Santa’s Bag

Santa's Bag Review

In November 2020, the European casino game developer Platipus decided to warm up its fans with a brand new slot for the upcoming Xmas holidays. Santa’s Bag came with nice artwork and soundtrack, curious special symbol rules, and popular bonus features. It is the first online slot in the provider’s portfolio with the theme, despite the company being in business for already a few years.

Platipus Gaming has been around since 2014, when it officially separated from Miracle Casino. Today, it operates from an office in the Isle of Man and has several major licenses, including by the MGA. Platipus is fully RNG-certified and already has 180+ games in its repertoire: slots, roulette, blackjack, poker, etc. In 2024, the studio won its first industry award - “Best Game Design” for the 2023 First of Olympians.

Santa’s Bag offers an icy grid of 5x3 and a light package of just 5 paylines, starting from the leftmost side of the board. The slot is loaded with all the usual stuff, including Quickspin and Autoplay. The provider has added some interesting rules about how the wilds and scatters work, and a bonus minigame. You can test the title via the Santa’s Bag demo, or continue reading my dedicated review!

Santa’s Bag Slot - Reels Screen

Santa’s Bag has one of the most curious paytables across all the online slots I’ve ever had the chance to review! In addition to the awesome designs, some symbols pay for even 1 of a kind. Rudolph and Snowman pay for 2x to 1,250x and 1x to 1,000x the bet per line for 1 to 5 of a kind. Christmas Wreaths pay between 3x and 600x for 2 to 5, while Ks, Qs, Js, 10s, and 9s pay different prizes from 5x to 300x the bet per line for 3 to 5 of a kind.

Santa himself is a wild symbol and may land on reels 2, 3, and 4 to substitute for the regulars and help create winning combinations. The Christmas Tree is also in the mix and it is the scatter symbol! Unlike other scatters, this one requires 2, 3, 4, or 5 at the same time, landing on consecutive reels, starting from the leftmost one. Scatters may not follow the active paylines, but the rule is still unusual. Christmas Trees pay 2x, 5x, 20x, and 50x the total bet!

Jackpot Symbols appear on the reels as red bags of gifts and may carry a jackpot prize or not. If lined up, these symbols pay regular prizes of 2x to 400x the bet per line. Santa’s Bag comes with several betting options and total stakes between €0.25 and €50 per spin. Pay attention to the bet-changing tool, as it modifies the value of a single payline.

The Santa’s Bag RTP rate is 95%, which is lower than the usual coefficient of online slots. Moreover, the game is characterized by high levels of volatility, meaning that you can count on bigger wins, but the biggest ones will land less often. The Santa’s Bag max win is 1,500x the bet, which is far from the provider’s best releases by this indicator.

Santa’s Bag Features

Santa’s Bag offers Free Spins, Christmas Gift Bonus, and Jackpot Feature. However, only the latter is active during the base game, so players should rely on the wild substitutions and the rare scatter wins. Still, given the fact that the game was released in 2020, the bonus package is quite interesting. You can find all the details in the following paragraphs:

Free Spins Feature

Free Spins is triggered not by the scatter symbol as most slot enthusiasts are used to seeing, but by the wild. Santa Claus on reels 2, 3, and 4 in the base game activate the bonus and awards 5 free spins. The minigame is not limited in duration but only by the win cap. Every time you have 3 wilds in view, 5 extra rounds will be added.

Christmas Gift Bonus

During Free Spins, each scatter symbol that lands on the reels awards a Christmas Gift. This extra mechanic is not linked to the scatter payouts, which continue to execute as usual. Christmas Gifts are instant rewards, and each scatter reveals a random value of 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 30x, 50x, 100x, 150x, 250x, 300x, 400x, or 500x the bet per line.

Jackpot Feature

Jackpot Symbols pay the jackpot prizes listed below if any of them complete a winning combination of Santa’s Bags. Mini, Minor, Major, and Maxi may land on all reels, while Grand may land on reel 5 only. In order to win the respective jackpot, you must have 1 to 4 Santa’s Bags landing on a payline and the respective Jackpot Symbol at the end, completing the combination.

• Grand Jackpot - 1,000x the total bet
• Maxi Jackpot - 200x the total bet
• Major Jackpot - 100x the total bet
• Minor Jackpot - 20x the total bet
• Mini Jackpot - 10x the total bet

Santa’s Bag Slot – Big Win Screen

Theme & Graphics

Santa’s Bag is far from being called the most beautiful Christmas slot out there, but it certainly has charm. A couple of houses with lights on stand on both sides of the grid with smoke coming out of their chimneys, and a lot of snow on the roofs. In fact, snow is everywhere, on the ground, on the trees, and on the house porches. The grid, on the other hand, is iced, and each cell position looks like an ice cube.

Stars shine in the night sky, or are they particles of air frozen in the frosty night? Overall, the quality of the artwork and visual elements is average, but the festive tunes and pleasant audio effects draw a somehow magical picture. It is unnecessary to say that Santa’s Bag is totally compatible with desktop and mobile devices (Android & iOS).

Santa’s Bag Free Play

If you want to try this Platipus online slot, make sure to start with the demo version. Check for a Santa’s Bag free play link at the beginning of my review, and have fun with zero risk. Test your preferred strategies and betting techniques, or simply try the symbol payout mechanics and bonus features. If you feel ready to go to the next level, take a look at the online casinos verified by the SlotCatalog team of experts!

Pros And Cons Of Santa’s Bag Slot

Our Verdict

Santa’s Bag brings the Xmas spirit despite the technical flaws and rather strange payout rules. Platipus has tried to compensate for adding just 5 paylines by adding 1OAK and 2OAK payouts, and scatters that can deliver solid rewards. However, the strange rules like wilds triggering free spins and scatters not being freed of patterns and paylines are a bit odd.

Santa’s Bag is capped at just 1,500x the total bet, which is too low, especially for a highly volatile game. In 2022 and 2024, the provider extended its Christmas series with Eve of Gifts and Xmas Avalanche. Both pay above 5,000x, so I suppose it’s not just me who thinks that way. In terms of bonus features, things become brighter!

Free Spins could have been too ordinary if it weren't for the Christmas Gift Bonus. As you’ll notice when you start a session, scatters land relatively frequently, but they just don’t align too often to pay regular prizes. I also like how the Jackpot Feature is organized, although it may look a little strange at first. So, all in all, Santa’s Bag possesses certain potential, and it definitely excels in mechanical creativity!