New Year Royale Slot Review
Crimson velvet curtains, gold tassels and a slow snowfall over a distant mountain ridge: Mascot Gaming have dressed New Year Royale as a theatrical New Year’s gala. Candelabras, decanters and sprigs of holly dress the stage, and the reels sit at the centre of it. It runs on a 5×4 grid with 40 fixed paylines paying left to right, and tops out at 6,500x the bet.
The studio’s recent catalogue includes Jester’s Coin Tricks, Rooster Run 2 and Joker’s Mega Multipliers, and this one follows their familiar pattern of a hold-and-win round bolted to a classic payline base. Two features and a gamble option share the stage, and the curtain goes up on all of them below.
Symbols and Pays on the Stage
The reels sit on the stage itself, flanked by the curtain. Wins form on the 40 fixed paylines from the leftmost reel, and only the highest combination on each line counts. Payouts scale with the selected bet, and because the lines are fixed, every spin covers all of them.
The cast is a New Year’s party: a blonde singer with her microphone, a red-haired woman raising champagne, a conductor in blue with a ticket in hand, and an older gentleman in a green suit. The Wild is a train locomotive, and it substitutes for everything except the Scatter and Coin symbols. It’s also the richest symbol on the board, so a full line of locomotives is the best the base game can do.
All values below are multiples of the total bet:
- Wild (train locomotive): 0.15x for two, 1.25x for three, 12.50x for four, 175x for five
- Singer with microphone: 0.10x for two, 0.75x for three, 7.50x for four, 100x for five
- Red-haired woman with champagne: 0.50x for three, 3.25x for four, 25x for five
- Conductor in blue uniform: 0.35x for three, 1.75x for four, 10x for five
- Gentleman in green suit: 0.20x for three, 1x for four, 5x for five
- Card suits (heart, club, diamond, spade): 0.15x for three, 0.50x for four, 2.50x for five
The gap between the Wild and everything else is deliberate, and it tells you where this game keeps its money. Line wins are pocket change by design; the coins and the ladder are the point.
Free Spins
The Scatter is a pocket-watch clock, and it’s the only route into the free spins round. Fittingly for a night that runs on a countdown, the more clocks you land, the longer the party goes. The awards scale with the number of Scatters that trigger it:
- 3 Scatters award 10 Free Spins
- 4 Scatters award 12 Free Spins
- 5 Scatters award 15 Free Spins
The round retriggers on the same symbols. During free spins, 3, 4 or 5 Scatters add 3, 5 or 8 spins respectively, and there’s no cap on how many times that can happen. A round that keeps landing clocks can therefore run well past its starting length.
Spins play automatically at the bet that triggered them, so there’s nothing to manage mid-round. All payouts follow the standard paytable, and the total feature win includes anything paid on the triggering spin itself.
That’s the whole of the round, and it’s worth being clear about what it doesn’t contain: no multiplier, no extra Wild behaviour, no symbol upgrade. The free spins here are the base game with a countdown attached, which makes the Scatters a means to an end rather than a destination of their own.
Hold and Win Bonus with Jackpot Feature
Coins are the second special symbol, and they’re where the game’s real money lives. They carry values of 0.50x plus Mini, Minor, Major and Collect markers, and the Wild doesn’t substitute for them, so the bonus opens purely on its own symbol.
Land six or more Coin symbols anywhere on the grid and the Hold and Win Bonus begins. Every Coin locks in place and the game deals respins to collect further prizes, with the respins there to collect prizes.
It’s a familiar rhythm: each respin either lands a new coin or brings the round one step closer to its end. A Collect marker also appears among the jackpot ladder labels.
Four rungs sit on the jackpot ladder, quoted here as multiples of the bet:
- Mini: 450x
- Minor: 900x
- Major: 2,000x
- Grand: 6,500x
Those ladder values move with your stake, so a bigger bet raises every rung proportionally. The Grand sits at the very top of the game’s payout range, which makes it both the round’s prize and the game’s ceiling in a single figure.
Risk’n’Buy and Bonus Buys
After any winning spin, a Risk icon appears on the play frame. The Risk’n’Buy feature offers two ways to spend or gamble the win you’ve just landed: risk it for a shot at up to x2500, or put the money straight into a feature instead.
It’s a decision the game hands you constantly, on every winning spin, and it changes the shape of a session. A 0.50x line win stops being a dead end and becomes currency for the ladder, or a stake on a gamble that can multiply it several thousand times over.
Two purchases are on the menu:
- Buy 12 Free Spins
- Buy 3 resetting bonus spins (the Hold and Win round)
The resetting bonus buy is the more interesting of the two, dropping you straight into the coin-collecting round with its respins already resetting. A separate Buy control sits alongside the reels for direct purchases outside the Risk’n’Buy flow.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7/10
This is a waiting game in a ballroom. Somebody will pick it for exactly one reason: the Grand rung is the game’s entire ceiling, so the coin round isn’t a side attraction next to the party, it is the party. Between visits you watch the snow and spin 40 unremarkable lines.
That single-mindedness is the best thing about it. One ladder, one ceiling, no rival promise splitting your attention, and Risk’n’Buy keeps even a modest win interesting by turning it into a decision every single time.
The weakness is the free spins round: it’s the base game with a countdown and nothing more, so half the feature set doesn’t actually change anything. If you’re drawn to a ladder in velvet and snow, the night delivers; if you want a free-spins round that transforms the reels, this party ends before midnight.
New Year Royale FAQs
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How many paylines does New Year Royale have?
New Year Royale is a 5-reel, 4-row video slot with 40 fixed paylines that pay from left to right. Only the highest win on each line is paid. -
What is the grid size of New Year Royale?
The game runs on a 5×4 grid: five reels and four rows, with symbols forming wins on the fixed paylines from the leftmost reel. -
How do you trigger Free Spins in New Year Royale?
Landing 3, 4 or 5 Scatter symbols awards 10, 12 or 15 Free Spins respectively. During the round, the same Scatter counts add 3, 5 or 8 extra spins, so it can retrigger repeatedly with no cap. -
How does the Hold and Win Bonus work?
Landing 6 or more Coin symbols triggers the Hold and Win Bonus. All Coins lock in place and award respins to collect prizes, with a jackpot ladder of Mini, Minor, Major and Grand on offer, plus a Collect marker that gathers the coin values on the grid. -
What is the Risk’n’Buy feature?
After any winning spin you can risk your current win for a shot at up to x2500, or spend it on a feature instead: 12 Free Spins or 3 resetting bonus spins in the Hold and Win round. -
Can you buy the bonus on New Year Royale?
Yes. A Buy control sits alongside the reels, offering 12 Free Spins or 3 resetting bonus spins in the Hold and Win Bonus, and the same purchases are available through Risk’n’Buy after a win. -
What is the maximum win on New Year Royale?
The maximum win is 6,500x the bet, which matches the Grand jackpot at the top of the Hold and Win ladder. -
Who makes New Year Royale?
New Year Royale is made by Mascot Gaming.
