Xmas Drop: Slot Overview

Considering how long Hacksaw Gaming has been releasing heavyweight slots—often of the cute-and-cuddly kind—it’s a little unexpected the studio hadn’t tackled a Christmas title until now. That changes with Xmas Drop. Alongside the festive visuals, Xmas Drop also stacks in several gameplay mechanics the developer was experimenting with around the time it launched. Expect expanding wilds, some serious multipliers, plus two bonus rounds with the feel-good names of Night Before Xmas and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

Santa himself also tags along for the Xmas Drop ride. Depending on your screen size, he’s hard to miss, standing beside the reels and rocking side to side with a hand on his belly. Maybe he’s had one eggnog too many? Either way, it’s hard to complain about having the big guy around in a Christmas slot. Along with the man in red, you’re looking at a heavily snow-covered forest backdrop—classic, wholesome holiday scenery. It’s familiar territory, but that’s pretty standard for a white Christmas-themed game.

Xmas Drop’s reel set sits inside a gold frame against a cosy green background. The layout uses 5 reels with 5 rows, and it’s played across 19 paylines. Wins start from the left side of the grid and need to connect along a payline across neighbouring reels. The math model is rated medium volatile, with a default RTP of 96.22% on standard play, plus a few alternative RTP figures tied to the different bonus buys. Base stakes run from 10 c to $/€100 per spin.

On the reels you’ll find 10 standard paying symbols. Five are the 10-A card royals shown on blocks with green, blue, red, purple, and yellow borders, while the premium icons are a stocking, a candy cane, a tree, a teddy bear, and some bells. A full 5 OAK line of low pays returns 5 to 10 times the bet, while landing the same with high pays is worth 15 to 25 times the bet. There are two wild symbols, and they pay more—25x the bet for a 5 wild win—while also substituting for any regular paying symbol.

Xmas Drop: Slot Features

One wild is the Wild Santa symbol and the other is the Wild Gift symbol, and each comes with its own special effect. Beyond that, the game includes the Night Before Christmas Bonus round, the Santa Claus is Coming to Town bonus round, plus feature buy options.

Wild Santa Symbol

Wild Santa symbols expand when the expanded version would create at least one win after it grows. Once expanded, it acts as a wild on every position it covers. Wild Santas only spread downwards to the bottom of the reels. If a Wild Santa doesn’t expand, it remains a single wild symbol, and only one Wild Santa can appear on any reel at the same time.

Wild Gift Symbol

When a Wild Santa symbol expands through a Wild Gift symbol, it becomes a multiplier that applies to the entire expanded Wild Santa symbol. Multiplier values can range from x2 to x200. If a win includes more than one expanded Wild Santa carrying a multiplier, those multiplier values are added together before being applied to the payout.

Night Before Xmas

Hitting 3 FS scatters in the base game starts this bonus round with 10 free spins. During the feature, you have a better chance of landing Wild Santa and Wild Gift symbols than you do in the base game. Landing 3 FS symbols while it’s running grants +4 free spins. Alternatively, landing 4 FS symbols during the round upgrades it to Santa Claus Is Coming To Town at the end of the spin. If fewer than 10 free spins remain, the total is reset to 10.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Landing 4 FS scatters in the base game activates this feature with 10 free spins. In this mode, landing a Wild Santa symbol can activate the reel it lands on. After a reel is activated, a Wild Santa is guaranteed to land on that reel for all remaining free spins. Land 3 FS scatters and you’ll receive +4 more free spins.

Feature Buy Menu

This is where you can purchase the special features, including:

• BounsHunt FeatureSpins – 3x the bet where each spin is 5 times more likely to activate a bonus game. Highly volatile, RTP is 96.44%.
• 2 Wild Santas FeatureSpins – 20x the bet where each spin is guaranteed to land at least 2 Wild Santas. Very highly volatile, RTP is 96.34%.
• 3 Wild Santas FeatureSpins – 50x the bet where each spin is guaranteed to land at least 3 Wild Santas. Highly volatile, RTP is 96.31%.
• Night Before Xmas – 110x the bet. Highly volatile, RTP is 96.2%.
• Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – 200x the bet. Highly volatile, RTP is 96.41%.

Xmas Drop: Slot Verdict

In more ways than one, Xmas Drop is a fairly traditional slot and is largely a clone of RIP City. The theme is the first giveaway, dressing the game with a mix of Christmas staples like snow, Santa, and toys. Given Hacksaw Gaming’s reputation for creativity, some players may have expected the studio to go a bit further than Xmas Drop does. Still, since it’s the developer’s first Christmas slot, perhaps going all-in on fresh ideas wasn’t the main priority.

That said, Xmas Drop has a pleasantly light and cheerful vibe—at least on the surface. While the mechanic itself isn’t brand new, the way Wild Santa symbols drop their jaw as they expand is a fun touch, and it’s definitely something you want to see since it adds more wild coverage to the grid, and potentially a multiplier too if a Santa expands through a Wild Gift symbol.

Hacksaw Gaming slots are known for being demanding at times, where bonus buys in particular can pay off but can also sting. BonusHunt FeatureSpins are one thing—they’ve previously helped players reach free spins more often—but the two Wild Santa FeatureSpins could become pricey if they fail to deliver. None of this is unfamiliar, though. Anyone who’s spent time with slots like RIP City should know what to expect from Xmas Drop, or may feel a bit underwhelmed by the similarity if they decide to give it a go on the big day or afterwards.