Xmas Joker is a classic Play’n GO slot set in the warm corner of Santa’s workshop.

As the elves pour their blood, sweat, and tears into each lovely toy and Christmas decoration, players can lean back, relax, and enjoy a few spins on the house.

However, even good old Saint Nick’s charity only goes so far, so gamblers will find themselves with only a free spins feature with some remarkable re-trigger potential.

Xmas Joker introduction, including RTP and variance

Xmas Joker is played on a 3×3 board with 5 fixed paylines. Pays are awarded by connecting three identical symbols in adjacent positions, following one of the active paylines, from left to right only. Scatters are an exception to this rule, and can grant wins from any place on the playing field.

The theoretical payout (RTP) for this title is 96.98%, which is above the current industry average.

Xmas Joker has a medium variance, offering a balance between hitting lots of small pays and chasing after huge jackpots, providing the best of both worlds.

Gameplay and paytable

With the smaller playing field, come far fewer icons than on 5×3 boards. As a result, there are not enough symbols to split them into higher and lower-paying icons.

Instead, players will find gingerbread men, red and white candy canes with festive blue bows wrapped around them, decorative Christmas orbs with mistletoes hidden behind them, a pair of golden bells tied together by a red bow, golden stars that go on top of Christmas trees, grinning elves and pink gifts wrapped with a yellow bow.

The smiling joker is a Scatter which only appears during normal gameplay, while the pink gift is a Scatter that occurs when free spins are activated. They are used to win or re-trigger the free spins bonus, respectively. There are no available Wilds.

Xmas Joker bonus feature: free spins galore

Collect three grinning elves to win ten free spins, while three pink gifts will re-trigger the special feature, adding another ten extra turns to be played. The bonus can be reactivated up to four times, allowing for a maximum of fifty free spins from a single symbol trigger.

The pink gift Scatter also rewards the biggest cash prize in the entire slot.

CasinoWizard’s verdict: 3 out of 5 stars

There is only one special feature, but the reactivation mechanic takes it from being a somewhat generic free spins bonus into something super lucrative with some serious winning potential.

Winning 50x your total prize for collecting three Scatters is pretty good, and the value ramps up quickly if you succeed in scoring it multiple times. Assuming you win it four times to get all fifty free spins, that is still a 200x win, not including any other wins, you may pick up along the way.

The graphics are decent for a 2015 release, but they feel a touch outdated compared to modern games. There is a distinct absence of any fun animations, the background image does not move at all, and the theme itself is boring. Christmas titles are usually bland and safe, trying to cash in on the holiday season, and sadly, Xmas Joker did not succeed in breaking the stereotype for us.

The RTP is impressive, and thanks to the medium variance gameplay, gamblers will be able to jump in and out with ease, without having to worry about strenuously budgeting ahead of time.

You can get some impressive wins from this Play’n’Go release, but there is no one big jackpot which rewards the prizes. Instead, the maximum prize slowly builds by collecting win after win during the free spins special feature, and before you know it, it snowballed into a mouth-watering jackpot. Assuming the best possible luck, you are looking at a 2,250x maximum score.

CasinoWizard loves Christmas and can’t get enough of these festive slots when he is in a Christmassy mood.

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