Winter Champions Slot
Get 100 Free Spins when You Bet £20
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Winter Champions Demo
Recommended Casino
3,000+
Up to 24 hours-
United Kingdom (UKGC)
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Winter Champions RTP, Details & Wager Limits
The Winter Champions slot unfolds on a 5 x 4 grid layout with 1,024 ways to win. To form a winning combination, land 3 or more winning symbols on adjacent reels, starting from left to right.
You can spin the reels from just 10p to a maximum of £150. To adjust the bet size, tap the “+” and “-” icons below the grid. Moreover, the Autoplay feature is also available to players outside the UK, offering up to 1000 autospins.
The Winter Champions RTP is 96.1%, within the average at best payout slots. However, keep in mind that some operators offer 94% and 86% RTP versions. Nonetheless, with the game’s medium volatility, you should typically expect a balance between risk and reward. The 22.39% hit frequency is quite disappointing; winning combinations hit every 4.5 spins on average.
The 6,000x max payout is another letdown. I was hoping for at least 10,000x, as seen in many of the provider’s best real money slots. Still, opting for the Ski Jumping bonus feature with multipliers of up to 5,000x offers your best chance at hitting big.
Theme—Winter Is Filled with Fun
It’s winter again at Relax Gaming. Layer up your clothes, put on your gloves, and lace up your boots to compete at the championship. The provider is renowned for featuring abstract characters in its online slot games, and this time, winter athletes are replaced with an animal gang.
The grid is set against mountains and trees covered in thick snow. I like the idea behind the view of live ice hockey and ski jumping events taking place simultaneously. Moreover, the visuals get more appealing during the bonus round, where you choose to play in one of 3 available sports arenas.
Additionally, it has a warm yet festive soundtrack that compliments the frigid atmosphere. On the reels, you will find royal playing cards as low-paying symbols. On the other hand, animal cartoon-like sports characters represent high-paying symbols. Check out the paytable below:
| Symbol | Payouts/Info |
|---|---|
 10 | 3, 4, 5 = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3x stake |
 J | 3, 4, 5 = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3x stake |
 Q | 3, 4, 5 = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3x stake |
 K | 3, 4, 5 = 0.1, 0.2, 0.4x stake |
 A | 3, 4, 5 = 0.2, 0.4, 1x stake |
 Skiing Athlete | 3, 4, 5 = 0.2, 0.5, 1.2x stake |
 Curling Athlete | 3, 4, 5 = 0.2, 0.6, 1.4x stake |
 Hockey Athlete | 3, 4, 5 = 0.4, 1, 3x stake |
 Gold Medalist | 3, 4, 5 = 0.4, 1, 3x stake |
 Wild | Substitutes for all the symbols on the reels |
Winter Champions Mobile
Like most new online slots by Relax Gaming, the Winter Champions mobile slot uses HTML5 technology. Thus, it runs smoothly on iOS and Android devices without reducing the game’s functionality and graphic quality. Despite the convenience offered by mobile casinos, I had a more immersive experience playing on my desktop computer.
Winter Champions Bonus Features
The Winter Champions stands out with its unique Rolling Respins, and the opportunity to select from 3 bonus rounds. You also have a Bonus Buy feature that saves you the hassle of activating your preferred bonus round naturally.
Rolling Respins
The Rolling Respins mode becomes active whenever a winning combination lands on the reels. The reels move down by one position, removing the bottom row and adding a new top row. This triggers more wins and continues as long as a winning combination appears on the reels.
Personally, this feature feels more like a clone of Cascading Reels. But rather than replace winning symbols, Rolling Respins remove the bottom row. Despite offering a novel experience, I didn’t find it as thrilling as Cascading Reels.
Bonus Games
The bonus games at the Winter Champions slot game take a different twist. First, it doesn’t have scatters, so it is triggered by landing 3 Wilds on the reels during the base game.
Upon activating the bonus game, you can choose one of the 3 bonus features:
- Ski Jumping
- Ice Hockey
- Curling
Ski Jumping Bonus
At the beginning of the Ski Jumping bonus round, you are awarded 6 Rolling Respins. It reduces by 1 when a winning combination doesn’t appear on the reels till it is exhausted. You will find a ladder with 29 steps by the left side of the grid- each cascade increases your position by 1.
In addition, you can ascend through 6 prize thresholds during this bonus round, each with a multiplier value. It starts from 5x, and increases progressively to 10x, 25x, 50x, 100x, and 1000x after every 5 spins.
If you are lucky to land a Wild, the prize gets a 5x increase, bringing the prizes to 25x, 50x, 125x, 250x, 500x, and 5,000x. The bonus game ends when you exhaust the Rolling Respins or hit the max payout.
However, I find it rather disappointing that it awards only the highest prize you hit on the ladder at the end of the round rather than an addition of the collected multipliers. I hit the 75x prize during my review, which awarded an “Epic Win” of £94.
Ice Hockey Bonus
Like the Ski Jumping round, you are awarded 6 Rolling Respins at the beginning of the Ice Hockey bonus. Coins with unknown values, represented by Ice Hockey pucks, can appear on the reels with paying symbols ranging from 1x to 500x.
A Collector, represented by an Ice Hockey goal post, can also land with a multiplier: 2x, 3x, 5x, or 10x. As the name would suggest, the Collector collects the coins on the reels, reveals the sum of the values, and multiplies them with its multiplier value.
Interestingly, the Collector transforms into a Wild after collecting the coins, helping to complete winning combinations.
Curling Bonus
The Curling bonus also starts with 6 Rolling Respins, and only 2 symbols appear on the reels: Coin and Blocker. The game starts with 3 coins, each with a default value of 1x. The coins cascade down after every spin and pile up at the bottom row.
The Rolling Respins reduce by 1 when no new coin lands on the reels after a respin. Each column multiplier (reels) has a value of x5, while the row multipliers are 2x, 8x, 40x, and 150x, starting from bottom to top.
At the end of the bonus round, all the multiplier values on the screen are multiplied and instantly awarded.
Buy Bonus (Unavailable in the UK)
You can move directly into any of the 3 bonus rounds from the base game by activating the Buy Bonus option. It costs 50% of the total bet, and the RTP increases to 96.5%.
Unfortunately, the Buy Bonus feature is not available at UK online casinos.
Winter Champions Verdict: Eye-Catching Visuals with Unique Bonus Features
If there is something to learn about Relaxing Gaming, it is that regardless of the slot’s theme, the animations of the main symbols will at least make you chuckle. The Winter Champions slot game didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed watching animals compete for gold—my favourite was the polar bear ice hockey player. However, sports enthusiasts looking for an original experience might not find it appealing.
The Rolling Respins feature is quite a new and impressive innovation that works like cascading reels at UK slot sites. But in my opinion, it doesn’t have the capacity to carry the base game on its own—the gameplay looks basic with little to anticipate. Pairing the feature with random multipliers or special bonus symbols would have made a significant difference.
The provider states that the game has medium volatility, which basically offers more frequent substantial wins than high-variance slots. However, I experienced prolonged dry spells, and even when I hit wins, the payouts were little.
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Specialising in reviewing online casinos, sportsbooks, and slots, Olamidotun consistently delivers engaging and insightful content. His writing captivates readers, providing a deep understanding of the subject matter. Trusted by enthusiasts and beginners alike, he continually enhances his skills to meet the demands of the evolving online gaming world.
