In an effort to cash in on the holiday season, developer Inspired Gaming has decided to keep the Reel King series going by copying Reel King Megaways. Because of how similar they are to the original, opinions on Santa King Megways vary widely. Aside from a few tweaks to the visuals, a decrease in RTP, and a new soundtrack, they are virtually identical. For those who can’t get enough of the ever-present King, here he is decked out in a Santa suit for the holiday season.
The reels are part of a Megaways grid that also includes a top-mounted horizontal bonus reel. Two to seven symbols emerge on the regular reels and four appear on the tracker with every spin. This configuration, at maximum capacity, yields 117,649 possible outcomes. When 3 or more similar symbols appear on adjacent reels, starting on the leftmost reel, the player has won.
In terms of shifts, there really aren’t very many. Mostly just some fresh wallpaper and some snow and Santa hats here and there. The music is really unique! Keep an ear out for seasonal favorites like “Jingle Bells” and other familiar carols. Aside from that, the King is up to his usual antics again.
Bets on Santa King Megaways, which can be placed from 20 pence up to $/€20 each spin, are available on any device. The gamble tool available during features will just increase the already considerable volatility. Return to player has been reduced from the initial 96.23%. Why? The cost of Santa’s permit? Entropy? Motivated and in a grouchy mood? Whatever it is, Santa King Megaways generates an RTP of 95.56 percent for its players.
There are no catches with the compensation structure. A sleigh filled of presents and cash sits atop a mountain of cherries, plums, watermelons, and 9-A card symbols. The sole exception is the sack, which just requires two points to win. Winning payouts range from 0.8x to 7.5x for full line victories, with 6 sacks in a line netting a 50x payoff. The crown acts as a wild symbol once again, appearing on the bonus reel to substitute for other pay icons.
Features of the Santa King Megaways Slot
This being a sanitized holiday edition, all of the features are back in more or less the same shape as before. Cascades, Lit Reels, the Reel King Feature, and a bonus game of free spins are sure to please even the most resistant of players.
After a win, the Cascade function is activated and symbols that contributed to the win are removed from the board, making room for new symbols to cascade down and fill the empty spaces. This may result in other winning combinations, and so on, until a cascading loss happens. The following rotation then occurs.
The Megaways update brought back a throwback element known as Lit Reels. Each spin in the main game can cause up to six reels to turn yellow. In addition, the Reel King bonus round activates when all six reels have been transformed by a cascade. The Super King Feature is activated by another cascade, and the Mega King Feature is reached by still another.
If this occurs, a Reel King will be seen presiding over a little slot machine with a single payline. If this is your first time seeing this, you might be confused at first. In a nutshell, you win 1, 2, 5, or 10 times your wager if three of the same colored symbols appear. If three of these symbols occur, the player advances up the Free Spins trail located at the screen’s very top. Whichever one initiated the feature, the amount of Reel Kings that are in play during the free spins will be different.
Eight to twelve bonus spins in addition to one or two Reel Kings.
Super King: 2–3 Reel Kings and 8–20 extra spins.
Reel King: 3–6 Reel Kings and 8–25 free spins.
Each Reel King will vanish from the mini-slot when a losing combination is achieved, resulting in less than three illuminated reels. When all of the Reel Kings have been eliminated, the bonus round will conclude. This triggers the next bonus round if the player has won free spins from the trail.
However, the free spins feature does not activate instantly. At first, the winner has the option to either receive or risk their prize money. If you choose to gamble, a wheel will spin that will either reduce your spin count to zero or increase it by as many as 25. When you hit “Take” or are awarded 25 free spins, the bonus round will begin.
During the bonus rounds, the win multiplier begins at x1 and increases by +1 with each cascading victory. After each cascade, a new color is illuminated on the reels, starting with red on the far left. After each spin, the multiplier and illuminated reels remain the same. Two scrolls will spin if all six reels turn red, earning between one and three free games and a multiplier of up to three.
The Final Say on Santa King Megaways Slots
It’s logical that producers wouldn’t invest heavily in a Christmas-themed slot if gamers were just going to play it for five minutes at the end of the year. Santa King Megaways is a perfect example of this; it’s a carbon copy of the slot Reel King Megaways, which isn’t exactly ground-breaking in its own right. Apart from the snowflake wallpaper, the faint jingle of Christmas music in the background, and the sluggish drop in RTP, little has changed.
Since it’s so similar to the other one, there isn’t much more that can be added. Many people are into the Reel King craze, and those who are may have just as much fun with the holiday-themed slots. Put simply, if you aren’t a fan of the King, the Santa version isn’t going to fill your stocking.