Secrets of Christmas Slots
In the town where I grew up, there was always some annoying family on the street which would start putting christmas lights up in October. In slot gaming terms, that family is very definitely NetEnt, who have just released a preview to their new Xmas slot, the Secrets of Christmas game. We had a bit of an office pool running on this as to when the game would come out and what exactly it would be like. It seems this writer has lost on both counts as I expected them to follow on from previous years and release a Christmas version of an existing slot as they did with the Flowers Christmas Edition or the Fruitshop Christmas Edition.
What they’ve actually done this year is given us an entirely new bespoke game for Xmas, so roll up NetEnt fans, Christmas really has come early and so has your present! First glance suggests it might be a very good one too, far from the norm with most Christmas themed slot games, you might find yourself playing this one long after the festive season is finished!
Theme & Structure
The new NetEnt Secrets of Christmas slot does have an easy simple layout, so when full of Turkey and Aunt Elma’s mulled wine, you should still be able to follow it well enough. This is a 5x3 reel video slot with 25 fixed pay-lines in play. That means it’s just a case of selecting a bet value which suits your bankroll and spinning away. Autoplay remains and a quick play on the mobile touch version reveals this is just as well optimised as any other NetEnt slots on mobile.
They’ve done a nice job with the theme too. It is very traditional Christmas as the reel backdrop is a wooden cabin in the snow and the reels are framed by wreathes of Holly but, thanks to NetEnt’s amazing artwork team it manages to look fresh and fun. Our favourite was the cute glass of milk symbol, along with some cookies and a note ‘for santa’. Even the playing card symbols used for the low pay icons have been given the holiday treatment and are garlands of Christmas tree branches, woven together with lights to form the Ace to Ten icons. It’s the small touch’s and attention to detail that, as so often before, really put NetEnt games a cut above the others.
Features
The game only has one feature game but, it is excellent by any stretch of the imagination and uses the theme cleverly. At its heart it is a free spins game, with three, four or five scatters granting varying numbers of free spins. However, before the free spins are played there is a secondary bonus game which has the potential to make this a very valuable bonus game and, for NetEnt an unusually biased game as they generally like multiple features rather than single big ones.
The instant win game which starts the free spins feature grants you picks for extra features during the spins. These range from fairly simple prizes like extra spins through to multipliers, wilds and even a full wild reel! We like this a lot, though the variance hasn’t been stated, the structure would indicate that this is going to be more medium/high which gives the gamblers something to get excited about this yule. Naturally, the game will have free slot version, so you can enjoy it without risking the cash you got in your Christmas stocking!
Summary
Overall this is probably the best Christmas slot game which NetEnt have given us so far and it’s certainly the best yuletide themed mobile slot option out there. Perfect for a cheeky play on the couch whilst the family are swapping cringe worthy stories after dinner. Whether it’s good enough that it gets played much after the season is over, that’s another thing entirely though, players at UK casinos seem to play Halloween slots all year so you never know!
