Happiest Christmas Tree Free Play in Demo Mode by Habanero

The Happiest Christmas Tree review

Theme and Storyline

The Happiest Christmas Tree is not particularly about the happiest Christmas tree as it is about a random Christmas tree in a snowy village.

It is a distinctively seasonal theme that may feel out of place when played in the eleven months of the year that don’t contain a Christmas. Unsurprisingly, the whole theme also feels rather kitsch in the way most things associated with Christmas do.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

The symbols are all oddly ugly, with that odd pixelation that is a problem with so many Habanero games skinned on the same build as The Happiest Christmas Tree.

The animations are smooth but uninspired, which is true of both the background art and the choice of win animations and reel spins.

All of this is topped off by a soundtrack that is trying to be Christmassy but ends up feeling like a pastiche of the OST for Home Alone.

Gameplay

The gameplay for The Happiest Christmas Tree is pretty basic. The usual five by three grid is laced with forty win lines, of which you are forced to play all forty.

What variety there is comes from the bonus systems, described in full below. As is usually the case with Habanero games, the bonuses are both simple and creative and are this slot’s strong point.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols. Three or more Wilds anywhere on the reels trigger a Free Spin bonus. You receive 15 free spins which cannot be retriggered. During the free spins, if you win with one of the Low Win symbols, this symbol is removed from all reels for the remainder of the free spins.

Each win with one of Low Win symbols adds that symbol to the Bonus Counter. When you have collected three of each on the Bonus Counter, the prize pick feature is triggered.

During this feature twelve Christmas trees appear. When clicked they reveal one of the symbols. When you reveal three of the same the game ends and you win the prize that corresponds to that symbol. The prizes are 10,000 times your bet per line for the Bell; 2,500 times for the Star, 1,000 times your bet per line for the Moon; and 500 times your bet per line for the Bauble.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

The return to player of this game is 97.88%. This is very good as we take 96% to be our rough average for the industry.

Due to the inflexible range of win lines you can play, the range of bets on the site we tested ran from a minimum bet per spin of $/£/€0.40 up to a maximum of $/£/€400.00 per spin. This is a huge range and will accommodate almost any bankroll, excepting only the very lowest of rollers.

The volatility of this game is high, matching it nicely with our preferred strategies.

Conclusion

The Happiest Christmas Tree is a visually ugly slot that is largely rescued by solid gameplay, a favourable return to player (97.88%) and volatility that is a good fit with our preferred strategies.

The forty winlines mean the minimum bet per spin is a little high for the lowest rollers but for the rest of players, you could do worse than giving this seasonal offering a go. Just as long as you can bear to look at the hideous design.