Xmas Slot Review
Overhead, Santa’s sleigh glides across a huge pale moon, reindeer strung out behind it, above a snowbound village of fir trees and one lit-windowed cottage. Xmas is the rare Christmas slot that spends its ambition on the structure rather than the wrapping: the grid itself grows as you play, from a 4×4 square to 5×5 and finally 6×6, and that progression, not the tinsel, is the reason to load it.
The interesting part is what CQ9 Gaming have built underneath. This isn’t a five-reel grid at all: it’s a growing square that starts at 4×4 and expands to 5×5 and then 6×6 as you clear rounds, with clusters of matching coloured gems doing the paying.
It’s a structure the studio has explored before in titles like Sugar Combo and Disco Night, and it suits the seasonal wrap better than most. The rules are simple to learn and quietly demanding to master, which is more than most Christmas slots manage.
Base Game & Features
The game runs across three rounds, each played on its own square grid. Round 1 is 4×4, Round 2 is 5×5 and Round 3 is 6×6, with symbols distributed randomly across the area on each drop. Wins come from connected runs of one colour, and the minimum length climbs as the grid grows.
- Round 1 (4×4): four or more consecutive identical colours
- Round 2 (5×5): five or more consecutive identical colours
- Round 3 (6×6): six or more consecutive identical colours
When a matching run lands, the points are paid and the system creates a new symbol combination in its place. That keeps rolling until no matching combination remains, so a single drop can chain several times. Payout equals bet level multiplied by the symbol odds.
Every cleared run triggers a refill, and the refill is where the chains build. New symbols drop into the gaps left behind, and those can form fresh matching combinations of their own. Each link in that chain pays separately at its own length, so one strong distribution can cascade three or four times before it settles.
The order of operations is fixed and worth knowing. Special symbols are always cleared first, before any paylines are calculated, and only once the screen holds no special symbols does the game settle the regular combinations. The refill that follows a special-symbol clear is a free shuffle of the board.
Special Symbols and Shields
A special symbol, marked with a running progress counter, is distributed randomly in every round. Clearing fifteen of them moves the game to the next round, and any surplus carries over to the level above.
Each special symbol also knocks out a shield. The right-hand shield falls in Round 1, the left-hand one in Round 2 and the bottom one in Round 3. Clear every shield in Round 3 and the game loops back to the start.
That loop is the game’s long view. Once the bottom shield goes, the procedure ends and everything resets, so a full cycle means working the whole ladder from the 4×4 grid upwards one more time.
Leaving mid-game means giving up your current position entirely. Re-entering starts from the very beginning, rounds, shields and all, which makes the 6×6 level something worth protecting once you’ve earned it.
Paytable
Five coloured gems make up the paying symbols, and the value gap between them is wide. All figures are multiples of the total bet:
- Red (Santa hat gem): 0.01x for six, 0.1x for nine, 0.5x for ten, 1x for eleven, 2x for twelve, 5x for thirteen, 20x for fourteen, 60x for fifteen, 80x for sixteen
- Purple (ornament gem): 0.01x for six, 0.06x for nine, 1x for twelve, 10x for thirteen, 20x for fourteen, 50x for fifteen, 60x for sixteen
- Yellow (bell gem): 0.005x for six, 0.04x for nine, 0.5x for twelve, 1x for thirteen, 2x for fourteen, 5x for fifteen, 6x for sixteen
- Green (tree gem): 0.004x for six, 0.02x for nine, 0.1x for twelve, 0.5x for fourteen, 0.75x for fifteen, 0.8x for sixteen
- Blue (snowman gem): 0.002x for six, 0.008x for nine, 0.03x for twelve, 0.1x for fourteen, 0.2x for fifteen, 0.4x for sixteen
The ladder rewards size dramatically. Runs at the short end of every colour pay fractions of the stake, while the top of the connected range is where the real prizes sit, and only the two richest colours reach it.
The lower three gems are a different story. They top out at small multiples even at full length, so they exist to keep the chains ticking over rather than to win anything on their own. A board loaded with them will cascade happily and pay very little.
Xmas Bonus Features & Free Spins
The Free Game symbol is a star, and one appearance is all it takes. A single star awards ten free games plus a random multiplier of between one and five, applied to every prize combination for the duration of the round. The bet stays the same as the round that triggered it.
Free games keep the round structure alive. Clearing fifteen upgrade symbols during the round moves you up a level on the next free spin, so a good run can carry you from the 4×4 grid all the way to 6×6 with the multiplier running throughout. There’s no retrigger inside the round, so ten spins is what you get.
The multiplier is the whole reason to want the round. It applies to every combination that lands rather than one chosen win, and it runs on the upgrade path too, which widens what a single star can ultimately deliver. Compared with most seasonal bonus rounds, that’s a generous shape.
The upgrade path matters more than the spin count. Ten spins on a locked 4×4 grid would be a modest round, but each level you climb adds rows, widens the connected-run potential and opens the bigger pay tiers at the top of the ladder, all while the multiplier keeps working.
The stakes climb with the grid, in other words, and the multiplier doesn’t reset between levels. A round that upgrades early keeps its head start for every remaining spin, which is why one star is worth more in Round 1 than anywhere else.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.2/10
Playing Xmas feels less like spinning and more like clearing a room, one counter at a time, until the walls move outward and hand you more space. That visible climb, moonlit and gingerbread-framed as it is, is the one reason to pick it over any other slot wearing a Santa hat.
The round progression is its best idea done properly: raising the match requirement from four to six means the bigger grids are earned, never given. The paytable underneath is meaner than the setup deserves, though. Three of the five colours pay pocket change even at full length, so the chains you build most often are the ones that matter least.
It’s a fit for players who like a goal on screen and don’t mind working for the good part, and for anyone who has enjoyed this studio’s cluster-style games before. Anyone after an easy, familiar Christmas spin will find the gingerbread hides more patience than the wrapping promised.
Xmas FAQs
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Who makes Xmas?
Xmas is made by CQ9 Gaming. -
What is the grid size of Xmas?
Xmas starts on a 4×4 grid in Round 1, then expands to 5×5 in Round 2 and 6×6 in Round 3 as you clear rounds. -
How do you form wins in Xmas?
Wins come from consecutive runs of identical colours. Round 1 needs four or more connected symbols of one colour, Round 2 needs five or more, and Round 3 needs six or more. -
How do you advance to the next round in Xmas?
Clear fifteen special symbols in a round and the game moves to the next one. Any special symbols left over when a round ends carry over to the next level. -
What do the shields do in Xmas?
Each special symbol clears a shield: the right-hand one in Round 1, the left-hand one in Round 2 and the bottom one in Round 3. Clear all the shields in Round 3 and the game returns to Round 1. -
What does the Free Game symbol award in Xmas?
One Free Game star awards ten free games with a random multiplier of between one and five. The multiplier applies to every prize combination during the round, and the bet stays the same as the round that triggered it. -
Can free games retrigger in Xmas?
No. The round can’t be awarded again from within itself, so ten spins is the full allowance. -
What happens if you exit Xmas mid-game?
Exiting gives up your current position in the game. Re-entering means starting again from the beginning.
