Slots Like Xmas Drop: Expanding Wild Santas and a 200x Gift Multiplier

Xmas Drop brings Hacksaw Gaming’s engine to a snowy Christmas set, running on a 5×5 grid with 19 fixed paylines rather than the studio’s usual ways-to-win format. RTP sits at 96.22% on the standard build, though some operators run reduced configurations down to 88.02%, volatility is rated medium with roughly an 18% hit rate, and stakes stretch from 10p to £100 a spin. The whole game turns on Wild Santa symbols, which expand downward to fill a reel whenever doing so completes a win, and Wild Gift symbols that turn into multipliers of up to 200x the moment an expanding Santa passes through them. Two free spins rounds sit behind three and four scatter triggers, and the published ceiling runs to 12,500 times the stake. Anyone hunting for slots like Xmas Drop is usually after that same pairing: an expanding wild mechanic with real teeth, and a Christmas skin that doesn’t feel like a rushed seasonal reskin.

Where to Play

18+ only. T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly.

How the Game Works

Reviewed by Paul Stone
Published: July 2026

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Xmas Drop deals from a plain 5×5 grid, no cascades, no ways-to-win counter climbing into the tens of thousands, just 19 fixed paylines paying left to right. That puts it closer to Hacksaw’s RIP City than to flashier studio releases like Le Bandit, and reviewers have been upfront that it borrows heavily from that earlier game’s frame while swapping in a full Christmas cast. It is a deliberately traditional structure for a studio better known for chaos, and it works because the wild mechanic underneath is genuinely strong rather than just a coat of festive paint.

Every spin has a shot at a Wild Santa landing anywhere on the grid. On its own it substitutes like any wild, but if expanding downward to fill the rest of that reel would create or improve a winning line, it does exactly that, turning a single symbol into a stacked wild lane covering up to five positions. Only one Wild Santa can occupy a given reel at a time, so the excitement comes from watching two or three land across different reels in the same spin rather than one reel doing all the work.

Wild Gift symbols add the second layer. They behave as ordinary wilds until an expanding Wild Santa’s reel passes through their position, at which point the gift box pops open and reveals a multiplier anywhere from 2x up to 200x, applied to the whole of that expanded wild reel. Land two or three expanded Santas in one winning combination, each carrying its own multiplier from an opened gift, and the values are added together before the win is paid, which is where the game’s bigger single-spin hits tend to come from.

Symbols and Paytable

Santa himself sits at the top of the paytable as the premium symbol, backed by a teddy bear, a decorated Christmas tree and a gift box in the mid tier. A snow globe with an FS mark works as the free spins scatter. Lower down, playing card royals from 10 through to Ace, dressed up as gold-trimmed building blocks, candy canes, bells and striped stockings, make up the bulk of ordinary paying combinations. Premium symbols pay up to roughly 20x the stake for a full line, while the card-based low pays sit in the 0.20x to 0.40x range, a fairly standard spread for a game that leans on its wild mechanic rather than a rich paytable for its headline value.

Bonus Features Explained

Wild Santa Expansion

This is the base mechanic running through every spin, in or out of the free spins rounds. A Wild Santa expands to the bottom of its reel only when doing so produces a win, so near misses stay near misses rather than triggering automatically, and with just one Santa permitted per reel there is a natural ceiling on how far a single spin can run before the maths caps it.

Wild Gift Multipliers

Wild Gift symbols are the quiet half of the pairing. They pay and substitute like a normal wild until an expanding Santa’s reel overlaps their square, which converts the gift into a multiplier of 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x, 100x or as much as 200x, stamped onto that entire expanded reel. Because more than one expanded Santa can carry a multiplier in the same winning combination, and those values stack additively rather than the win simply taking the best of the two, this is genuinely the feature that decides whether a spin lands as a modest tick-over or a proper four-figure-times-stake result.

Night Before Xmas Free Spins

Landing three FS scatters anywhere on the grid triggers Night Before Xmas, ten free spins run with a noticeably higher chance of Wild Santa and Wild Gift symbols appearing than in the base game. It functions as the entry-level bonus, more accessible than the four-scatter round below it and still built around the same expanding wild engine, just with the dial turned up.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town Free Spins

Four FS scatters instead trigger the bigger of the two rounds. Here, the first time a Wild Santa lands on a given reel during the bonus, that reel becomes activated, and once activated it is guaranteed to produce another Wild Santa on every remaining spin of the round. Because activation stacks across reels as the ten spins go on, a bonus that gets off to a fast start can end up with several reels locked into guaranteed wilds by the closing spins, which is where the biggest documented wins on this game tend to come from.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Two clearly differentiated free spins tiers give the bonus round genuine escalation instead of one flat feature
• The Wild Gift multiplier stacking is a real skill-adjacent moment of tension, watching whether a second expanded Santa lands before the spin resolves
• A fixed 19-payline, 5×5 layout is easy to read at a glance, no shifting grid or variable ways total to track mid-spin
• £0.10 entry keeps the game accessible even though the maths and the 12,500x ceiling are pitched at a genuinely medium-to-higher variance band
• The Santa Claus Is Coming to Town round rewards patience within a single bonus, since activated reels only get better as the ten spins progress

Cons

• Reviewers have been fairly open that this plays as a close cousin of Hacksaw’s own RIP City, so it will feel familiar rather than groundbreaking to anyone who has already spun that game
• Fixed paylines and a one-Santa-per-reel cap mean the base game rarely produces the kind of jaw-dropping single spin that Hacksaw’s ways-based titles are known for
• 12,500x is a modest ceiling next to the studio’s more extreme releases, so players chasing five-figure-plus multiples may find it underwhelming
• Reduced RTP configurations exist down to 88.02%, so the exact build offered by a given operator genuinely matters here
• Bonus buy and FeatureSpins options exist on the game but are not offered to UK players under current Gambling Commission rules, so the free spins rounds can only be reached by landing scatters naturally

Game Screenshot

Demo Play

The widget below runs a free-play build of Xmas Drop, spin for spin identical to the real money version, so it is worth a run through both free spins tiers before staking anything. 18+.

