Xmas Express Slot Review

I’ve traveled on a few trains in my time, but never a migrant train nicknamed The Beast. That’s what YouTube travel superstar Benjamin Rich did on his ironically titled channel, Bald and Bankrupt.

The train earned its name due to kidnappings by the Cartel, robbery by immigration officers, and other inherent dangers that passengers could be exposed to on the way from Mexico to the USA. But Ben has train surfed in India, so I guess La Bestia is just another day at the office.

The train in our next game – Xmas Express slot from GameArt – holds no such dangers, but it could make you rich. Not Bald and Bankrupt rich, but how does $350,000 sound?

Gameplay

Is there any point in describing the design of Xmas Express slot? I think not; it’s exactly what you’d expect.

What I will say, though, is that the game looks very colorful and impressive in landscape mode, on a phone, but portrait mode is terrible as the grid is tiny and relegated to the top of the screen.

GameArt has baked 50 paylines into this game, along with a 96.79% RTP, and a very high volatility rate. But the numbers you’ll be most pleased to hear have to do with the 10,000x multiplier and the $350,000 top payout. Goddamn!

Features

MYSTERY SLEIGH RIDE:

This feature is triggered randomly on any non-winning spin. You’ll see a random number of symbols covered with snow and they’ll transform into the same symbol.

BOUNTY PARTY BONUS:

Hit 3, 4, or 5 train Scatters in the base game to trigger this feature and you’ll be gifted 3, 4, or 5 spins. This is a Hold & Win game so you’ll only see the symbol modifiers (that I’ve listed below) on the reels.

There are two types of Scatters – a regular one and a Mega Scatter. Mega Scatters award a Merry Santa’s Deer which is a collector symbol that adds all visible values to its own.

You’ll get 5 spins at the start and the spin counter is reset each time a new symbol lands. Fill a reel or row with symbols and it will expand up to a maximum of 2 times – once in each direction per Bounty Party Bonus round.

Fill all of the reels with symbols and the round ends but you’ll be awarded an additional Full Reel Bonus of 500x to your total multiplier.

MODIFIERS THAT YOU’LL FIND IN THE BONUS ROUND:

The Gift symbol – a box with a ribbon around it – lands on reels 1 to 4 in the base game. The blue one will carry a multiplier value of 1x to 20x, the green box has multipliers of 21x to 100x, and the gold one has multipliers ranging from 101x to 200x.

Then there’s the Santa’s Bag Collect symbol which you’ll see in the base game. If more than one Gift symbols land at the same time as the Santa’s Bag Collect symbol, the values of the Gift symbols are added up and paid out.

The Wild substitutes for all symbols other than Scatters, Mega Scatters, Gift symbols, or Santa’s Bag Collect symbols.

The Santa’s Elf symbol lands with a value equal to 2x the lowest value on the reels. It will add its own value to all of the other visible symbols.

Santa (not the Wild version) adds all visible values to itself and then adds that value to all visible symbols.

The Wreath increases the Free Spins counter by a factor of 1 up to a max of 5, but it doesn’t contribute to the Full Reel Bonus.

Land a Snowman and it will add its value – which could be 5x to 200x – to all visible symbols on the same reel and row. If the reel and row are empty, the Snowman will double its own value.

The Gingerman also lands with a value of 5x to 200x but will add its value to a max of 5 visible symbols.

Now here’s a symbol that reminds me of my ex-wife; the Nutcracker. It eats up a maximum of 3 visible symbols. It adds its value to all symbols that are within a 2-symbol radius. If there aren’t any, it will double its own value.

The Snowglobe lands with a 2x, 3x, 5x, or 10x multiplier. It multiplies the values of 2 to 5 symbols with its own value.

Lastly, there's the Golden Clock. This modifier will initiate up to 4 other modifiers but before that happens, the Clock will sum up their multipliers – this will become the active multiplier value.

BUY BONUS:

Pay 15x to buy the Mystery Sleigh Ride feature, or 70x for Free Spins with 3 regular Scatters or 400x for Free Spins with 2 regular Scatters and 1 Mega Scatter.

Performance

Xmas Express slot was flawless during testing.

Maximum Win

You can win an enormous $350,000 if you bet $35 (the maximum amount) and land the 10,000x multiplier. The minimum bet, should you care about that, is $0.50.

Conclusion

Whew, there’s a lot going on in Xmas Express slot. While there are only 2 features, there are 11 modifiers and some other symbols, which makes things interesting.

Look, this game has a very high volatility rate and a massive potential payout so we should expect it to be challenging. It’s not what I thought an Xmas-themed game would play out like, so GameArt definitely surprised me – in a good way.

The Mystery Sleigh Ride triggered often, but initiating the Free Spins round took some time. That meant I was dipping into the Buy Bonus but I had to limit myself to the regular Free Spins because 400x is a hefty price to pay.

Seeing those multipliers add up in the Free Spins round is super exciting, but they don’t always cover the Bonus Buy cost, so using this option can get pricey.

If you’re in the festive spirit and you’re looking for a game that’s tough and not like most other games, then give Xmas Express slot a try. But preferably bet low or come with some deep pockets.

Slot Details

Software: GameArt
Game Type: Video Slots
Paylines: 50
Reels: 5
RTP: 96.79%
Bonus Round: Yes
Progressive: No
Free Rounds: Free Spins
Max Multiplier: 10,000x
Max Win: $350,000
Published by
BitStarz, award-winning Bitcoin Casino