Ho Ho Ho Pokies
One look at the title and it’s probably not the biggest surprise in the world to find that this online pokie is themed around Christmas. When it was designed, Christmas was probably a new concept, because this game looks really ancient, but it comes complete with wild substitutions, free spins with multipliers and a gamble game, so maybe we shouldn’t be too harsh on it.
It’s one of a number of Christmas themed pokies from Microgaming, so they know what players are looking for in their games and have provided all the basics with Ho Ho Ho.
This pokie has the standard 5 reel layout, with 15 paylines and players can use the controls beneath the reels to set a wager of between 0.10 and 200.00 so it should suit most bankrolls, although to cover all lines and therefore claim all winning combinations, a minimum stake of 2.00 will be needed.
The reels fill the screen with no room for a background image, and just enough space at the sides for the payline indicators, while below them we have the title decorated with a little image of Santa and his reindeer flying through the skies and that’s about it. There’s the usual payout table that details how many times the stake per line can be won each time the right symbols stop in the right places, with winning combinations created by 3 or more of the same symbol landing on an active line, running from the reel on the left side.
All symbols are connected to Christmas, so the high card 10 through to A icons that so many pokies feature are missing here. The candy cane is the lowest value one, paying out 5x, 15x or 50x the line bet when 3, 4 or 5 land, while moving up the scale players will see a gingerbread man, cookies and milk, a Christmas pudding and a lovely roast turkey.
Ho Ho Ho
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A colourful Christmas tree, Santa’s sleigh filled with presents and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer make up the highest value symbols, while there’s a couple of extra ones to bring in the bonus features of the game.
Despite his genial appearance, Santa is wild. It doesn’t mean he’s crazy, just that in this game he will be able to substitute for any other symbol, apart from the scatter, to help complete winning lines. Santa has an added treat for the good girls and boys who play Ho Ho Ho, as he is also the highest paying symbol whenever he makes up a line on his own, with just 2 being enough for a win of 5x the line bet and a full run of 5 paying out the jackpot prize of 15,000x.
The other bonus feature is triggered by the scatter symbol which is represented by a neatly wrapped present. When this stops on the reels in any 2 or more positions, without needing to be on a line, players will receive a payout that’s a multiple of the total bet per spin, rather than the bet per line.
There’s prizes of 1x, 2x, 20x or 60x the stake when 2, 3, 4 or 5 scatters land at once, while any 3 or more will also take players to the main bonus of a free spins game.
20 spins will play out automatically, and should any of them be winning ones, the amount paid will be doubled in value from the base game. 3 or more scatters landing during them will add another 20 spins to the end of the current round.
A simple gamble game can be played after any winning spins. To double the amount just won, players need to correctly guess if a playing card will be revealed as a red or black one, with the option to collect the new win or try to double it over and over if successful. But a wrong guess at any point loses the triggering bet as well as any gamble wins so far, so tread carefully as the odds are pretty poor with games like this.
Does Ho Ho Ho Sleigh the Opposition?
Despite being an older game, Ho Ho Ho manages to squeeze in a couple of bonus features, although there’s nothing particularly unusual about them. So it’s an easy game to play, has a decent bet range, looks fine, if uninspiring, and because it’s from the Microgaming developer, it can be trusted to deliver fair play and reliability.
Spin the reels at any time of the year and see for yourself what nice gifts Santa can deliver to you.