Christmas Krampus slot review
Light and Wonder released this creepy holiday slot in 2023, bringing Krampus to life in the online casino world. Christmas Krampus is a 5×3 slot with an RTP of 96.16% and high volatility.
It offers free spins, respins, Wilds, a Stash Meter, and a bonus buy feature. Fancy giving this a spin around the holidays? Keep reading my Christmas Krampus slot review to learn what it’s all about.
Highlights
Christmas Krampus slot review summary
Light and Wonder’s Christmas Krampus takes the half-goat, half-demon character, Krampus, found in European Alpine folklore, and makes it the star of its holiday slot. Krampus is the opposite of Santa Claus and punishes children for behaving badly during the holidays.
With that in mind, the Christmas Krampus has a slightly creepy design style. Everything is a little eerie, a little dark, and it’s not a Christmas green but a neon green that’s used as the accent color in the game. Other fun details include the elf’s face changing from happy to scared when the Krampus symbol is on the reels. Even the background track is not quite so jolly.
As for bonus features, besides Wilds, Christmas Krampus has free spins that contain respins and a Krampus symbol that steals the cash prizes from the presents, and collects them in the Stash Meter. It’s a fun, casual slot, ideal for low-risk players who enjoy less stimulating bonus features.
Pros
Respins during free spins
96.16% RTP
Maximum win of $4,000
Cons
Low bet range not ideal for high-rollers
Bonus features mostly in free spins
Low hit rate with 10 paylines
Christmas Krampus comprehensive review
My Christmas Krampus slot review will give you the full details to help you find your way with this Light and Wonder game. You’ll find a breakdown on the Christmas Krampus slot RTP, the volatility, the bonus features, and an explanation of the symbols and payouts. At the end, I’ll also explain how the slot works.
RTP and volatility
The Christmas Krampus slot RTP is 96.16% in the regular base game. If you use the Buy Pass, the RTP is around 96.14%. The game is played on a 5×3 grid with 10 paylines. Christmas Krampus has high volatility.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| RTP | 96.16% |
| Maximum win | $4,000 |
| Number of paylines | 10 |
| Volatility | High |
Christmas Krampus has an average RTP, even when using the Buy Pass. It’s the high volatility that you need to watch out for. High volatility means the slot might pay out less frequently, although when it does, those wins could be much bigger.
I didn’t have many wins when I was testing the slot, although I had a few here and there. I definitely went quite a few spins without landing a single win. The issue is, Christmas Krampus has just 10 paylines, so even if the RTP is very agreeable, the hit rate is quite low because of the low number of paylines.
As a comparison, NetEnt’s Guns N’ Roses slot has a much higher hit rate. For starters, it has 20 paylines, but that’s also paired with low-medium volatility.
Bonus features
Christmas Krampus has six bonus features. These are Christmas Krampus free spins, Wild, respins, the Krampus symbol, the presents symbols, and the Buy Pass.
The Wild symbol is a wooden plaque with the word Wild in neon green on the front. The Wild can appear anywhere on the reels and substitutes for all symbols, except for the Scatter and Krampus symbols. It can only substitute for presents symbols in relation to win lines.
When two, three, or four consecutive Wild or Krampus symbols land on the reels with a low-paying symbol making up the win line, the highest paying symbol will be paid out. This also happens if five consecutive Wild or Krampus symbols land on the reels.
Christmas Krampus free spins are triggered when three or more of the Scatter symbols land on the reels. The Scatter symbol is Krampus’s hand. If three symbols land on the reels, you’ll be awarded six free spins. If it’s four symbols, you’ll get eight free spins, and for five symbols, you get 10 free spins.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Bonus features | Christmas Krampus free spins, Wild, respins, Krampus symbol, presents symbols, Buy Pass. |
| Top features | Christmas Krampus free spins |
| Jackpot | N/A |
During free spins, you’ll get the Krampus and presents symbols. The Krampus symbol can appear on any reel. This symbol also acts as a Wild and substitutes for all symbols, but you can’t have more than three Krampus symbols on the reels at the same time.
