Penguins Christmas Party Time

Penguins Christmas Party Time Review

Reel Kingdom partner, Pragmatic Play, has put a unique spin on the holiday theme with Penguins Christmas Party Time slot. This game throws a festive party on a 5x3 grid set within a DJ booth, complete with flashing lights and a lively soundtrack. Through the transparent reels, you can see penguins getting their groove on inside their Xmas-decorated cabin, adding a charming touch to the gameplay.

Betting options range from €0.05 to a high-roller-friendly €250, catering to players of all budgets. The highest paying symbol is the champagne-popping penguin, awarding a generous 1,000x your stake for 5-of-a-kind wins. The two other penguin characters and some festive balloon symbols award 0.8x to 10x for the same. The Disco Ball Wild can appear on any reel, substituting for other symbols and offering the same payout as the top penguin symbol.

Penguins Christmas Party Time Slot - Reels Screen

With no other features in the base game, the main attraction is the free spins bonus round. Before the free spins begin, a balloon pick game randomly assigns 1 of 3 extra features: wild reels, multiplying multiplier symbol upgrades, or retriggers with up to an 8x win multiplier. The bonus round hits around every 111 spins, and you can double your chances with the Ante Bet option. For those who prefer not to wait, a Bonus Buy option is also available in some regions.

Penguins Christmas Party Time boasts a solid RTP of 96.54 %, well above average. However, the possibility of lower RTP settings is something to be aware of. The volatility is high (5 out of 5), so adjust your bet level to handle the fluctuations. The max win is a mediocre 2,000x your stake. However, it comes with an exceptional hit rate of 1 in 15,619 spins, a generous Christmas gift from Reel Kingdom that balances out the math model.

Penguins Christmas Party Time Features

While you can land solid base game wins thanks to the top-tier penguin character and wilds, the bonus round is definitely the main attraction in Penguins Christmas Party Time slot. Let’s unwrap those free spin extras!

Ante Bet (not UK)

Players willing to pay 100 % extra per spin can switch on the Ante Bet feature, doubling your bonus round chances. The organic hit frequency of 1 in 111.63 spins is already well above average, and it’s increased to 1 in 55.81 spins with the Ante Bet turned on.

Penguins Christmas Party Time Free Spins

You need 3 scatters on reels 1, 3, and 5 to trigger the Bonus Round, awarding 10 free spins. You get to pick from 3 balloons upfront which randomly determines your free spins modifier, and these work as follows:

Snowball Booster - random symbols are upgraded with x2 multipliers, boosting relevant winning combos accordingly and multiplying together if more than one partakes in the same win. Some positions become frozen randomly per spin, and if all 5 reels are frozen on the final free spin you win +10 extra spins.

Wild Party - awards at least one full-reel wild per free spin. You cannot win extra free spins or retrigger the bonus if you get this modifier.

Penguins Christmas Party Time Slot - Free Spins

Boogie Back - a DJ spins his vinyl record with a winning and losing segment, and you can win +10 extra free spins with a random win multiplier between x2 and x8. The multiplier applies to all wins during the extra free spins round, not your current win. Landing on the losing side of the record returns you to the base game.

Penguins Christmas Party Time Slot - Free Spins

Penguins Christmas Party Time Bonus Buy (not UK)

Eligible players can purchase the bonus round for 100x the stake, awarding a triggering spin where you get to choose from the 3 balloons to see what modifier you get.

Pros and Cons of Penguins Christmas Party Time

Similar Slots To Try

If you like the Penguins Christmas Party Time, You'll love the following slots, too:

Big Bass Bonanza - A highly popular slot by Reel Kingdom, Big Bass Bonanza hooks players with 10 paylines and payouts up to 2,100x the bet. The game shines with its free spins feature, where fisherman wilds collect money fish, creating a cascade of rewarding wins and exciting moments.

Our Verdict

Outside of their major claim to fame, the Big Bass series, Reel Kindom has delivered a mixed bag ranging from the bizarre, like Mighty Munching Melons, to the more regular Spirit of Adventure. Penguins Christmas Party Time game leans towards the quirky side, but admittedly in an amusing way. At least it’s a Christmas slot that avoids the usual clichés and offers something genuinely original.

However, the base game feels a bit like a punch bowl they forgot to spike. Without any modifiers or features to spice things up, it relies too much on the overall charm of the game. Thankfully, the bonus round pops up quite often, not least with the Ante Bet active. While having 3 unique bonus round features is appreciated, their randomness can be frustrating, especially if you have a favorite. In a game like this, I would’ve preferred to choose myself.

In my view, the Wild Party, with wild reels potentially filling the screen, offers the best chance of cracking the 2,000x win cap. The Snowball Booster, with its multiplying multipliers assigned to random symbols, also holds potential, especially since retriggers seem quite common. The Boogie Back feature, however, while usually offering extra spins, seldom delivers before the retrigger. Not only that, the "rewinding reels" thing comes across as gimmicky and pointless, as the reels spinning upwards does not affect the gameplay.

I can't help but think this Boogie feature would’ve been that much more exciting if the reels started spinning back and forth like a DJ scratching, repeating random wins up to multiple times. At least throw in the random multiplier from the get-go, instead of having to wait for the retrigger. In the end, Penguins Christmas Party Time Reel Kingdom has some entertaining moments, but it’s not the kind of party you’d want to stay at for an all-nighter.