Santa Spins

As we approach the most festive of all days, every provider is rushing to get its Christmas product to the market. This time we are talking about the designer Red Tiger and its new game Santa Spins. In this slot, we travel to the frozen north pole to see how Santa and his family prepare for the year's biggest event. Mechanically, this new game has five reels and four rows and 20 pay lines. Santa Spins has an RTP of 95.73% and a maximum available win of 995x the stake. The volatility rating sits around the middle of the spectrum. Santa Spins is available to play on mobile, tablet and laptop platforms.

Santa Spins Overview

The features for Santa Spins start with the wild Santa and house icons. During this game, up to sixteen house symbols can land on the reels at once. On their own house symbols don't do anything; however, when wilds enter the frame, they also turn wild, helping players score much more wins. The Santa expanded wild, you will notice, only lands on the first reel and is always fully stacked. The other feature included in this game is the Xmas spins. This is the free spins game triggered when players land three or more scatters on the reels simultaneously. The wilds become locked in place in the free spins game when they fall onto the reels. All features will be explained in greater detail later in the review.

Santa Spins Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game is the wonderful winter holiday of Christmas. Christmas, as you may know, does not have a simple origin story and is, in fact, a combination of traditions culminating in the holiday as we know it today. The original genesis of Christmas comes from a celebration of the winter solstice – the longest and darkest day of winter and the turning point of the season. This was celebrated in the neolithic age. However, through changing tastes, technologies and the advent of capitalism, Christmas is now a festival heavily influenced by Christianity and consumerism. It is this new red Santa, present giving and receiving Christmas, that we see on the reels in this new slot.

The background for Santa Spins is an image of the North Pole decorated to celebrate the festive season. This means that Christmas trees are covered in lights and baubles and surrounded by snow drifts. Nestled in this wintery environment of snow and ice is Santa's grotto, a small yet warm residence inside which glows a stunning golden tree shining light out into the barren wasteland of the North. The playing board is one of the most festive and well-decorated matrixes we have seen this holiday season, with holly and golden bells decorating the corners. At the foot of the board is a selection of colourful presents and more tinsel and mistletoe.

The symbols are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-paying icons are the J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The most valuable of these icons is the A, worth 2x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable cions are the wreath, the golden bells, the reindeer, and Mrs Claus. Mrs Claus is the most valuable of these icons, worth 40x the stake of the top combination. The specials for this game are the wild, the stacked wild, and the scatter.

Game Play

Santa Spins is played on a 5-reel, 4-row machine with 20 fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel. The betting range for Santa Spins is 10p to £100 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stakes 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. The volatility for this slot is rated in the medium range. The return to player percentage for Santa Spins is 95.73%, which is below average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 995x your stake.

Santa Spins Features

The first feature in this game is the wild Santa feature. During the game, you will see wild Santa icons. These icons in regular and stacked formats substitute for other icons on the board to help score more wins.

Furthermore, you will also see house icons in this game. These icons are useless until a stacked wild icon lands. These houses will then transform into wilds, helping players score even more wins.

The other feature in this game is the Xmas spins bonus. This feature is triggered when players land three or more of the scatter icons on the reels at the same time. The more scatters you use to trigger the bonus, the more free spins you are awarded. In the bonus round, the wild Santas are also frozen to their position for the duration of the feature to help players score more wins. Landing additional scatters in this game will add more spins to your tally.

Conclusion

Simple festive, and fun, this new game from Red Tiger gives players a relaxing yet exciting slot that delivers on the playing experience side of things. However, things aren't quite as promising regarding the payout potential, with a poor top payout and a low RTP. Play this game for a lark at Christmas time, but perhaps don't get your hopes up for any Christmas miracles in the cash department. You can also play Blackjack to enjoy something different.