Merry Christmas Megaways

Merry Christmas Megaways Overview

Created by Iron Dog Studio, Christmas Megaways is the answer to what happens when you combine one of the most popular slot machine mechanics with indefatigable festive cheer. With an enormous number of pay lines, plenty of features and a very tempting top payout, Christmas Megaways could be one of, if not the, best Christmas themed slot of 2021. Reassuringly, even the RTP is on solid ground at a decent 96.2%. With all of these factors added together, you’ll be hard-pressed not to enjoy this exciting product from one of the smaller designers.

The features in this game are threefold. The first bonus is a cascading reel feature obligatory for all games with a Megaways mechanic. Having a cascading reels feature means that every time you create a win, the winning symbols are removed from the board and replaced by a new set, giving players another chance of scoring wins from the same spin.

The next feature is called the Multiplier wilds feature, which obviously concerns the multiplier wilds, which can form part of a win and multiply the payout by whatever value is displayed on the icon. Finally, this game also has a free spins round. All features will be explained in greater detail later on in the review.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this exciting and festive slot is, of course, Christmas and all of the traditions that come with this special time of year. Indeed, this slot is a jolly romp through the snows of the Arctic circle in search of presents and festive cheer from all that would provide them. Unlike other slots, however, this game is fairly restrained in its Christmassy design, keeping things to a moderated level of decoration. This differs somewhat from some designers who seem to completely lose any control when Christmas is concerned, cramming every available inch of screen with baubles and presents and tinsel.

The background for Merry Christmas Megaways is a magical blizzard of Christmas cheer, with the foreground taken up by a snowdrift populated by red and gold presents. Above this powdery level is a dark and glittery night sky full of whirling stars and multicoloured beams of pure whimsey. The whole image has the look of Polar Express, that classic Christmas film with a very specific animation style that still resonates with modern viewers.

The playing board for Merry Christmas Megaways is an icy selection of boxes topped by a candy cane and golden star, representing the star of Bethlehem.

The symbols for this game are split into low value, high value and special symbols. The low-value symbols are comprised of the 10, J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. On the other hand, the more valuable symbols are the baubles, candles, Christmas trees, and stockings full of presents. However, the most rewarding symbol in this game is the diamond, worth 25x the stake for the top combination. The only special symbol included in this game is the wild, which is a golden star on its own, but when it is a multiplier, it comes as a value and the word wild.

Game Play

Merry Christmas Megaways is played on a Megways payway machine, meaning that between 2 and 7 symbols can appear on each reel per spin. There are six reels in total. This means that the number of pay lines changes with every spin too. The maximum number that can be played is 117,649.

The betting range for Merry Christmas Megaways is 20p to £20 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the high range. The return to player percentage for Merry Christmas Megaways is 96.2%, which is above average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 40,000x your stake.

Features

The first feature in this game is the cascading reels bonus. To trigger this bonus, players have to create winners. When a winner is created, the winning symbols are then removed from the reels, and a new cascade of symbols will fall into their vacant positions. If another win is created, then the mechanic continues. However, if a new winner is not found, the bonus stops.

The second feature is the Multiplier wilds feature. This bonus concerns the special multiplier wild icons, which can land on reels 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. In addition to substituting for other symbols to help form wins, they will also boost the payout of that win by the value displayed on the icon. If multiplier icons are landed, then their multipliers are added together.

Finally, there is the free spins feature. This feature is triggered when players land four or more cascade wins in quick succession. The more cascades that you used to trigger the bonus, the more free spins will be afforded to you. The maximum number of spins you can win is 14.

Once within the free spins, a growing multiplier is in play. This multiplier will increase by one for every winning cascade. This multiplier will keep growing throughout the feature too, and will not reset when you do not achieve a winning cascade. You can also increase this multiplier by locking out reels by getting them to 7 icons high. Each reel locked out adds one to the multiplier value.

You can also retrigger this bonus by landing another four or more cascades from within the bonus.

Conclusion

Every metric that can be measured about this slot game gives a positive impression. From a visual standpoint, there is plenty of interesting and diverting content. Statistically, this game also checks all the boxes from the decent RTP to the high top prize and the reliable features. This, coupled with the ever interesting and enhancing Megaways mechanic, makes this perhaps the best Christmas slot game of the year.