Return of the Rudolph Slots

Return of the Rudolph caps off an edgy Christmas series that began with Rudolph's Revenge and Santa Strikes Back. Armed with his baseball bat, Rudolph wants to put the hurt on Santa and the North Pole one more time. If you're interested in a slightly dark take on Christmas, read our Return of the Rudolph slots review to find out if it's worth playing.

Gameplay

This game has 5 reels and 50 paylines on a 5x3 grid. You need 2+ high value symbols and 3+ low value symbols in a payline to win. All winning combinations begin in the first reel and move to the right. You can see the different paylines by visiting the info screen.

Graphics & Setting

Return of the Rudolph slots is developed by RealTime Gaming (RTG), which is known for its cartoonish graphics. Not surprisingly, RTG has taken a very cartoonish approach to this game. Return of the Rudolph happens near a North Pole village, with snow-capped houses and Christmas trees in the background. It's a decent setting, although nothing we haven't seen before with other Xmas-themed games. The big draw is the edgy theme, including Rudolph with his bat and a tied-up Mrs. Claus.

Symbols & Win Potential

Regular symbols include six royals (A-9), a ripped-up teddy bear, an elf with a pick ax, a sleigh, stockings, Mrs. Claus, and Santa. Jolly Saint Nick pays the most among these symbols at 1,500x for five matching symbols. Rudolph acts as a wild symbol that also delivers wins worth up to 2,000x, while thugs serve as the scatter. The normal Return of the Rudolph max win is 6,000x your bet, but the progressive jackpot can sometimes be worth more than this.

Features

From Rudolph tripling wins to free games, Return of the Rudolph slots has several features that we'll cover below:

• Rudolph multiplier & stacked wild - Appearing in reel 3 only, Rudolph acts as a wild symbol that will expand when he can complete a winning combo. The red-nosed reindeer also triples any prize he helps form. For example, he would boost his own 2,000x top payout to 6,000x, while increasing the Santa win from 1,500x to 4,500x.
• Progressive jackpot - You win the jackpot by landing 5 thugs anywhere on the reels. This prize is worth $9,037 at the time of our Return of Rudolph slots review.
• Scatter features - The thugs deliver scatter prizes worth 3x (3 symbols) and 20x (4 symbols) your total bet. You also get to pick one of the symbols, which will reveal either the Santa Strike's Back, Rudolph's Revenge, or Rudolph's Rampage feature.
• Santa Strike's Back - 7 free spins where some symbols carry candy canes. If you get 5 candy canes in a reel throughout the course of this bonus, you'll receive another 7 spins and enjoy a 1x multiplier increase. You can retrigger Santa Strike's Back up to nine times before the feature ends.
• Rudolph's Rampage - You try to find 3 hidden elves by selecting from 8 possible locations. You'll get more free games by finding the elves with fewer selections. Additionally, you can find presents that result in extra wild symbols and up to a 4x win multiplier.
• Rudolph's Revenge - 7 free spins where all wins are doubled.

Betting Options

The 50 paylines are fixed, but you can adjust your coin size from $0.01 to $1. This creates a total betting range from $0.50 to $50 per spin. An autoplay option is also available if you'd like to keep the reels spinning automatically without having to push spin.

RTP & Volatility

No info is available on the Return of Rudolph RTP. RealTime normally gives online casinos the opportunity to choose payout percentages between 92.5% and 97.5%. So you can expect payback somewhere in this range. No volatility rating is available either, although we'd expect it to be high based on the 6,000x max win and progressive jackpot.

More on RealTime Gaming

RTG has been developing hit online slots since 1998, making it a pioneer in the industry. Some notable RealTime slots beyond the Rudolph series include Achilles Deluxe, Aztec's Millions, Bubble Bubble 3, Cash Bandits 3, Escape the North, Jackpot Pinatas, Lucha Libre 2, Princess Warrior, and T-Rex Wild Attack.

Final Thoughts on Return of the Rudolph Slots

This slot comes packed with features and an attitude-filled theme. It's the perfect anti-Xmas game if you're tired of slots revolving around presents, milk, and cookies. We like how you can uncover one of three features when landing enough scatters on the reels. Rudolph and his 3x multiplier boosted many of our wins while reviewing this game. We give this slot an 8.5/10 rating, with our only complaint being that it's slightly dated compared to newer cartoonish slots.