Santa vs Rudolf slot (NetEnt): Overview

Whether it’s Easter, Halloween, or Christmas, holidays give studios a perfect reason to repackage older titles with a quick facelift and sell them as something “new.” NetEnt is a prime example, having never really launched a truly original Christmas slot despite having several festive games in its catalogue. Their 2016 release, Secrets of Christmas, is essentially a reskin of Secrets of the Stones. And last years entry, Jingle Spin, first appeared as Egg-O-Matic. Usually, the casino crowd isn’t too kind to clones, but if any developer can make it work, it’s NetEnt. In fact, Santa vs Rudolf is put together so well that you may end up overlooking the uninspired concept.

Created by Swedish heavyweight NetEnt, Santa vs Rudolf is the provider’s 2019 Christmas release. Built on 5 reels, 3 rows, and 20 fixed paylines, it pays both ways and includes walking wilds with re-spins plus a free spins round that can unlock one of two encore bonuses. With medium to high variance and a respectable 96.35% RTP, you can take the festive trip to the North Pole on desktop or mobile and spin with stakes from 0.20 to €/$10 per spin.

It’s genuinely impressive how much story and character the team has squeezed into this video slot. Already under pressure from the workload of delivering gifts worldwide, Santa also has to deal with Rudolf acting up. Rather than helping, Rudolf messes about and hides Santa’s hat. Naturally, Santa loses his temper, and the two end up scrapping as they meet on the reels. The execution is excellent, delivered through bright cartoon-style graphics and outstanding music. It’s hard not to be completely charmed.

On the reels, you’ll find the standard 10 to A low-value royals designed like candy cane treats. Higher-paying symbols include wish-lists, reindeer snowglobes, Rudolf’s collars, presents, and Santa’s famous sleigh. The sleigh is the top payer, awarding 25 times your stake for five across a full payline. There are also two wild symbols, represented by Santa and Rudolf. The Rudolf wild can land on reel 1 on any spin and then move one position to the right before each re-spin until it disappears. Santa works the same way, only in reverse, entering on reel 5.

Santa vs Rudolf slot (NetEnt): Features

The Free Spins trigger is fairly unusual and more inventive than most. When Santa and his troublesome reindeer Rudolf land on the same row, they “collide” and start a brawl, signalling that the free spins feature is active. You begin with 10 spins, and you can extend the round in the same way it was triggered, up to a maximum of 30 free spins. Wilds show up much more often during the bonus, and every time the two rivals crash into each other, you gain another 4 spins. On top of that, since the walking wild re-spin feature also applies here, the free spins round can take a good while to play out.

At the top of the game screen, there are two meters—one for Santa (red) and one for Rudolf the menace (green). These meters track the wilds you see during the feature. Each time a Santa or Rudolf wild finishes its run across the reels, it increases the matching meter by 1. If you manage to fill all 8 spaces on either meter before the round ends, you’ll trigger the related encore bonus. Here’s what’s available:

• Santa’s Gifts – This is the weaker of the two encore bonuses. It’s essentially a pick-and-click bonus split into three sets, where you choose items that reveal a cash prize, a multiplier increase, or Santa’s hat, which ends the picking sequence. A multiplier of up to 4x can be applied to your total cash win.
• Rudolf Spins – Rudolf Spins is where the biggest wins in this slot come from. In this feature, you get 3 spins, and on each spin 5 Rudolf wilds are randomly placed onto the reels.

Santa vs Rudolf slot (NetEnt): Verdict

Considering Christmas games tend to see limited action outside the season, it’s not especially shocking that studios recycle older titles for festive releases. To be fair, the cost of building something completely original likely wouldn’t make much sense. Here, NetEnt has repurposed one of its early branded slots, The Invisible Man (2014), giving it a holiday makeover as Santa vs Rudolf.

Out of the three Christmas slots we’ve covered so far—alongside Xmas Magic (Play’n GO) and Festive Indulgence (Microgaming)—this is easily the most fun to play. The overall presentation is excellent from beginning to end, and NetEnt has done a remarkable job making it feel fresh and distinctive even though it’s a clone. We’re convinced NetEnt has delivered another festive favourite, much like they did with Secrets of Christmas.

As is typical for Christmas-themed slots, the volatility is fairly mild (after all, you don’t want to crush anyone’s holiday spirit). This is the kind of game you can play for an hour and end up with roughly the same balance you started with. The upside isn’t huge, and the main realistic path to a big hit is reaching the Rudolf Spins. Even then, the max win seems to be only around 1,000 times your stake we reckon, and we’ve never seen anyone land even half of that in all the years The Invisible Man has been available.

All in all, if your priority is chasing bigger payouts, you’re better off with the Play’n GO and Microgaming titles mentioned earlier. If you’re mainly looking for festive vibes and an entertaining session, Santa vs Rudolf is the stronger pick.