Play Misfit Toyland for Free

The cute characters on the reels certainly feel like stocking filler treats. The style and 3D graphics have overtones of the hugely popular blockbuster Toy Story films which are shown at Christmas year after year.

Unfortunately, the Christmassy theme doesn't extend to the generosity of the slot. With 243 ways to win across the reels, there should be more chances of multiple win lines at once. We accept that volatility is low, so you'll find there are lots of your wins that are small.

While testing the game, we encountered a lot of cash-sapping action. We hit long spells where it felt like hard work to get any significant prizes, and that's not very Christmassy in spirit.

Playing cards 9 through to Ace make up the low-paying symbols, which have prize payouts of 2.00 up to 77.00 in your currency. The high-paying toys, plus an elf, reward from 8.00 to 500.00. Prizes are calculated by multiplying your coin value and coin bet by the pay table sums.

Therefore, on a bet of 0.30, you can expect prizes from 0.60 to the top prize of 150.00. On a max bet, the game's top fixed jackpot is a 1,250.00 real cash prize. That's not a spectacular sum for 75.00 per spin.

Therefore, we need to check the special features to see how they impact your real cash winning pool.

A jack-in-the-box wild will expand to fill the entire reel and complete win lines. The wild substitutes to increase your chances of wins, but it only appears on the central three reels.

It's Father Christmas you really need to track down in the Misfit Toyland video slot. Three or more of the jolly, bearded scatter symbols will trigger the free spins bonus round.

There are 10 free spins on offer, but players have three choices of wild to opt for. Choose from one of three sad toys which can hopefully cheer you up with extra real cash wins.

Players can stick with the jack-in-the-box for expanding wilds that remain sticky on reel three. Or, you could choose the broken truck as a different sticky wild. Finally, the sinking ship wild offers expanding wilds on reels two, three, four and five.

In reality, there isn't a great deal of difference between these three options. They feel similar in volatility, and there's no difference in gameplay. Wins from each option payout total about the same amount. It's a shame the team haven't developed this bonus to offer more variation and player choice.

Rival Gaming slots are available with direct access from web browsers, so there's no need to download irritating additional software. What is a little frustrating is that loading speeds between screens can be slow. For example, the switch to your free spins reels can take a few seconds, which makes the game a little disjointed.

A further, very small niggle is that Rival Powered games don't offer an autoplay function when you play for free. This feature is reserved for the privilege of players who play for real money. It's not a deal breaker in itself, but it does add to the list of frustrations.

For a yuletide full of real cash cheer, there are some great online slots that will have you ho-ho-ho-ing.

We love the kitsch nineties throwback on offer in Silver Bells by NuWorks. It has Christmas all wrapped up with 30 paylines and huge multipliers of up to 25x in the free spins bonus. Any gambler who grew up with Home Alone or The Santa Clause at Christmas will love the cheesy graphics here.

Habanero's Santa's Village is another great sleigh ride. The slot has gorgeous 3D graphics across a horizontal pays structure. There are four progressive bonuses and some fun new features to enjoy, too. Win extra presents with Santa as he progresses around a map of the village, delivering gifts to anyone on the nice list.

The Misfit Toyland slot should meet all the criteria for a great online slot. 243 ways to win plus expanding wilds and a choice of free spins round sounds amazing, right? Somehow it doesn't quite hit the mark, though. The backstory of these sad and unloved characters has seeped into the player experience, making it a little disappointing.

The low volatility action will appeal to lots of cautious online gamblers. However, the slot's not particularly generous, so it's difficult to build a good real cash bankroll. There's a nice jingly tune with some appealing 3D graphic design, but it's a little lacklustre.

Of course, we're so used to Christmas being an over-the-top, commercial season that Misfit Toyland's just a little too subtle. Everything just needs to be a bit bigger and bolder. If you want a more thrilling game and a better example of Rival's skill as a developer, check out Rise of Poseidon.