Santa King Megaways: Slot Overview

Developer Inspired Gaming keeps the Reel King franchise moving by essentially reskinning Reel King Megaways to try and capitalise on the festive period. Santa King Megways is very much a “your mileage may vary” situation depending on how you feel about the original, because the two games are almost identical. The differences come down to a handful of small visual tweaks, a reduced RTP, and a different soundtrack. If you can’t get enough of the ever-present King, he’s back again—this time squeezed into a Santa outfit just in time for Christmas.

Gameplay takes place on a Megaways grid made up of 6 main reels, plus a bonus reel that runs horizontally across the top. With every spin, 2-7 symbols drop onto the main reels, while 4 land on the tracker. At maximum capacity, this configuration delivers 117,649 ways to win. Wins are formed when 2 or 3 matching symbols land next to each other starting from the leftmost reel.

As for what’s actually changed, there isn’t much to report. It’s mostly a fresh coat of paint, along with the occasional dusting of snow and a few Santa hats dotted around. Yes, the music has been swapped out too. Expect seasonal staples like Jingle Bells and similar tunes to set the Christmas mood. Beyond that, it’s the same old King routine.

Available across devices, Santa King Megaways lets players stake between 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin. It retains the same high volatility, which can feel even more intense thanks to the gamble option during features. The RTP has dipped from the original’s 96.23%. Why? Santa’s licensing costs? Entropy? Inspired feeling a bit Grinch-like? Whatever the reason, Santa King Megaways comes with an RTP of 95.56%.

The paytable holds no real surprises either. From lowest to highest, there are cherries, plums, watermelons, 9-A card ranks, plus a Santa sack packed with presents and coins. Most symbols require three or more to pay, except the sack which pays from just two. Hit 6 sacks across a line and it awards 50x, while the other symbols return between 0.8x and 7.5x for full line wins. The crown reprises its role as the wild, showing up on the extra reel and substituting for any other paying symbol.

Santa King Megaways: Slot Features

Because this is essentially a Christmas reskin, the feature set returns in almost exactly the same shape as before. Anyone who doesn’t like surprises will be pleased to find Cascades, Lit Reels, the Reel King Feature, and a free spins round all intact.

Any win triggers the Cascade feature, where winning symbols are removed from the grid and new ones fall into place to fill the gaps. This can create additional wins, and the sequence continues until a cascade produces no win. At that point, the next spin begins.

Lit Reels is a classic mechanic that was revived for the Megaways version. During the base game, up to 6 reels can light up yellow on a spin. On top of that, every cascade lights another reel yellow, and once all 6 are lit, the game shifts into the Reel King feature. One additional cascade beyond that activates the Super King Feature, and one more after that takes players to the Mega King feature.

When it triggers, at least one Reel King appears above the reels and spins a one-line mini slot. If you haven’t encountered it before, it can be a bit confusing at first. Put simply, landing three coloured symbols awards 1x, 2x, 5x, or 10x the bet. These symbols can also appear with a yellow background; if 3 land, the player advances along the Free Spins trail shown across the top of the screen. The free spins trail and how many Reel Kings are active depends on which feature was triggered:

• Reel King – 8 to 12 free spins + 1 to 2 Reel Kings.
• Super King – 8 to 20 free spins + 2 to 3 Reel Kings.
• Reel King – 8 to 25 free spins + 3 to 6 Reel Kings.

If the mini-slot lands a losing result while there are fewer than 3 lit reels, the relevant Reel King vanishes. The feature ends once all Reel Kings have disappeared. Should that occur, and the player has collected free spins via the trail, the game proceeds to the next stage.

Free spins don’t begin immediately, however. Players first get the choice to gamble the awarded amount or take it. If they gamble, a wheel spins that can reduce the spins all the way to zero, or increase them up to 25. Selecting ‘Take’, or landing 25 free spins, launches the bonus.

During free spins, a win multiplier is active, beginning at x1, and each cascade boosts it by +1 with no cap. The reels light up again as well, but now in red after each cascade, starting from the leftmost reel. Neither the lit reels nor the multiplier reset between spins. If all 6 reels become red, two scrolls spin to award 1-3 free spins and increase the multiplier by up to +3.

Santa King Megaways: Slot Verdict

If most players only spend a few minutes on a Christmas-themed slot once a year, it’s easy to see why studios don’t always invest heavily in them. Santa King Megaways fits that mould, acting as a very close copy of Reel King Megaways—a game that wasn’t especially groundbreaking to begin with. Almost everything is unchanged, aside from the snowy backdrop, a handful of festive jingles in the background, and the noticeable RTP drop.

There isn’t much else to add because it mirrors the earlier title so closely. If you’re on board with the whole Reel King craze—and plenty of players are—there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying the Christmas edition. On the other hand, if you’re not into the King, spinning the Santa version probably won’t do much to top up your stocking.