Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition Game Review

Get ready for presents, baubles and the occasional Santa appearance at The Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition game. In this ‘match-3’ title you'll have to create horizontal or vertical rows of three or more matching symbols.

Although it’s not strictly a slot machine, the Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition online game has many similar attributes to the familiar casino games we know and love. An 8x8 grid of fruit symbols, each covered in snow gives this game a festive style. 

It's a great game full of fun and festive cheer. Read our expert review here to find out why it's worth a spin!

Get Ready for Xmas

Snow drifts down behind the grid of symbols, accompanied by jingling bells. The Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition online game is a seasonal version of a classic release from Novomatic. It works in the same way as the original Sparkling Fruit, but the festive style is a welcome treat.

With a snow-covered frame surrounding symbols, and the game title holding up a Santa hat, you'll surely get in the mood for the Holiday season. Look to the left of the grid, and you see a paylines table of prize values, claimed when any of the five precious jewels become part of a winning combination.

Staking Coins on Christmas

You set stakes, which can be from just 0.02 to 50.00, with lots of options in between to cater for all budgets. The grid fills with random fruit symbols, such as oranges, grapes, cherries, and apples. You use a cursor, (or your finger if you play the Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition game online on a mobile), to move them around.

For your stake, you get to move one piece of fruit one place to the left, right, up, or down to complete a sequence of three or more matching symbols. These vanish, and in a feature similar to the cascading reels of a slot machine, new symbols drop from above to fill the gaps.

Hopefully, these new symbols include jewels, as you need these to actually win prizes. Your task is to now complete a sequence of matching symbols which includes a jewel and fruit of the same color.

If it sounds familiar, it’s because Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition uses the same system as the famous Bejeweled game.

Wins from Jewels are as shown in the paylines table below –

As is the case with slots, the Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition game comes with an Autoplay mode, but unfortunately, no fast spin option. That’s a pity, as the gameplay is very slow, and you have to wait for matched symbols to pop one at a time between each and every round.

Novomatic doesn’t state either the volatility or average payback percentage, although you can expect to win back cash at long-term average of around 95%.

Unwrapping Your Presents

Alongside the fruit and jewel symbols, the Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition game comes with several bonus symbols. Complete a sequence of four or five matched fruit, and wrapped presents can drop onto the reels. If you can complete a match with fruit and gifts of the same color (such as a red present and the red cherries), explosions blast away multiple symbols.

The festive baubles hold a big surprise, as they are also highly explosive symbols, blowing away much of the grid to usher in a whole new set of symbols. You need to match symbols in an ‘L’ or ‘T’ pattern to create bauble bombs.

Land bell symbols on the Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition online game and you can use them to create a winning pattern with any type of fruit, not just those of the same color. When this happens, all symbols of the same color become bells and explode. Five of a kind combinations summon the bells to the screen.

An animated Santa appears at random, clearing away all presents to help you complete winning combinations.

More Match 3 Games

It feels a little strange playing Christmassy slots outside of the festive season, so if you are reading this at any other time of the year, check out the Bejeweled Hypercash slot from Gamesys. It has very similar gameplay but uses classic gemstone symbols without a snowflake in sight.

Gamesys also supply the Bejeweled 2 slot, which is a conventional five-reel game. The 8x8 grid of gems, with cascading symbols and big wins, appears in the bonus games.

A Jewel of the Novomatic Range

The Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition is a great Novomatic title with bonus symbols turning up quite often, so it’s not just a matter of swapping symbols around. More importantly, the jewel symbols that actually pay prizes are regular visitors to the grid.

If it seems a little complex, don’t stress. Play Sparkling Fruit Xmas Edition for free on this page, and you'll get the hang of it in no time. It's a really enjoyable game that will keep you entertained for ages so it's definitely worth a try!