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30 November 2023 
Jingle Balls Slot Review
Grab Christmas by the balls in Nolimit City’s festive offering, Jingle Balls!
Jingle Balls is Nolimit City’s first Christmas release, and the festivities are in full swing in a slightly macabre, yet nonetheless Christmassy setting. Will Nolimit City put aside their inclination for ‘edge’ for a good old-fashioned warm Christmas, or will they paint Saint Nick as anything but a saint?
You know the answer already.
Jingle Balls Base Game and Features
Jingle Balls is a 4-6 reel Video Slot with up to 614,656 ways to win. Wins are formed on the reels when 3 or more of the same symbol types land from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.
Jingle Balls can be played for as little as £.€0.20 per spin, up to a maximum bet of £.€200 per spin, with plenty of other options in between the two. This game has a theoretical RTP of 96.10% and a max win cap of 12,250x.
The highest-paying symbol here is Santa, followed by the Lady, Elf, Grinch, and Rudolph. Low-paying symbols fall to a range of gift-wrapped Presents. Wilds substitute for all High and Low-paying symbols.
At the start of gameplay, the 5th and 6th reels are locked with tinsel. The reel setup for the base game is a 3-3-4-4-5-5 formation which switches to a 5-5-4-4-3-3 formation during Free Spins. However, all reels are unlocked during Spirit Spins. Landing 1 or 2 Scatter symbols in the base game will automatically unlock reels 5 and 6 respectively.
Wish Upon a Star
At the start of a game round, you will be able to activate the Wish Upon a Star feature located at the bottom of reel 2. Choosing to activate this feature will increase your current bet by 50%.
Once active, this feature will guarantee that at least 1 Scatter symbol lands on reel 2 with every spin. In addition to this, the 5th reel will also be unlocked whilst Wish Upon a Star is active.
xWays
Special xWays symbols can land randomly on reels 1 and 2 in the base game and reels 5 and 6 in the Spirit Spins round. xWays symbols will reveal the same High or Low-paying symbol from the paytable. If more than one xWays symbol lands, they will reveal the same High or Low-paying symbols.
The size of the xWays symbol can vary, ranging from 2-3 symbols. When an xWays symbol is split by a special xSplit Wild, the xWays Multiplier value will automatically double.
xNudge Wild
During both the base game and Spirit Spins round, special xNudge Wilds can land randomly on reels 3-4. xNudge Wilds are symbols that will always nudge fully in view on the reels, increasing their Multiplier value by +x1 with each nudge. When an xSplit Wild splits an xNudge Wild, it will add an additional Wild to that reel.
xSplit Wilds & Regular Wilds
Jingle Balls also features regular Wilds that can land on all reels in both the base game and Free Spins round. In addition to this, special xSplit Wilds can appear on reels 5-6 in the base game and reels 1-2 in the Spirit Spins round.
xSplit Wilds will split all symbols to the left and right of it, doubling those symbols. If a symbol is split more than once, it will be displayed with a random Multiplier.
xSplit Wilds are also able to split Scatter symbols, transforming the Scatter into an Expanding Wild that covers the entire reel with Wilds. Scatter symbols do not split when the Spirit Spins round is active. xSplit Wilds will then transform into 2 regular Wilds after landing and are able to split by another xSplit Wild symbol.
Jingle Balls Free Spins
Landing 3 Scatters in the base game triggers the Spirit Spins round. However, landing 4 or 5 Scatters in the base game will award Spirit Spins: All Aboard and Spirit Spins: Double Joy respectively, where all symbol win Multipliers are doubled.
Before either Spirit Spins round begins, a setup spin will be triggered. This will determine the number of Free Spins awarded and what Multiplier each of the 4 High-paying symbols will receive. At the start of Free Spins, one of the highest-paying symbols will be chosen at random to be active during this time.
If the Spirit Spins: All Aboard round is triggered, all 4 High-paying symbols will be active during this time. If the Spirit Spins: Double Joy round is triggered, the win Multiplier value will be doubled during setup and Free Spins.
During Free Spins, the top reel can award an increase in the win Multiplier to all active High-paying symbols. During Spirit Spins, a random Multiplier increase of +x1, +x2, or Double the current Multiplier can be awarded to all active Character symbols.
During Spirit Spins: Double Joy, a random Multiplier increase of +x2, +x4, or double the current Multiplier can be awarded to all active Character symbols. The win Multiplier will be updated for the current spin and remain for the rest of the round.
Collecting additional Scatter symbols during this time will award +1 Free Spin per Scatter. Collecting 3 Scatter symbols during Spirit Spins will upgrade the Free Spins round to Spirit Spins: All Aboard, which activates the win Multipliers on all 4 High-paying symbols.
Time for Vacation In…
When the max win cap of 12,250x is reached, the round will end and this amount times your bet is awarded automatically.
Jingle Balls Bonus Buy
Those outside the UK will benefit from a Bonus Buy option. Nolimit City has granted players access to 4 Bonus Buy options as follows.
- Spirit Spins – 60x your bet.
- Spirit Spins: All Aboard – 270x your bet.
- Spirit Spins: Double Joy – 486x your bet.
- Spirit Spins Lucky Draw – 187.2x your bet.
- 60% Spirit Spins
- 20% Spirit Spins: All Aboard
- 20% Spirit Spins: Double Joy
Jingle Balls: Our Verdict
Nolimit City has ruined Christmas just like we thought they would. No longer are we leaving milk and mince pies gratefully beside the tree, but a net to catch this debaucherous perv. It’s a worrying sign of our withered innocence when slot providers seem to be tipping more in favour of games where Santa behaves badly, but it’s funny nonetheless.
Now, what about the gameplay? Jingle Balls is pretty much Remember Gulag. Remember Gulag was one of Nolimit City’s more controversial releases, and it didn’t see the light of day at many casinos. We doubt that casinos will censor this like gulag was, so for many, Jingle Balls may feel like an entirely new game.
There are some statistical differences between the two, with the maximum win being noteably smaller here at 12,500x. However, it can occur more frequently than the max win in Remember Gulag.
Overall, Jingle Balls is an amusing title with familiar features, but it’s striking how uncommon it is for Nolimit City to reskin something. Perhaps the lack of longevity of Christmas slots made an entirely original title not worth it, and we kind of get it. We forgive them for that, though the child in us can’t forgive them for turning the innocent Santa into a ne’er-do-well
Welcome Bonus
