Santas Big Bash Megaways Slot Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Santa's Big Bash Megaways Review

The Xmas slot season is definitely upon us, and Iron Dog’s contribution has a bit more soul and edge than last year’s highly generic Branded Megaways reskin job, Christmas Megaways. There are some similarities between the two titles though, such as maxed out reels being locked that way for the duration of the bonus round, but Santa's Big Bash Megaways is focused on the boozy side of the Holiday season.

Champagne bottles are laying around on the floor, and Santa himself is on a bender pouring himself a drink. A somewhat daring theme choice, we have to say, but the gameplay itself is not all that unusual. All the elements and features come together nicely though, making this an overall worthwhile seasonal release that could have easily been played all year round with a different skin.

Santa's Big Bash Megaways Slot - Reels Screen

Santa's Big Bash Megaways Features

The Xmas present Wild steps in for all regular pay symbols to help complete winning combos, and it can appear on all reels except the first. The wild holds no value of its own however, but the regular premiums pay between 2 and 25 x your stake for 6 of a kind wins. All winning symbols are removed via the Tumble feature, and the gaps are filled by new and/or existing symbols that drop down from above. This repeats as long as you keep winning.

The Magic Baubles can only appear when the Tumble feature is active in the base game, and you can get up to 3 Magic Baubles at the same time.

Each Magic Bauble can activate up to 3 baubles on the Christmas Tree Free Spins Trail on the right-hand side. The Christmas Tree Trail resets between spins though, and you need a minimum of 8 activated baubles to trigger the Bonus Round.

You get the same amount of free spins as baubles you’ve activated on the Christmas Tree, except for the 13 baubles tier that gives you 12 free spins. The 10 or 11 baubles tiers come with an x2 starting multiplier, while the 12 and 13 baubles tiers come with an x3 starting multiplier. The 13 spins tier also comes with a higher chance of triggering Rudolph the Reindeer feature.

The global win Multiplier increases by +1 per tumble win, and it does not reset between spins. Any reel that’s maxed out with 7 symbols will land the same amount of symbols for the remainder of the bonus round.

This also awards +1 extra spin, and 4, 5 or 6+ consecutive tumble wins award +2, +3 or +4 extra spins, respectively. Non-UK players can buy the bonus round for 70 to 250 x the total stake, depending on what option you choose.

Finally, if you land Rudolph the Reindeer during the bonus round, he will award up to 4 extra wilds, up to +3 increase of the global win multiplier or up to +4 extra spins. When he appears in the base game you can get up to 3 extra wilds, up to an x5 win multiplier or up to 3 baubles activated on the Christmas tree trail.

The 200 Spins Santa's Big Bash Megaways Experience

We grinded along in the base game for a while, but nothing too exciting happened for us there. We therefore decided to purchase the top-tier bonus round close to the 1-minute mark. The feature plays out for the remainder of the 3:24-minute highlights video, and you can see for yourself how we fared by hitting the play button below.

Review Summary

Not all that many studios take the time and effort to create something other than a reskin when it comes to their Xmas release, so kudos to Iron Dog for doing exactly that. Elements have been borrowed from their Megaways debut, Pirate Kingdom, but locking maxed out reels in the bonus round is an exciting and effective way of putting the licenced engine into a higher gear.

In a politically uncorrect twist, Santa's Big Bash Megaways seems very focused on alcohol being part of the Xmas celebration, and even Santa himself is indulging. This certainly takes the edge off the usual in-your-face coziness, and the Rudolph feature acts like a wild card that can liven things up at any stage in the game. The 25,000x potential is solid, but still far lower than the soulless Christmas Megaways they churned out in 2020.

Pros

• Tumble reels & up to 117,649 megaways
• Random Rudolph feature provides goodies
• FS w/ progressive multiplier & locked maxed out reels
• Win up to 25,000x your stake

Cons

• Beware of adjustable RTP ranges

If you enjoy Santa's Big Bash Megaways you should also try:

Christmas Carol Megaways - is a Pragmatic Play Xmas reskin of their own Great Rhino Megaways, and it comes with up to 200,704 win ways.

You have 4 options when the bonus round triggers, and they all come with an unlimited progressive win multiplier for payouts up to 20,000x your stake.

Christmas Megaways - is last year's (2020) Holidays release from Iron Dog, and it comes with up to 117,649 ways to win. You can look forward to combined multiplier wild boosts up to x8, as well as a bonus round with locked maxed out reels and an unlimited tumble win multiplier that can lead to payouts up to 40,000x your stake.

Christmas Big Bass Bonanza - while having a drink with Santa in this game is cool enough, Reel Kingdom allows you to go on a fishing trip with the jolly character in their Holidays installment. It’s a reskin of their highly successful original game, and the reel ‘em bonus round can lead to payouts up to 2,100x your stake.

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