Christmas Tree Slot Machine – Free Play & Review

Yggdrasil Gaming and TrueLab are collaborating in Christmas Tree, to deliver us a wonderful slot machine for the winter holidays. It stands out immediately, due to its use of a Christmas-tree shaped game area, where the base has 7 symbols, while the top of the tree has only 2. A total of 6 rows of symbols are available, with 27 symbols. It’s unusual, but as combinations form via clusters, it’s not as important as it would be for a regular slot.

Symbols are themed for the holidays, so you will find baubles colored in purple, green or blue in lower positions, along with bells, candy cane and wrapped candy in the middle, and Blonde Angels or Santa in the top ones. Wilds are shown as Snow Globes.

Developer

Developers like Yggdrasil have followed in Microgaming’s footsteps, and they’ve started helping smaller developers to release games on their platform. YGS Masters is the program that allowed TrueLab to release this slot machine, so it’s a bit of a joint title for the two developers. I’d give TrueLab most of the credit for this one, since they’re the ones that designed it, and they’re a developer to watch for, if we go by the experience we get in this case.

How To Play It

Relying on 40 coins, you can select wagers in Christmas Tree that will start from $0.40 per spin, and can reach $40 per spin ($1 per line/coin).

The actual game area isn’t standard, but neither is the way you get paid. You have 6 rows of symbols, going from 2 to 7 per row, as you go from the top of the tree to the bottom. You can form clusters of symbols to get wins, and you need a minimum of 5 of the same type landing together, to do that.

Special Features

Following the formation of a cluster, of 5+ matching symbols, the game will trigger cascading reels and will remove the symbols which contributed. The new ones which are landing next, will take their place, and then there is a chance that additional clusters will form.

Get at least 3 cascades in a single spin, and the game can open up a present for you, with either 5 free spins, a multiplier of up to 30x, or a prize up to 1,000x the stake.

During free spins, the game has a Snowman feature constantly active, which gives you extra wilds by transforming regular symbols. During free spins, there is an increasing multiplier, going up by 1x with each new trigger of the cascading reels mechanic.

The Snow Globe is one of the symbols which stand out, and it’s always nice to have it around. It acts as a wild, so it can be part of all other types of clusters which are formed, provided that it’s connected to groups of matching symbols.

The Blizzard feature is a random event, available during regular spins. It gives you mystery symbols on the reels, anywhere from 3 to 9 positions turned into a single type of regular symbol afterwards.

The Snowman can also trigger at random in the base game, converting symbols from the game area into wilds.

Maximum Payouts

Taking into account the available multipliers, of up to 30x, it’s only natural for the game to be capable of paying well. The surprise is that they didn’t place a lower cap on those winnings. You can walk away with a 25,000x jackpot, in a slot with only medium variance and a 96.40% RTP.

Summary

It’s got the traditional Christmas feel, it’s well designed, and yet it has a unique look and it can pay incredibly well. What’s not to like?