Now that I've told you about the summary, intro, graphics, music, and sound effects, the key game features are up next.
Here at OLBG we create slot game reviews that include up-to-date info about essential features such as themes, paylines, reels, bet range, and bonuses. I’ll round off the review by discussing my play experience, first impressions and expert verdict.
Theme – Christmas
With a creepy-looking Santa, a saucy-looking Mrs Clause, a cigar-smoking Grinch and a shifty-looking elf. These don't look like your usual array of cuddly Christmas characters. The designer has done a superb job with the creatives. The black and white imagery in the background on the reels is a strong contrast to the colourful graphics on the reels. This matches the theme of 'Christmas with a dark twist.'
In the background image, you see a black-and-white film roll filled with photos of all of the game's characters. The reel characters have been created in an illustration style which gives the game a vintage feel. The special symbols have been designed in the traditional colours of green, red and white and look very bright against the contrast of the monochrome.
On the reels, starting from the highest value first, there is big man AKA Santa Claus, Mrs Claus, an elf, the Grinch, and Rudolph the reindeer. These are followed by the standard symbols which are depicted by various wrapped up presents.
Reels
For the Jingle Bells slot game there are 6 reels and the rows vary. During the base game there is a 3-3-4-4-5-5 row set and during the bous game there's a 5-5-4-4-3-3 setup row setup.
Paylines
When the full amount of reels and rows are open up there are a mega 614,656 paylines available.
RTP
Return to player or RTP as it's usually referred to, is a way of forecasting what percentage of a player's stakes will be returned to them over the long run. It's always a percentage figure and is usually somewhere between 94% - 96%. Nowadays you should expect to see most games around the 96% figure. The Jingle Balls game comes in at 96.10% which is slightly above average.
NLC, like most providers, uses the RTP as a default value therefore you’ll find different RTP rates across various slot sites. We’ve identified a selection of rates at some of the most popular UK online casinos and added them to the table below.
RTP is just one consideration to think about when deciding which site to play at. Other factors include the number of games, customer services, options for payment choices and welcome bonuses and deals, which are also worth considering. You can read about all of these factors plus many more when you read our OLBG casino reviews.
If you'd like to try out more than one game you should visit this page with the slot sites we recommend.
Max Win
NLC always has a name for the max payout feature of the game and Jingle Balls is no exception. This one is called 'Time for Vacation in...' Here the payout is 12,250x your stake.
Wild Shape
There are several Wild features for the Jingle Balls game - xSplit Wilds, the standard Wild Symbol and xNudge Wilds. First up are the xSplit Wilds and the regular Wild Symbol. Regular Wild symbols can land on all reels. But an xSplit Wild symbol can land on reels 5-6 during the base game, and reels 1-2 during the Spirit Spins bonus game. xSplit Wild symbols split all symbols to the left and right and double that symbol. If a symbol is split more than once, it will be displayed with a multiplier. The xSplit Symbol has a nifty animation that literally cuts across the rows.
Next up is the xNudge Wild symbols which can land on reels 3-4 during the main game and the Spirit Spins bonus mode. This is a stacked Wild Symbol that will always nudge to be fully visible. Each nudge increases the Wild multiplier by 1. When a part of the xNudge Wild symbol lands on the reels, it will begin to nudge up or down until it is fully visible on the entire reel. Several Wild multipliers add to each other for a total Wild multiplier.
Free Spins
There are 3 bonus rounds available - Spirit Spins, Spirit Spins: All Aboard and Spirit Spins: Double Joy. Before each bonus round a setup spin is shown which looks like a panel of people from a tv quiz show. You'll see the 4 top paying symbols - Santa Claus, Mrs Claus, the Elf and the Grinch. This setup screen will decide the number of spins awarded and what win multiplier each of the four top paying character symbols will get. Before the Spirit Spins starts, one of the character symbols will be randomly chosen and active during the bonus mode.
Here, if you land 4 or more Scatters, all characters will be active during the bonus mode. Landing 5 Scatters will award double the win multiplier value during the setup spins and during the bonus mode. During the bonus round, the top reel may award an increase win multiplier value to the active characters.
Firstly there is the Spirit Spins round which is activated when landing 3 or more Scatters. During this bonus round, you will be randomly awarded +1x, +2x or double the current collected win multiplier value. Secondly, there is the 'Spirit Spins: All Aboard round which you access by triggering 4 Scatters. Thirdly is the 'Spirit Spins: Double Joy' round which is accessed by 5 Scatters. Here you are randomly awarded +2x, +4x or double the current collected win multiplier value. The win multiplier value is updated for the current spin and remains for the rest of the bonus round.
Jackpot
Like most modern-day slot games, Jingle Balls doesn't have a jackpot element. If jackpots are your thing you should check out our page with the biggest jackpot slot games.
Play Experience & First Impressions
This game uses the classic NLC features of xWays, xNudge Wilds, xSplit Wilds which are all fantastic trademarked features. Personally, I enjoy nudging Wilds so I got plenty of entertainment from the xNudge Wilds. Plus they looked topnotch when they landed with the huge red baubles. The xSplits also looked striking on the reels the way they literally cut through the reels.
xWays was another highlight of play. Here, the xWays symbols can land on reels 1-2 during the base game, and reels 5-6 during the bonus games. The xWays symbol can reveal a random regular symbol and if more than one xWays symbol lands, all xWays symbols will reveal the same symbol. Having 3 free spins bonus options is always a decent incentive and these did not disappoint.
