About Holiday Spirits
Dicken’s Christmas Carol is one of the all-time great Xmas stories and ripe inspiration for a seasonal slot. Play n Go have had a bumper year with some super releases which climaxed in October with the long-awaited follow up to their classic grid game, Reactoonz. And with this game they finish 2020 on a high.
Holiday Spirits is a classic three-reel, three-row game following the adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge and the hauntings of the ghosts of past, present and the future. Like most of Play n Go’s output it is visually impressive. The backdrop to the reels is Ebenezer’s room, cosy and warm, with Christmas tree and fireplace on show and a jaunty soundtrack in the background.
You will need to land three matching icons on a payline in order to win a payout and bets start at a just 5p.
RTP, Variance and Top Payout
To appeal to a wide audience in the inclusive spirt of Christmas, the variance here is set to medium and the wins are distributed fairly evenly. The RTP is a very decent 96.54% and the top payout, if all things go your way, is a modest 1,600x. You’ll need to be getting lucky with all those multipliers and free spins if you want to get near that figure though.
Symbols and Paytable
As for the symbols populating the reels, all of them are themed after Christmas or come from the Christmas Carrol novella. Payouts per symbol are relatively low. Among the premium icons, you will find the three Ghosts, of the Present, Future, and the Past, delivering from 1.4x to 3x for three of a kind. Meanwhile, Ebenezer’s partner, Jacob Marley’s ghost, the one that kicks things off in the tale, offers 4x bet.
Snow Globes, Peppermint Sticks, Stockings packed with gifts, and Mistletoe represent low value icons, delivering from 0.40x to 1x for three of a kind. Look out as well for Ebenezer Scrooge, who is the Wild that substitutes for all regular symbols. He is also the highest-paying icon of the game, delivering 16x stake for three on a payline.
Gameplay and Features
This is a simple 3×3 game on the surface, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t packed with features. Play n Go are generous with adding combinations of multipliers and free spins to the base play and that means lots of regular wins and extra fun. Here’s how it works:
Ebenezer’s Clock Feature
Above the reels, you can find an old clock. This particular clock is Ebenezer’s favourite, and, on random occasions, it may trigger the Ebenezer’s Clock feature. A multiplier boost to any win will be delivered when the feature is triggered. Multipliers go from 2x up to 10x.
Ebenezer’s Gift Feature
Ebenezer’s Gift feature is also randomly triggered but this only happens if Ebenezer’s Clock feature is active. When this happens, the Gift will deliver a 2x multiplier on all wins. This means that the Gift boosts the multipliers from Ebenezer’s Clock, so now we have potential 4x, 6x, 8x, or even 20x multipliers.
Win Spins Feature
If you land two reels stacked with the same icons on a non-winning spin, the Double Stack feature is triggered. This will activate one of the three Win Spins features that are on offer:
Win Spins of Christmas Future– Triggered only when a 2x multiplier is active. The non-stacked reel will continue to respin until players land a winning combination. With each successive non-winning re-spin, the win multiplier will increase, going from 3x up to the maximum 10x.
Win Spins of Christmas Present –Triggered when the 3x, 4x, or 5x multiplier is active. The stacked reels are locked and the non-stacked reel performs a respin. The respin has to deliver a win.
Win Spins of Christmas Past– Only triggered when the 10x multiplier is active. Again, the non-stacked reel continues to respin until you land a winning spin. This time, the win multiplier starts at 10x and decreases with each non-winning re-spin, all the way down to 2x if enough non-winning spins take place.
Our Verdict
Holiday Spirits is an excellent festive game which mixes a timeless story with superb graphics and fun gameplay. The medium variance means there are regular events happening on the reels and the mix of multipliers and free spins leads to plenty of anticipation around potential wins. You’ll need to hit the three Win Spins features to be in with a chance of getting close to the 1,600x top payout, and whilst the maximum is quite lightweight in the world of modern slot gaming, this is still a game that is worth a spin this Xmas season.
If you like this kind of slot, check out Big Bad Wolf Christmas edition too – Quickspin have given one of their own classics a really good festive makeover!
