If you love Christmas inspired pokies, you’re in luck. While they’re obviously heavily promoted each December, pay attention and you’ll note they’re actually spreading their holiday cheer everywhere, no matter the time of year. All you need to know is what to look for and you can easily find them snuggly tucked away in pretty much any online casino’s pokies catalog. And when you do, only good things await. Not only are these games entertaining, with great music and graphics to get you in the Christmas spirit year-round, they’ve also got plenty of goodies, so you can enjoy what is essentially gift-getting 365 days a year.

A bit of background on Christmas pokies themes

While Christmas certainly didn’t start out this way, by most measures it has become one of the most commercialized holidays around, heavily merchandised by a taskforce of nostalgic characters and indicators. Much of this is a direct result of clever marketers like the folks at Coca-Cola who in addition to inventing the bubbly brown drink also brought us the red-suited guy who became synonymous with Santa Claus. True, traditions of Santa Claus have been around since the 280 A.D. range, but it was only in the 1930s that he took on his contemporary image of the jolly, white-bearded man.

Other symbols have become familiar to us through pop culture as well like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa’s workshop, candy canes, nutmeg, eggnog, wreaths, holly, and even trees. Then there are those Christmas songs we can all easily hum on demand, Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, Silent Night. The list goes on and on. Bottom line is, Christmas brings up a lot of familiar feelings. And in their ideal state, they’re all about the warm and fuzzy. As such, it’s no wonder Christmas themed pokies make for such inspiring and desired play – whether it’s sunny outside or snowing overseas. And it’s even less wonder that is the season to play Christmas pokies, no matter the time of year.

Our top picks for Christmas slots

Now that we know what to look for, let’s begin our journey to the North Pole, with a few stops along the way for some great Christmas games.

1. Secrets of Christmas by NetEnt

First, on our sleigh trip to Christmas pokies delight, we land ourselves at the Secrets of Christmas, an online pokies game by the developers of NetEnt fame. Despite its name, it’s no secret why this game is a true holiday classic that players love year-round. For starters, it’s spot-on in terms of creating the seasonal atmosphere with a stunning winter landscape, soft falling snow, and the reels fixed to the windowpane and surrounded by twinkling lights. Christmas music plays in the background, with a charming melody that gets you in the Christmas mood. And the symbols themselves keep true to the theme as well with candles, milk and cookies, bells, stockings, and even a gingerbread house. Santa is the star of the show, of course, serving as the game’s wild and replacing anything but the scatter symbol to complete a winning combo. There’s also the terrific feature to pick your present between the 20 different gifts in the game’s special bonus feature. In other words, Secrets of Christmas is a game that ticks all the boxes for creating the holiday atmosphere in a traditional, yet contemporary style.

2. Santa’s Wild Ride (Microgaming)

Next stop on our journey in search of the merriest of pokies we bring you Santa’s Wild Ride. Created by Microgaming this is by far one of the best of the lot when it comes to the Santa starring games. In this take, Santa is traveling by motorcycle rather than a sled, and his elf is a mechanic helping to fuel some crazy adventures during their day off from their gift delivering duties. Funny and light, Santa’s Wild Ride is a nice twist in terms of the story. Plus, it’s pretty darned festive in terms of wins as well. There are 243 paylines, the option to hit ‘autoplay’, and a lot of wild action. And the latter we mean in a literal sense. In addition to the game logo that as a wild can multiply your winnings by as much as 4X, there are in-game choices to be made when the Santa Free Spins Game is triggered including stack wilds, trailing wilds, and expanding wilds as you please. See what we mean? Wild indeed.

3. Santa Surprise (Playtech)

Keeping in spirit with the St. Nick theme, number three on our list is none other than Santa Surprise from Playtech. This game proves a hit year after year during the holiday seasons and is often a great performer in the times in between as well. Wondering what it is that works so well here? Basically, it’s because Santa Surprise slots are as Christmassy as they come, packed with holiday magic and full of good cheer. In some ways, you might say it’s quite similar to Secrets of Christmas with all the standard Christmas fare – like bells, gift boxes and stockings as reel symbols. But it’s a bit different, particularly in terms of its standout bonus feature which is triggered by the beautifully decorated tree. Land 3 or more tree symbols in an active pay line, and you get to pick special gifts (the number depends on how many tree symbols you have) from the 6 boxes found under the main Christmas tree. Each box contains coveted rewards like free spins and multipliers once you unwrap. Hence the surprise element of this Xmas game, and one of the main things that make this game such a delight to play.

4. Gingerbread Lane (Microgaming)

Far less flashy than some of the other Christmas fare, we nonetheless absolutely love this sweet game. Brought to life in pastel colors, this Microgaming treat features adorable gingerbread people getting ready for Christmas – decorating their tree, kissing under the mistletoe, and even making angels in the snow. Set upon a backdrop of gorgeous gingerbread houses, fluffy clouds, and a little snow, there are 5 reels and 25 paylines in this game, which you can cleverly activate by sliding the indicator-up (or down) the candy cane, found on both sides of your screen. The biggest win is 1000 coins, and that’s triggered by 5 cookie couples. Other than that the winnings and features are fairly standard, but it’s the atmosphere that makes it magical and makes Gingerbread Lane a tasty treat at any time.