The Krampus symbol remains in play on the reels, moving one symbol position to the left with every spin. This symbol triggers the respins feature, which ends when all the Krampus symbols have left the reels. The number of free spins isn’t affected by any respins, and they can’t be re-triggered during a free spins round.
When a presents symbol lands on the reels in free spins, it will have a cash prize attached to it. These symbols can contain cash prizes of 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 30x, 40x, or 50x the total bet. The Krampus symbol can collect the cash prizes from the presents symbols, and when it reaches the end of the reels, the cash prizes are added to the Stash meter. At the end of the free spins, the total Stash is added to the total win.
The Buy Pass can be used to immediately trigger a free spins round, awarding either six, eight, or 10 free spins. The cost of a Buy Pass is 54.10x the current bet.
The Christmas Krampus free spins don’t take too long to trigger. I managed to trigger a free spins round quite early on in my gaming session, and that particular session was quite lucrative. On a bet of $6, I won $1,020 in my Stash and $177 through free spins, giving me a total win of $1,197. After that, I almost triggered free spins twice more.
The free spins round won’t always pay out well, of course. I had two back-to-back free spins rounds, thanks to the Buy Pass, but I didn’t win a single spin and didn’t even get a respin.
The respin feature is a great addition, as it gives you extra free spins. It also means with every respin, the Krampus symbol is picking up any cash prizes it comes across, which all add to your overall win. It’s a great way of mixing things up, since otherwise there’s not much else going on in this slot.
Symbols and paytable
There are 11 paying symbols in Christmas Krampus. The bottom five are all traditional card symbols: 10, J, Q, K, and A. These all have the same payout values. On a bet of $1, you’ll get $0.50 for three symbols and $10 for five.
In the base game, the presents symbol will award payouts but not cash prizes. Three symbols award $1, and five symbols award $20 for a bet of $1. The other symbols are the candy cane, the snowman, the Christmas tree, the elf, and the Christmas Krampus logo.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Theme | Christmas |
| Reel layout | 5×3 |
| Highest paying symbol | Christmas Krampus logo |
| Adjustable paylines | N/A |
| Visuals | Horror |
| Sound | Spooky |
| Mobile quality | Good |
The snowman and the Christmas tree are the middle-of-the-road symbols and award the same payouts. You’ll get $2 for three symbols and $50 for five symbols when your bet’s set to $1. The elf pays out higher, with $3 for three symbols and $100 for five symbols.
The highest paying symbol in the game is the Christmas Krampus logo. This is also the only symbol where you can land a win with just two symbols, which will give you a payout of $0.50. Four symbols will award a payout of $20, and five of a kind will award a payout of $200 for a bet of $1.
With the bet set to the maximum of $20, landing give Christmas Krampus symbols will award a payout of $4,000.
The general payouts for the Christmas Krampus slot aren’t great. The bottom five all have the same payout values, which I always dislike in slots because it seems like wasted potential. Besides that, two other symbols in the game award the same payouts, so there’s a lot of lost potential for increases between payouts.
The Christmas Krampus and the elf symbol can award some rewarding payouts, especially with a maximum payout of $4,000. On the same bet of $20, NetEnt’s Jack Hammer slot only awards $800 for five symbols, so while the general payouts on Christmas Krampus are quite low on average, there’s potential for some bigger wins that other slots require a much higher bet to get to.
How to play the Christmas Krampus slot
To start spinning the reels, hit the red play button. Above it, you’ll find the autoplay and the bet button. Underneath the spin button, there’s the turbo spin button.
You can have a minimum of five autospins and a maximum of 100. You also need to set your loss and win limits.
To adjust your bet, click the coins button. This opens up the plus and minus buttons, which you can press to increase or decrease your bet. The available bet options are $0.10, $0.20, $0.30, $0.40, $0.50, $0.60, $0.70, $0.80, $0.90, $1.00, $1.50, $2.00, $2.50, $3.00, $3.50, $4.00, $5.00, $6.00, $7.00, $7.50, $10, and $20.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Min bet | $0.10 |
| Max bet | $20 |
| Autoplay | Available |
| Turbo mode | Available |
| Game history | N/A |
In the top left-hand corner, you’ll find the settings button. This gives you the option to mute the game and also gives you the “?” button, where you’ll find all the game information.
