Design and Theme
🖼️ Graphics
Xmas Drop is styled like a Christmas greeting card: a snowy forest in the background, a golden frame around the reels, and Santa himself winking from the side. The symbols include toys, bells, stockings, candy canes and cubes, as if taken straight from a box of presents. Everything is drawn large and cartoonish, with rich colours. The atmosphere is pure winter holiday — a warm, cosy picture where you can easily imagine the rustle of wrapping paper.
🎶 Sound
The soundtrack in Xmas Drop feels like a classic Christmas playlist: a light melody with bells and percussion provides a background that doesn’t distract from the gameplay. Everything sounds soft and slightly naive, just as it should in a Christmas-themed slot.
Mechanics
|
🥁 Grid size |
5x5 |
|
📊 Paylines |
19 |
|
➕ Bonus game |
✅ |
|
🤑 Jackpot |
❌ |
|
💸 Extra bet / Ante Bet |
✅ |
|
🪂 Fixed multipliers |
❌ |
|
♻️ Respins |
✅ |
|
❎ Gamble |
❌ |
Winning Combinations
Top Symbols:
|
Symbol |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bell |
x2 |
x10 |
x20 |
|
Christmas Tree / Teddy Bear |
x1.5 |
x7.5 |
x17.5 |
|
Stocking / Candy Cane |
x1 |
x5 |
x15 |
Base Symbols:
|
Symbol |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
A |
x0.4 |
x2 |
x10 |
|
K / Q |
x0.3 |
x1.5 |
x7.5 |
|
J / 10 |
x0.2 |
x1 |
x5 |
Special Symbols
- Scatter (snow globe): triggers the bonus games.
- Wild (Santa): substitutes for any standard symbol. When it lands, it can expand downwards to the bottom of the reel if this creates a win. All occupied positions count as wilds. Also pays x25 for a 5-symbol combination.
- Wild (Gift): also substitutes standard symbols, but its main function is the multiplier. If an expanding Santa passes through a Gift position, the entire reel receives a multiplier (from x2 to x200). If several Santas with multipliers participate in one combination, the values are added together and applied to the win. Pays x25 for 5 symbols.
Bonus Game
To understand how to play Xmas Drop in the bonus modes, note that the slot has two of them:
- Night Before Xmas: activated by 3 scatters in the base game. Awards 10 free spins. Inside, the chance to land a Santa wild or a Gift with a multiplier is higher. Additionally, 3 scatters = +4 spins. If 4 scatters land, the second bonus — Santa Claus Is Coming To Town — activates after the current spin. If fewer than 10 free spins remained at that moment, the counter is set to 10.
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town: launches with 4 scatters in the base game or via transition from the first mode. Awards 10 free spins. Here, a reel can be “activated”: if Santa lands on it, he will drop on that reel in every spin until the end of the bonus. Landing 3 more scatters gives +4 free spins.
RTP, Volatility, Max Win
RTP — 96.22%. Volatility in the base game is medium (3/5). In bonus modes and paid features it rises to high, and when activating Two Wild Santas FeatureSpins — to very high. The maximum win is x12,500 times the bet.
Our Verdict
Xmas Drop turned out to be more about the base game: payouts mostly come from standard symbols, and occasionally the screen pulls in a Santa wild, but without much impact. During the whole test, the bonus never triggered naturally. Buying (we tested both the UK and a non-UK version that allows bonus purchases) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town paid only x2 — both funny and depressing at the same time. The first bonus mode performed a bit better, almost returned the cost, but still felt like it was “just short”.
In the second testing session, impressions were similar: buying the bonus wasn’t worth it, while the base game felt acceptable.
If you want something more original, try Lucky 8 Merge Up with symbol progression. And from Hacksaw themselves, there’s Chaos Crew 2 — where the cat stretches across the reel in the same way Santa does in Xmas Drop.
Other popular slots by Hacksaw Gaming
Le Viking | Fist of Destruction | Xmas Drop | Wanted Dead or a Wild | Duel at Dawn | RIP City | Le bandit | Marlin Masters | Drop'em | Pray for Three | Ze Zeus | Chaos Crew 2 | Hounds of Hell | Donut Division | Cloud Princess