5. Flowers Christmas Edition (NetEnt)

Everybody does a little Christmas branding around the holiday season. So why should a pokies developer be any different? Hence we’ve got the festive version of NetEnt’s extremely popular Flowers game, i.e. Flowers Christmas Edition. The flowers may have been left out in the snow, but they’re blooming here, and so can you as you spin the reels. For example, you ask? You can win up to 75,000 coins and harvest the rewards of stacked wilds. Most interesting is the ability to reap the benefits of double symbols in both regular gameplay and the free spins round. That means if you land a symbol with a double-headed flower, it counts twice, that is as two symbols towards forming a winning pay line. So whether you’re a fan of the original NetEnt Flowers game (and who isn’t really?), or looking to plant the seeds for a new pokies love, this is a great game with a flourishing effect, rain, sleet, or shine.

6. A Christmas Carol (Betsoft)

This next game already took a starring role on our top 10 most awesome cinematic 3D online pokies list, and now it’s back as one of our top Christmas picks as well. First of all, it’s plain and simple why we rank it so high, and that’s mostly because of the awesome Betsoft 3D animation effects that we love so much. That and the storyline of course, which go together perfectly to create a truly engaging pokies game. Needless to say, you’ve got Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts, and their well-known lessons in teaching him to overcome his miserly ways. The game itself, however, isn’t miserly at all with great features that include free spins with guaranteed wins, an exciting Ghost of Christmas Present wild round, and a Double-Up coin flip mini-game within.

7. Naughty or Nice (RTG)

Whether or not you win at pokies isn’t generally considered a matter of naughty or nice, but it is when you play this game. Brought to us by RTG, Naughty or Nice pokies is a sexy spin on the traditional theme. With 50 paylines and a progressive jackpot, there’s a lot at stake in your virtual behavior, where Naughty and Nice are actual people, with a beautiful brunette and buxom blonde taking the roles respectively. Not the best graphics we’ve seen, and certainly not taking sexy and seductive as far as they could go. Still, it’s a cute game with some decent rewards and wins extra points in our books by differentiating itself in terms of the typical pokies Christmas theme.

8. Leprechaun Carol (Pragmatic Play)

A Leprechaun at Christmas? The Luck of the Irish in the North Pole? How weird is that? Yet here it is, mixing holidays in a truly festive pokies game, with one of the most unique interpretations around. In addition to witnessing originality at its best, in Leprechaun Carol created by Pragmatic Play you can win up to 6000X your wager, watch as random symbols turn into wilds, pick goodies for yourself like free spins and wilds, enjoy progressive free spins with a multiplier of up to 6, pick a fiddle to reveal a prize, and so much more. It’s strange, but a simultaneously fascinating cross between themes with an excellent RTP of nearly 96.53%. What else can we say, except the little green guy really does step it up at Christmas time?

9. Jingle Spin (NetEnt)

There is perhaps no tune more associated with Christmas than Jingle Bells, and so when we say Jingle Spin you know exactly where we’re going. This cute game from NetEnt is a festive turn on a winning formula, that is it will look familiar if you’ve ever played NetEnt’s Eggomatic game. Released in time for the 2018 holiday season, it is one of the newest Christmas pokies on the market, but it’s already proven to be a real attention grabber with its Spreading Wild Bauble feature and industrious elves sitting above the action waiting to catch baubles and activate nifty gifts. Making it even more awesome and ideal is the perfectly on-theme soundtrack as Santa in his workshop pulls the lever (when you push the button) to spin the reels. Really, this game is gorgeous and a whole lot of fun. And your reward for reading to the bottom of our best-of list, because the truth is told, it deserves an even higher spot.

10. Holiday Season (Play N’Go)

Last but certainly not least on our list of Christmas inspired online pokies we’ve got Holiday Season from Play N’Go. While many of us traditionally think of Christmas as family time, that’s only part of the equation. There are also the Christmas parties out there. And that is exactly what this game is about, crowds, champagne, dancing ‘til dawn and all. As for the stats, for those interested in such, it’s got 5 reels, 10 twinkling paylines, high volatility, a 96% RTP and a maximum win of 500,000 coins. And of course, this party is serving all the right dishes with plump turkeys and sweet puddings lining up to increase the merriment. There’s also the always popular gamble option, a gift box as the wild symbol, and many different ways to collect on free spins. In other words, it is packed with the fun and frivolity that make one joyous during the holiday season, or any season of the year.

Final assessment of the best online pokies with a Christmas theme

Although Christmas only comes once a year, you certainly don’t need to wait to get in the spirit. With all the joy and merriment the holidays bring, it is only natural that you may want to capture that special feeling all year round. To do so you can play Christmas jingles, whip up some eggnog, and pull out your tackiest Christmas sweater. And now, you can also play Christmas inspired pokies as well. With their seasonal graphics, terrific soundtracks and potential wins, they make a nice present to gift yourself, any day of the year.