Santa vs Rudolf Game Review
Seasonal spins often don’t have the best reputation, coming off as cash grabs rather than real attempts to create original games, which is why Santa vs Rudolf is such a pleasant surprise. While it’s true that there’s nothing ground breaking about the premise or the visuals, the combination of a well designed Christmas theme and some fun mechanics make this a game worth playing year round. So is this game a special gift, or is it a sack of coal? Let’s find out in our Santa vs Rudolf review
Background
This game engages you right from the get go with a cute little story about santa’s missing hat. Turns out that best friend Rudolf has stolen it, and you’ll find him on the right of the reels blowing a rebellious raspberry at his rotund master who stands puzzled to the left. The style of the art in this game is cartoonish but well made, and while the low value symbols are just the generic 9 – A icons in candy cane form, the high value symbols are all straight from Santa lore: Christmas lists, presents, a sleigh, Rudolf’s collar and a reindeer snowglobe. A jingling, cutesy sound track and sound effects really complete the package, leaving you feeling very Christmassy.
While the base mechanics of the game aren’t at all revolutionary, the game does have a couple of tricks up its sleeve beyond the obvious. There are five reels and three rows with 20 paylines, and an RTP of 96.35%, which can give you a pretty healthy return on your betting range of between ₹14.7 and ₹736. Santa’s sleigh is the most valuable symbol, returning 25x your stake when you match five, so you may have guessed that the biggest payouts are to be found in the bonus rounds. Luckily, these are the best part!
Bonuses
We haven’t mentioned the wilds in this game so far because they’re such a big part of the bonuses. For a start, there are walking wilds employed in this game, so if you land Rudolf or Santa they will begin on the left and right of the screen respectively and move one step to the opposite side with each re-spin. They create combos and wins as they go, before dropping off the edge of the reels. However, if they start on the same reel and meet in the middle, things get ugly. The pair begin to fight over Santa’s hat, creating a new joint symbol and granting you ten free spins, with another four added each time the walking wilds meet in the middle. The bonus round grants you even more walking wilds, so this happens a lot, and taking the re-spins into account too then this round can go on for ages!
You may also notice two meters added to the top of the screen, one for Santa and one for Rudolf. Each walking wild of theirs that falls of the screen adds one point to the respective meter, until eventually one or the other collects eight and activates their own special feature. Santa’s feature is a pick and win game that can reveal cash prizes, multipliers up to 4x or santa’s hat. Rudolf’s feature grants you an extra five free spins with even more Rudolf wilds added to the reels.
Verdict
The Santa vs Rudolf slot game is far more than a generic Christmas clone, and beneath the usual festive imagery there is a fun and exciting game ready to burst out. The narrative is fun and woven neatly into the game, so it always feels like you’re part of a story, and the mechanics support this nicely with walking wilds and a fun set of bonus features.
