Piles of Presents

Piles of Presents Slot Review

Slot Provider: Just For The Win

RTP: 96.17% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 5,000x

Our Score: 7.6

Play at Casumo Casino
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About Piles of Presents

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 11th October 2022

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Just For The Win brought us this Christmas special back in December 2022. A classic 5-reel slot with 20 paylines which piles on the gifts in the bonus round with lots of multipliers, free spins and symbol upgrades to give you the chance to land a nice festive payout.

Piles of Presents Game Information

  • RTP: 96.17%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 5,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 5
  • Rows: 3
  • Paylines: 20
  • Minimum Stake: £0.20
  • Theme: Christmas
  • Features: Wilds, Free Spins, Symbol Upgrades, Multipliers, Jackpot Prize Wheel

What We Liked

  • Free spins round bursting with gifts
  • Lost of symbol upgrades and multipliers
  • Nicely rendered traditional design
  • Chance to land 5,000x jackpot
  • Keep earning more free spins

What We Didn't like

  • Variable RTP - check with your casino

Piles of Presents Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 8
  • RTP and Variance 7
  • Maximum Win 7
  • Symbols and Paytable 7
  • Features and Gameplay 9

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"A classic Christmas slot with an exciting bonus round stacked with modifier gifts for you to open and enjoy!"

Overall Score: 7.6

Theme & Design

Our Score 8

Like most Christmas slots, Piles of Presents lays it on thick. And why not? There are some games now that opt for a more humours approach, but not this one. Warm fireplace, stockings hanging, soft-light Christmas tree with baubles and fairy lights, lots of holly and smiling Santas. It’s all there to put you in the festive mood. And of course a chiming tune to keep you company whilst you spin those reels. For symbols, Just For The Win have also gone down the traditional route too with old-skool presents like solider toys and drums.

Meanwhile, atop the reel set sits a gleaming prize wheel that may reveal one of four jackpot prizes if you’re lucky.

RTP and Variance

Our Score 7

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

Piles of Presents has three available RTP settings: 96.17%, 94.16% or 92.06%. Your casino will run the game at one of these settings. To find out which hit the Help link in the top right of the game screen. We verified the RTP at three UK casinos:

None of the sites we checked ran the game at its optimum setting.

The variance is very high in Piles of Presents – so this game can be pretty unforgiving for a Christmas slot. There is a lot of potential in the free spins round, particularly with symbol upgrades and multipliers. But be prepared for frustrating times along the way.

Maximum Win

Our Score 7

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

Piles of Presents has a maximum win of 5,000x, available through the Mega Jackpot prize on the Christmas Wheel. This is OK but not great for a high variance game. If you want a Christmas slot with higher maximum win potential then we recommend that you try Wonders of Christmas from NetEnt with a 100,000x top payout.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 7

Piles of Presents is a straight-forward slot with 5 reels, 3 rows and 20 active paylines. You’ll need to land 3 or more identical symbols across a payline from left to right, starting with the left-most reel, to score a win.

There are 8 basic pay symbols. The low value one are the cards, Jack, Queen, King and Ace valued at from 0.4x for 3 Jacks up to 4x for 5 Aces. Premium symbols are the presents – the drums, train set, solider and teddy bear. These are valued at from 0.8x for 3 drums up to 20x for 5 teddy bears.

You also have a wild which can sub in for all other symbols to complete winlines AND pay out at 1.5x for 3, 7.5x for 4 or 20x for 5.

That’s your basic paytable. You also have scatters and mistletoes that will help unlock the headline features described below.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 9

You can’t help but enjoy the warm, Christmas-y vibes of Piles of Presents. The game trundles along nicely with a few wins helped along by the occasional wild of two whilst you wait for one of the main events to trigger.

It’s the free spins round that brought us the most joy. It’s like a real Christmas morning with lots of modifiers to unwrap revealing all kinds of treats. Just For The Win have done a good job of making this part of the game feel special.

It starts with unlocking the round – land three or more Santas to get 6 free spins. Then you get 3, 4 or 5 picks depending on whether you landed 3, 4 or 5 Santas on the reels. Each pick is s present to unwrap and will reveal one of a series of modifiers.

Picking Your Features
Picking Features in Piles of Presents For Free Spins

You might get 3, 4, 5, 6 or 9 free spins; a 1x, 2x or 3x multiplier; a mid-level symbol upgrade to a wild; a low-level symbol upgraded to mid-level; or a low-level symbol upgraded to a wild.

Now, once you’ve unwrapped your gifts, the free spins start. If you’re lucky you’ll have a few upgrades, some nice multiplier action and some extra spins. The round already starts with a 1x multiplier so any extra from the feature pick is just added to this total. And as we found out, you can land more Santa symbols and pick up more features. When 2, 3, 4 or 5 Santas land you go back to the tree with 1, 2, 3 or 4 more picks.

Extra upgrades, more multipliers and more spins just add to your chances of scoring better payouts. And whilst we didn’t experience this ourselves, if you get another pick on the final free spin then it’s guaranteed to be more spins to keep you going.

And after all that, you’ll be given one big payout when you run out of spins or you hit the 5,000x max win cap.

Winnings From Free Spins
Total Winnings From a Free Spins Round In Piles of Presents

Finally, there is one more gift Santa has up his sleeve for Piles of Presents – a Christmas Wheel with four possible jackpot prizes – 15x, 40x, 250x or 5,000x. This proved an elusive feature to us. To trigger you must collect mistletoe that appears randomly with mid-level symbols on any spin. When collect mistletoe then there is a chance of unlocking the Wheel. But it’s not guaranteed … it feels a bit like a random prize draw for every player who spins on the game.

The Final Verdict

Piles of Presents is a genuinely fun Christmas slot. Whilst the base game didn’t offer much to write home about, the set-up of the bonus round with the chance to unwrap gifts and reveal modifiers, then keep going back to that source to unwrap more as the round progresses, made it feel like a real Christmas morning. There are many ways to boost your wins in this way but our favourite was the symbol upgrades to wilds. Enough of these and you’ll hit regular wins during your free spins and make a good payout total.

Who Made Piles of Presents?

  • Name: Just For The Win
  • Established: 2016
  • UK License: Via Microgaming
  • Total Games: 45 +
  • Known For: Partnerships with Microgaming, high variance games
  • Popular Slots: Western Gold, Bandit and the Baron, Diamond Sands, Wolf Howl
Find More Just For The Win slots

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