In the bottom left-hand corner, there’s the Buy Pass button. Your current balance and last win sit at the bottom of the game window.
Casinos where you can play the Christmas Krampus slot
If you’re feeling festive and want to put this slot on your nice list, these are the online casinos I recommend for playing Christmas Krampus:
| Casino Logo | Rating | Bonus | Go-to-casino button | Show more | T&C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
85/100
Expert rating
by Dasha G.
86%
Playscore
based on
|
100% up to $1,000 and 2,500 Reward Credits on a $25+ wager
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
2
|
91/100
Expert rating
by Denise M.
84%
Playscore
based on
|
100% bonus back up to $1,000
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
3
|
94/100
Expert rating
by Sophie P.
85%
Playscore
based on
|
Up to $1,000 Lossback in Casino Bonus after your first 24 hours
|
Play now players accepted |
|
Offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital, LLC. All Rewards issued as non-withdrawable site credits. 24-hour Lossback period starts when player makes first cash wager on slots only. Up to $1,000 back in casino bonus if player has net loss on slots after first 24 hours. Casino Bonus credit has a 1x wager requirement and expires after 14 days. NJ Only. Bet with your head not over it. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER |
1
|
94/100
Expert rating
by Sophie P.
81%
Playscore
based on
|
50,000 Gold Coins + 1 Sweeps Coin
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
2
|
94/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
91%
Playscore
based on
|
1.5 million WOW Coins + 35 free Sweepstakes Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
3
|
93/100
Expert rating
by Sophie P.
79%
Playscore
based on
|
50,000 Gold Coins + 1 Sweeps Coin
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
4
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Sophie P.
77%
Playscore
based on
|
50,000 Gold Coins + 1 Sweeps Coin
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
5
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
81%
Playscore
based on
|
10,000 Gold Coins + 2 Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
6
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
79%
Playscore
based on
|
25,000 Gold Coins + 2.5 Spree Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
7
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
87%
Playscore
based on
|
Up to 120,000 Gold Coins + 10 Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
8
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Vule P.
79%
Playscore
based on
|
500 Gold Coins + 3 FREE Sweeps Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
9
|
89/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
89%
Playscore
based on
|
Up to 650,000 Gold Coins + 1,400 Fortune Coins
|
Play now players accepted |
|
|
10
|
88/100
Expert rating
by Paul P.
96%
Playscore
based on
|
250,000 Gold Coins + $25 Stake Cash
|
Play now players accepted |
|
Expert verdict
If you’re looking for a casual game for the holiday season, Christmas Krampus is a good choice. It follows a pretty traditional slot layout, with a 5×3 grid and an average RTP of 96.16%, while also having some cool design elements that make it a Christmas slot with a twist.
As for the bonus features, there’s not too much going on in the base game, but the free spins are more than your average free spins, with respins and a Stash Meter for all the cash prizes your Krampus symbols pick up along the way.
Although there’s a good win potential of $4,000 on the highest paying symbol, high-rollers might feel limited by the small bet range of $0.10-$20, but I’d definitely recommend this slot for low-risk players.
FAQs
What is Christmas Krampus’s slot RTP?
The Christmas Krampus slot has an RTP of 96.16%.
What is the maximum win potential in the Christmas Krampus slot?
The highest-paying symbol on Christmas Krampus can award a maximum payout of $4,000.
Does the Christmas Krampus slot have a buy feature?
Yes, there is a buy feature on Christmas Krampus. This will instantly trigger the free spins round.
What’s the bet range on the Christmas Krampus slot?
The Christmas Krampus slot has a bet range of $0.10-$20.
Does Christmas Krampus have respins?
Yes, Christmas Krampus has respins. These are only available in the free spins round, and they’re triggered when the Krampus symbol appears on the reels. Respins last until all the Krampus symbols leave the reels.
