Did you know that Christmas has become so popular that even ghosts, ghouls, and other creepy creatures celebrate it, too? In their own peculiar way, of course, but with its original festive spirit that delights the living all around the world. The good people at Indigo Magic from Bragg Studios know something about it, so they made a special Christmas-themed slot to entertain players with a fresh and unusual take on this beloved holiday. Let's take a look at their game, they swear it won't bite.
General overview
The game is played on a 5x4 grid with 40 paylines and has medium-high volatility. The snow globe symbols with a goofy skull are scatters that trigger the free games feature, while the ghoul girl (devs named her Lady Santa) is wild and the main engine of the game as it upgrades other character symbols. Three different present boxes are mid-paying symbols and can be upgraded to their corresponding high-paying elf ghost symbols, and there are five low-paying royal symbols as well. Despite "creepy" in the title, all symbols and characters look both charming and funny, just like the entire game's premise, which amuses with its bubbly and cheerful atmosphere.
The first impression is pretty positive and promising: the game is set on a wintry backdrop with snowflakes and gushes of wind animating the snowy forest and a snowman in the background, recreating this way an idyllic midwinter scene. As we mentioned earlier, hardly anything is actually creepy, and the characters, such as the ghoul girl, are adorable and cutesy in a Tim Burton-esque fashion. There's an animated logo of the game on the right-hand side of the slot face, while the left is occupied by two side-bet switches. All character symbols are animated, ghost elves like to munch on the candy canes they hold when they form a win, and even eem to breathe like they were living beings. We found it kinda funny because technically, ghosts and ghouls are undead, but it's fine, it's a fantasy theme after all. One thing to mention, though, is that symbols on the slot face are clickable to show their pay values, a thing that is easy to implement but still not very common, while the studio's recently updated UI is simplified, slick and supportive. So far, so good.
Features and mechanics
There are two main symbols around which the entire game revolves. The first is the Lady Santa ghoul girl which has the power to upgrade other symbols. For that to happen, you must land her in the special framed hot zone: two central positions in the middle of reel three. When she lands within that frame, she begins to send skulls to mid-paying symbols to randomly upgrade them into high-paying ghost symbols. If the symbol gets another upgrade, it becomes wild and receives a random multiplier as well. One thing to bear in mind is that these upgrades are random and not all visible present or ghost symbols will necessarily be upgraded to wilds and/or wilds with multipliers.
The other main symbol is the snow globe scatter that triggers the free games feature when it lands in the hot zone. When that happens, you get to decide how many free games you receive and can pick among three options. The first awards only eight free games, but the multipliers symbols will receive from the ghoul girl in this phase are 5x and 10x only. The second awards ten free games with 3x, 4x, and 5x multipliers, while the third one gives you twelve free games with 1x, 2x, and 3x multipliers.
There is also a collection meter in this phase that is filled with one skull for each game round in which a ghoul girl upgrade occurred. When the meter is fully filled with three skulls, it upgrades the lowest value present box symbols to a corresponding higher-paying ghost symbol. If no upgrades are possible, the meter will award additional free games. A welcome addition and another way to win extra free games is to land the snow globe scatter in the hot zone during the free games phase.
To top it all off, there are two side-bet switches to the left of the slot face. The one with the ghoul girl increases the bet by 25% and doubles the chances of landing Lady Santa, while the one with the snow globe scatter doubles the chances of starting the free spins feature for 50% on your current bet. The effect of using both side bets simultaneously is multiplicative, which is why turning both switches on costs a bit more (still nothing outrageous) and doubles your bet size. Frankly speaking, it does make the game more fun as the stakes are higher and returns follow suit, but the side bets are completely optional and casual players can simply ignore them, while high-rollers will certainly appreciate them.
Our final verdict
There are many Christmas-themed games in the market, and not all of them can be worthy of our attention (and money). This one, however, stands out from the rest not just because of its different take on a clichè premise, but mainly thanks to its uncommon mechanics of mass symbol upgrades. Breaking the mold when it comes to slot game themes can be a double-edged sword and very often, an offbeat theme is there to compensate for the lack in the fun department. Not in this case, though, the only way we'd give the game an even better grade would be if upgrades affected all eligible symbols instead of the upgrades being random. We may be asking for too much as this would probably break the math model, but a player can dream, right?
The game is being released in the festive Christmas season, but we don't see a reason why it couldn't be played in spring or summer, as it's a truly enjoyable game that excites with its mechanics as much as it does with its top-notch artwork and cheerful disposition. So in a way yes, it is creepy, but it gives you the good kind of creeps, those thrilling ones all slot players are in for. Merry Creepmas all year round, everyone!
Here's more information about the game.
