Big Stack Nutcrack

Big Stack Nutcrack: Slot Overview

Having your nuts cracked might not sound very festive, but ever since Tchaikovsky's ballet 'The Nutcracker' (based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 story 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King' ), the association with nutcrackers and Christmas has been cemented in the popular consciousness. Not only are they practical, but they also make colourful decorations on the tree or around the house. They also make colourful decorations in Print Studio's online slot Big Stack Nutcrack, a rework of Big Stack Lumberjack, though it's not a straight reskin, since additions have been made to the gameplay.

The original release was a very handsome game that romantically captured the spirit of hiking into the woods and very respectfully chopping a tree down, no doubt for a noble purpose such as building a house, or whittling wooden toys for children in the village. Big Stack Nutcrack is just as wholesome, with the spirit of Christmas added in for good measure. The snow globe-like scene is also held outdoors, this one in a mountainous region, covered in snow with Santa, his sleigh, and a herd of reindeer to the side. Print Studios has mastered creating delightfully quaint scenes, and Big Stack Nutcrack sits alongside picturesque slots such as those in the studios' Plinko range.

Ten paylines cross Big Stack Nutcrack's 5x3 gaming grid, evaluating wins. The RTP is slightly higher than Lumberjack, at 96.22% while the volatility is high in general, though players can influence this by their bonus round choice. Bet selection ranges from $/€0.10 to $/€50, and various features are locked to the bet as we'll see.

Big Stack Nutcrack's low pay symbols are named the bauble, bell, coffee, and candle, while the higher value Nutcracker symbols are characters from the tale, Fritz, Fillip, Cavalier, and Drosselmeyer. The four lower-paying symbols are worth 2.5x the stake when landing 5 OAK combinations, while the Nutcracker symbol wins pay up to 5x to 10x the bet. The scatter symbol is also wild, so it can substitute for paying symbols as well as trigger the bonus round. Scatters have a payout value of up to 100x for 5 of them.

Big Stack Nutcrack: Slot Features

Instead of chopping trees, we're toppling Nutcrackers, while other features are Yuletide Gifts, Santa's Sleigh, Nutcracker Spins, Ultimate Nutcracker Spins, and the Feature Bet.

Features

• Nutcrackers - Nutcracker pay symbols cover 3 positions vertically and may land fully or partially in view. Each fully landed Nutcracker can reveal a symbol multiplier up to x100, which is stored above the reel for three spins. Should a new Nutcracker symbol with a multiplier land on the same reel as an existing multiplier, it adds its value to the multiplier, and the new total remains for three spins. The symbol multiplier applies to all wins of the corresponding symbol. Reel multiplier states are locked to the bet.
• Falling Nutcrackers - When a full Nutcracker lands, there is a chance it falls down, covering positions from its bottom position all the way to the left or the right side of the grid.
• Yuletide Gifts - If a Yuletide Gift symbol lands on a reel with an active multiplier, it may randomly award an instant prize. During the bonus round, the Yuletide Gift can be multiplied by any of the multipliers from the multiplier meter, or it may choose 'ALL', meaning it will multiply by all multiplier values in the meter. It only pays out in the bonus round if there is an active multiplier in the meter.
• Santa's Sleigh - Santa's Sleigh fills over a number of game rounds. When it is full, Whistle symbols are added to the reels. Each time a Whistle symbol lands, there is a chance of triggering Ultimate Nutcracker Spins. After the Ultimate Nutcracker Spins have been played, Santa's Sleigh resets to a random level and Whistle symbols are removed from the reels. Santa's Sleigh and Whistle symbols are available in the base game only. Santa's Sleigh is also locked between bet sizes.

Nutcracker Spins

Landing 3 or more wild scatters triggers Nutcracker Spins. Before they begin, players choose their preferred volatility:

• Low Volatility - 10 free spins with multiplier increments of 1 and a higher chance of Falling Nutcrackers.
• Mid Volatility - 7 free spins with multiplier increments of 2-50 and a medium chance of Falling Nutcrackers.
• High Volatility - 7 free spins with multiplier increments of 5-100 and a lower chance of Falling Nutcrackers.

Symbol multipliers accumulate and apply to all remaining spins. The meter next to the reels displays the current multiplier values. After a win, each full Nutcracker symbol increases the corresponding symbol multiplier. Landing 2, 3, 4, or 5 wild scatters in the bonus round awards 2, 5, 7, or 10 extra free spins, respectively.

Ultimate Nutcracker Spins

The Ultimate Nutcracker Spins bonus awards 7 free spins with the highest multiplier increments and the highest chance of Falling Nutcrackers.

Feature Bet

The Feature Bet is where players can buy their way into Nutcracker Spins by paying 109 times their stake.

Big Stack Nutcrack: Slot Verdict

First up, great name, it's a little suggestive, a little not, and it rhymes like the previous slot title did too. The next pleasant surprise was working out that Big Stack Nutcrack is not a direct clone of Big Stack Lumberjack. There are more mechanical links than not, sure, but hidden in the cracks are new features to discover, and hopefully cherish, such as Yuletide Gifts and the medium volatile free spins choice. One of the first thoughts when reviewing a Christmas slot is, 'What is this a copy of?' But Print Studios being such a creative bunch of innovators means it's easy to imagine that making a note-for-note mathematical clone would have weighed heavily on their artistic souls.

That said, much of Big Stack Nutcrack will be very familiar to anyone who's played the original version, and the new Yuletide Gift feature is something of a minor addition. Still, the familiarity is no bad thing; the transition to Nutcrackers instead of towering trees is seamless, and Santa chopping them down instead of a burly lumberjack is an amusing touch. Whilst charming, the base game might be a little hard going, when symbol multipliers end up unused or Nutcrackers are falling the wrong way, the Yuletide Gifts sparse. Or, you might get lucky - and chopping your way into the bonus round may improve the chances of being so with their persistent symbol multiplier collection. With a top prize of 20,000x the bet on the line, players will have to decide which of the three volatility options they think best to chase it.

Big Stack Nutcrack uses a pleasing fusion of festive charm and engaging gameplay to help make its presence felt in the crowded Christmas slot category. The game rebottles the spirit of its predecessor, trading trees for Nutcrackers, adding in some new bits, while retaining a wholesome, outdoorsy aesthetic to enjoy on a cold Christmas day.