Fruit Shop Christmas Edition Slot Review

If you’ve ever played NetEnt’s Fruit Shop slot, then the winter edition won’t feel very different. At least in terms of slot layout. Fruit Shop Christmas Edition slot machine has 5 reels, 3 rows and 9 paylines. Similar to other classic slots like Joker Pro it joins the fixed payline family. NetEnt has released a few titles with adjustable paylines but they are few and far between.

As a player you do still have some flexibility though. Adjust the coin size between 0.01 and 1.00 and set the number of coins you want to place per line. A maximum of 10 coins can be put per line per every individual spin. If we do the math the minimum bet is €/£/$0.15 whereas the maximum is €/£/$150.

On the other side of the spectrum, for those players who are looking for minimum input, there’s always the autoplay feature. Just remember to set the number of spins before you activate the feature. We were also pleasantly surprised to see that Fruit Shop Christmas Edition Slot is also available on mobile. It may look like a classic slot but NetEnt has done a good job ensuring it that it can be played everywhere.

So far, it’s almost as if we’re could be playing the Fruit Shop slot. Nothing much has changed in their winter edition version. The same can be said for the Fruit Shop Christmas RTP. At 96.71% its exactly the same value. It’s also up there with all of NetEnt’s other Christmas slots. Fruit Shop Christmas slot is also a low to mid variance game. The hit rate frequency is just as appealing as the return to player.

The name promises a fruit machine experience and in terms of sound and design, NetEnt has aimed to achieve just that. If you have ever played the original Fruit Shop slot, then you know what we are talking about.

The audio is what we’d expect of any old retro style slot. We were a little let down to see that they haven’t done much to give it a festive feel. There’s a vague bell sound every so often. If it weren’t for the slot name though, we probably wouldn’t realise that this was done intentionally in an effort to keep in line with the Christmas theme. It’s cheerful though, we’ll give it that, especially when you hit the free spins feature.

The sound may not set the scene, but the design certainly does. The smooth, sleek animations that NetEnt take pride on are perfectly in line with the Christmas theme. The entire reel is covered in snow and all fruit has been frozen. Then there’s that Christmas tree and snowman in the background. It may not rack up to the 3D animations in some of the newer slots like A Christmas Carol. It does, however, give that same festive feel that we all look for in Christmas slots.

Fruit Shop free spins have always been a big part of the game. Whilst some players may have been looking for something different in the Christmas edition, we were pleased to see the same approach. For those who are less familiar with the in-game features of this slot, we’ll take you through it all.

For starters, Fruit Shop Christmas does not have scatter symbols. The slot still has free spins though and it only takes landing 2 frozen fruits to set them off. Symbols contribute differently to free spins. Cherries, for instance, are the more favourable. Here's a table to make this all clearer.

Winnings during Free Spins are multiplied by 2. On top of this during Free Spins the feature can be retriggered, therefore you can receive even more free spins. This time, the regular A, K, Q, J and 10 symbols have also been put into the equation. They work in the same way as all other fruit symbols shown in the table above. Cherries once again come out on top.

They may have done away with the scatter but at least they have included Wilds. It has a distinctive design showing a Christmas tree with the words Fruit Shop. You really can’t miss them! For any slot novices out there, wilds substitute all other symbols. Fruit Shop Christmas Edition has done one better with these though. Winning paylines featuring a wild are doubled. The same applies during free spins. Combine that with the x2 multiplier that comes into effect here and players could end up quadrupling their winnings.

The features are simple but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This is what players love about classic slot machines after all. There’s a reason that they are still popular in this day and age. Who needs all those complicated bonus rounds anyway when something as simple as Fruit Shop Christmas Edition slot could end up paying out just as well, or even better. Plus it won't take an age reading all the fine print. Everyone knows how the slot works already!

In many ways, this Fruit Shop Christmas Edition slot review could be used to describe the original game. There isn’t much difference after all! The winter edition was, however, a turning point for NetEnt. When it was first released, we had hoped it wouldn’t be a one-time thing and thankfully we were right. Fruit Shop Christmas Edition slot machine will go down in history as one of the pioneers that broke the ice for NetEnt. Several others followed but none with the same nostalgic feel as this one!