The launching of A Winter’s Tale by LeoVegas-owned software firm Blue Guru Games adds to the already abundant availability of Christmas-themed online slots. A Winter’s Tale could seem more like a brief story than an in-depth saga to someone who prefers to settle down for a lengthy, winding tale full of twists, turns, and rich characterization as it dives into the human mind. In fact, it may seem quite lightweight in almost every respect. We’ll go into more detail about this evaluation later on, when we examine an online slot with two distinct bonus features: a Gift Unwrapping Bonus Game and a Sticky Wild Bonus Game.
The story of A Winter’s Tale opens with a cheerful depiction of the holiday season. The game has a cheerful, multi-pack Christmas card vibe that I really like. A 5-reel, 4-row gaming grid takes center stage next to a cozy-looking cottage in the countryside blanketed in snow, which is going to be visited by an elf (or Santa?). It has just enough original flair and good looks to make you wonder what else this game has in store.
Now we get to the darker, grittier aspect of A Winter’s Tale, where statistics do not play a very prominent role. While the 95.15% RTP is nothing to get excited about, the game might be enjoyable for gamers seeking a low volatility Christmas slot to grind out. Purchasing one of the two additional rounds has the same expected value as playing the base game. A Winter’s Tale may be played on any device that has a web browser, and players can wager as little as 10 pence each spin all the way up to £/€100.
There are 20 fixed paylines in A Winter’s Tale, and a winning combination is formed when matching symbols appear on adjacent reels starting on the leftmost reel. A victory with five low-paying J-A royals pays 2–5 times the wager, while a win with five premium symbols (such as baubles, a tree, or a goat) pays 10–30 times the wager. The wild symbol is a jolly fellow with pink cheeks who appears on all reels save the far left one. The wild symbol can be used in lieu of any other symbol save the scatter.
Slot Functions in the Winter’s Tale
The two additional features, the Gift Unwrapping additional Game and the Sticky Wild Free Games, are activated by scatter symbols, which appear on all reels.
Bonus Unwrapping of Presents
If you get a scatter symbol, it will be placed to the jar that is located beside the reels. Additionally, a respin is awarded when a scatter is collected. When there are no more respins, the collecting starts over. The Gift Unwrapping Bonus Game is triggered by collecting at least five scatter symbols. The maximum number of presents you may open is 12, and it’s equal to the amount of scatters you’ve gathered. Opening presents reveals cash, multiplier values, or free gaming bonuses. After all of the presents have been opened, the multiplier will be applied to the grand total and the winner will be announced.
Sticky Wilds Free-Spins Bonus
The number of free games you receive depends on how many free game prizes you unwrap during the Gift Unwrapping Bonus Round: 5, 7, or 9. When wild symbols appear during free spins, they become stuck on the reels and remain there until the bonus expires.
Premium Offer
The Gift Unwrapping Bonus Round costs 50x the bet, while the Sticky Wild Bonus Game costs 70x the bet, if the feature purchase option is accessible in your region. As was previously mentioned, the RTP for both purchases is 95.15%.
A Judgement for the Slot in Winter
As the action of A Winter’s Tale progressed, it became increasingly startling. The unexpected events were not pleasantly surprising. The game got off to a decent start, with decent visuals, likeable characters, and a cozy Christmas setting. However, beyond that point, everything went rapidly downward, like a toboggan that had gotten out of control. It’s no secret that there are a lot of Christmas slots out there, so if a game doesn’t stand out in some way, it may be lost in the crowd. The lack of volatility in A Winter’s Tale looks to be its biggest selling point, which isn’t something we’ve seen in many of the recent Christmas-themed slots.
Other than that, there isn’t much in A Winter’s Tale to keep you coming back. The bonus round of unwrapping presents is strange. Instead of using a standard pick-me mechanic, you simply click the screen, and the presents unfold to disclose their contents one by one. If you happen to get some free spins or pay for them, they’re serviceable. There are sticky wilds, but the game’s maximum payout is capped at 1,556.4 times the wager. A Winter’s Tale is one of the least enticing gifts under the Christmas slot tree, thanks to its very unimpressive RTP and lackluster jackpot. The game seems like a straight-to-DVD movie you may find buried in the bottom of your streaming service’s Christmas section if the math model and reasonably unique aesthetics fail to wow you.
There are a lot of online slot machines to choose from throughout the holiday season, and it’s hard to think of many ways in which A Winter’s Tale stands apart from the crowd. Despite its amiability and comfort, it isn’t worth your time unless you find low volatility and low potential to be of particular interest.