Santa Surprise Slot Review

If you really, really like Christmas – or alternatively if you really like winning money – then Playtech’s Santa Surprise could be the game for you. It’s very red and very Christmassy, with enough wreaths, holly, snow and other decorations to get even the most curmudgeonly of grinches into the spirit of the season.

Santa Surprise is a 5-reel slot from Playtech that adopts the usual game controls and layout that typifies all of their slots.

The software developer is more inventive when it comes to its features however, incorporating bonuses and special wilds that elevate even their most pedestrian looking slots into something immersive and enjoyable. Santa Surprise does indeed have a few surprises up its sleeve as you’re about to find out.

A Christmas Cracker?

The sound effects might be nothing special, and the graphics so-so, but there’s more to Santa Surprise than meets the eye. You’ll start to appreciate this once you locate the line bet controls, which are hidden behind an unmarked arrow to the left of the reels. Click on the arrow and you’ll notice a couple of things as you inspect the submenu that appears.

Firstly, the game’s 20 lines can be adjusted from 1 all the way up to 20. Normally this would be no big deal, but it’s an unusual move by Playtech, who are usually more disposed to maintaining a fixed number of paylines.

The second point of note is the value of the line bet, which can be adjusted from 0.01 all the way up to 500. This means that with all 20 paylines activated, each spin of the reels will cost you €10,000. Wowsers. High rollers should have fun then: in just 100 spins it would hypothetically be possible to blow £1 million on this game, assuming you could deposit that much into your account in the first place.

Game Controls

The other game controls, aside from those determining paylines and bet value, comprise the start button, which you’d be hard pressed to miss due to the sheer size of it. It sits to the right of the reels and pressing on it for a second will open autospin controls. Here you can set the number of spins between 1 and 100 or request that it keep going till you activate the feature. To the top right of the screen, you’ll notice there are audio controls and a gearwheel which, when clicked on, will reveal paytable, help and the option to disable the intro sequence.

Wild About Christmas

The wild symbol is played by Old Nick himself – that’s right, Santa Claus. The rosy-cheeked gift-giver will substitute for any of the other symbols except for scatter and bonus. While 1 wild can be enough to create a winning combo, 2 or more on a payline will score you an additional bonus.

The scatter symbol comes in the form of a festive looking house, its roof groaning under the weight of snow. Scatter can pop up anywhere, as scatter is traditionally wont to do, with 2 or more scatters being enough to see your payout multiplied by the total bet amount and added to your payline winnings.

If you can land 3 or more scatters in view, however, you’ll be awarded 10 free games complete with a 3x multiplier.

Have a Festive Bonus

There are always so many ways to win when you’re playing Playtech slots, and Santa Surprise includes a bonus symbol, which appears as a Christmas tree.

To claim the Christmas Gifts Bonus, you’ll need to land 3 or more of the symbols consecutively on an active payline. When this feature is activated, you’ll be called upon to select anywhere from 3-5 gifts out of a possible 6, depending on the number of bonus symbols that triggered this feature. Inside each prize you’ll find a cash prize.

Santa Surprise Summed Up

Santa Surprise is another entertaining game from Playtech. It’s not the best looking slot they’ve ever released, but it’s by no means their worst. With multiple ways to win, there’s enough here to keep you merrily spinning the reels for a good while.

The soundtrack, like the graphics, is underwhelming, but because Playtech pack in more features than most developers, you’re more inclined to keep playing in the hope and expectation of another bonus being just around the corner.