the single crabs, as the key facts table shows.
Lifebuoy free spins
Three to six Lifebuoy scatters start the free spins, with more scatters giving a longer round, and frames from the base game carry over into it unless a respin happens first. Red Boats keep working during the round, on reel 3 now rather than reel 4, so the trap-and-respin routine can run several times before the free spins finish. Scatters landing inside the round are collected, and each set of three adds one more spin.
Crab Trap compared with Crabbin’ for Christmas
Crustaceans are the prize carriers in both games, but they reach you in very different ways. Crabbin’ for Christmas, from Blueprint Gaming, is a festive 5x3 game with 10 paylines whose crustacean values are collected by a wild during free spins, and whose Lightning Spins lock Golden Cash symbols for a few respins with four fixed jackpots on offer. Crab Trap needs no collector symbol. It swaps lines for pay-anywhere wins on a larger 6x4 grid, and its crabs only pay if they land inside frames that the Blue Boats have already set.
| Game | Released | Grid and lines | How crab prizes are won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crab Trap | July 2023 | 6x4, pays anywhere | Crabs caught in Blue Boat trap frames during Red Boat respins |
| Crabbin’ for Christmas | November 2023 | 5x3, 10 paylines | Lightning Spins with Golden Cash symbols and four fixed jackpots |
All values (Bet Levels, Maximum Wins etc.) mentioned in relation to this slot game are subject to change at any time.
Crab Trap at Fortune Games
Crab Trap is one of the video slots in the Fortune Games lobby, open to adults only (18+). The UK caps in the table apply to every player. There is no autoplay or turbo mode, as at every site licensed in Great Britain. Fortune Games has an app on the App Store and Google Play.
Frequently asked questions
What happens in the Crab Trap slot when a Red Boat lands?
The respins begin, and from then on the crabs are what matter: each one that drops into a frame locks in place and buys a further respin, so a run of catches can stretch the sequence well beyond one or two spins. The total is paid only when a respin traps nothing.
How many free spins can Crab Trap give?
It depends on the Lifebuoys in view when the round starts: three give 5 spins, four give 7, five give 10 and six give 15. Any respins triggered on that spin are played out first, before the free spins begin, and once the round is under way, every three scatters collected add one more spin.
Which crab in Crab Trap is worth the most?
The 3x3 colossal crab, which covers a block of nine squares, has the highest prize range in the key facts table, ahead of the 2x2 crab and the single crabs. Like every crab, it only pays if it is caught in a trap frame during the respins or free spins.
Related guides
Checked on 12 November 2026 against NetEnt’s Crab Trap game page, the SlotCatalog, casinos.com and VegasSlotsOnline game records for Crab Trap, Blueprint Gaming’s launch release for Crabbin’ for Christmas with its casinos.com and VegasSlotsOnline records, and the Gambling Commission’s stake-limit guidance and remote technical standards. How we research and check our guides: our editorial policy.