Play for Free

Expert Take

Coverage of Xmas Drop tends to land in the same place: a well-built but fairly conservative Hacksaw release, praised for how cleanly the Wild Santa and Wild Gift mechanics work together, but repeatedly flagged as close in structure to RIP City from the same studio rather than a fresh idea. The general read is that it suits players who like Hacksaw’s house style of expanding wilds and layered free spins tiers but want something calmer than the studio’s most punishing titles, with the seasonal Christmas dressing doing a genuinely good job of making a familiar frame feel new for the time of year.

Similar Slots to Try

Players who enjoy Xmas Drop are usually after the same combination of a festive setting and an expanding or stacking wild mechanic with some real depth to it. These four sit closest to that mark.

• Fat Santa
  
  Push Gaming’s Christmas release leans on stacked wilds and a Santa’s Present Pick feature, a good next stop for the same big-symbol festive feel with a different studio’s take on stacking wilds.
• Mystical Santa Megaways
  
  Swaps fixed paylines for the Megaways engine, so it is the pick for anyone who likes the Christmas theme but wants a shifting grid and a bigger ways total than Xmas Drop’s 19 lines.
• Xmas Joker
  
  A simpler, lower-variance classic-style Christmas slot, worth trying if Xmas Drop’s medium volatility still feels a little too streaky for a relaxed session.
• Merry Xmas
  
  Another traditional-grid festive title, a fair comparison point for how Xmas Drop’s fixed paylines stack up against a similarly structured sister release.

About the Developer

Xmas Drop comes from Hacksaw Gaming, a B2B studio founded in 2018 that became publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm in June 2025. The studio built its reputation on high-energy, high-volatility releases with named mechanics, so a comparatively restrained, fixed-payline Christmas title like Xmas Drop is something of an outlier in its catalogue, closer in spirit to its own earlier RIP City than to flashier releases like Le Bandit or Wanted Dead or a Wild. See more on our Hacksaw Gaming slots page.

Beyond Xmas Drop, the developer’s wider library is worth a look for anyone who wants to see the same studio working in a very different register.

• Donny Dough
  
  A money-show themed release built around multiple stacked Multi-Dough symbol types, a good example of Hacksaw’s usual, busier feature set.
• Marlin Masters Atlantis
  
  An underwater-themed title with a Kraken Collector mechanic, a different setting entirely but the same studio appetite for a named collecting feature.
• Snow Slingers
  
  The closest sibling in tone, a winter-action title with its own Throw Snow feature, worth pairing with Xmas Drop for a cold-weather Hacksaw double bill.

Xmas Drop Key Stats

Xmas Drop slot information last reviewed: July 2026

Slots with the Same Features

Two feature tags run through this page, each matched to a couple of picks below.

Expanding Wilds Slots

Games built around the same reel-filling wild mechanic that Wild Santa uses whenever it completes a winning line.

Medium Volatility Slots

Titles rated for the same steadier, not-too-swingy style of play as Xmas Drop.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Wild Santa feature work in Xmas Drop?

A Wild Santa expands downward to fill the rest of its reel whenever doing so completes or improves a winning combination. Only one Wild Santa can occupy a given reel at a time, and the mechanic runs in both the base game and both free spins rounds.

What is the RTP of Xmas Drop?

The standard build runs at 96.22%, though some operators offer reduced configurations of 94.27%, 92.32% or 88.02%, so it is worth checking the game information screen before playing for real money.

What is the maximum win on Xmas Drop?

The published ceiling is 12,500 times the stake, most realistically reached during Santa Claus Is Coming to Town once several reels have been activated for guaranteed wilds.

Is Xmas Drop a high volatility slot?

No, Hacksaw Gaming rates it medium volatility with roughly an 18% hit rate, meaning wins land more regularly than on the studio’s high and very-high rated titles, though the biggest multiplier stacks still need a bit of luck.

What are the best slots like Xmas Drop?

Fans of the Christmas theme and an expanding wild mechanic tend to enjoy Fat Santa, Mystical Santa Megaways and Xmas Joker, each built by a different studio on a related idea.

Can I play Xmas Drop for free?

Yes, the demo widget on this page runs a free-play build that matches the real money version spin for spin, so it is worth trying both free spins tiers before staking anything.

Who makes Xmas Drop slot?

Hacksaw Gaming, a B2B studio founded in 2018 and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since June 2025, released Xmas Drop in late November 2023 as one of its Christmas-season titles.

Our Verdict on Xmas Drop

Xmas Drop is a calmer, more traditional Hacksaw release than the studio’s reputation would suggest, and that restraint is largely to its credit. The Wild Santa and Wild Gift pairing gives a plain fixed-payline grid genuine depth, and the two-tier free spins structure means the bonus round actually escalates rather than repeating the same trick twice. It will feel familiar to anyone who has already played RIP City, and the 12,500x ceiling is modest next to Hacksaw’s most extreme titles, but taken on its own terms this is a well judged, accessible medium volatility slot with a Christmas theme that earns its place rather than just being pasted on. Worth a look for the mechanic alone, seasonal or not.

SlotsLike rating: 7/10