Play the New Peter & Sons Slot Bad Santa on 8 December

by James Gibson, 28 November 2025

Most Christmas slots portray Santa as kind and generous. Bad Santa from Peter & Sons is different, as it gives the lovable present-giver a creepy makeover, making Christmas quite spooky. It stands out from other festive slots and boasts numerous features to make its gameplay worthwhile.

Scoring a win in the Bad Santa base game.

Bad Santa in Brief:

• Release Date: 8 December 2025
• Type: Video Slot
• Theme: Christmas, Santa
• Software Studio: Peter & Sons
• RTP: 96%
• Volatility: High
• Special Features: Scatter Pays, Cascades, Multiplier Jump
• Bonus Rounds: Free Spins
• How to Trigger Bonus Round: Land Four or More Scatters

Bad Santa is unlike other Christmas slots in that it’s not warm and comforting; instead, it has more of a horror vibe, with some of its symbols including rather terrifying-looking creatures. The visuals are indeed interesting.

The slot’s soundtrack is atmospheric and well-suited to the general Christmas horror theme. While the design is certainly eye-catching overall, the slot’s gameplay is quite enjoyable thanks to its several special features.

Full Rules & Information About the Bad Santa Online Slot

Bad Santa uses a 6×5 grid with the scatter pays system in place. This means that there are no paylines running across the grid, with all of the slot’s paying symbols acting as scatters.

You win whenever at least eight matching symbols are anywhere on the grid. Each symbol has three different payouts depending on whether you land eight-nine, 10-11 or 12 or more instances of it.

Bad Santa Symbols & Payouts

The slot has nine regular symbols: five low-paying coloured playing card suit icons (plus an X), each of which is a different colour with black stripes, and four creepy-looking creatures. The purple hooked-nose monster is the most rewarding.

Land a dozen or more instances of this symbol, and you’ll earn a payout worth 20x your bet. There are no wilds that can help you win in Bad Santa; the slot’s only special symbol is the Santa scatter.

The highest-paying symbols in the Bad Santa paytable.

• All symbols: 10
• Highest-Paying Symbol: Purple Creature
• Wilds: No
• Paylines Pay: Scatter Pays
• Maximum Win: 20,000x

Bad Santa Bonuses & Features

Whenever you win, a cascade of events occurs. All the winning symbols disappear, and new symbols fall from above to fill all empty spaces. With each cascade, the 1x multiplier doubles and applies to the current payout.

Playing the Bad Santa free spins round.

Each winning cascade triggers another cascade, doubling the multiplier. When a cascade produces no new wins, the multiplier value resets to 1x. The Multiplier Jump feature can randomly trigger and cause the multiplier to skip a value.

Land four or more scatters to earn seven free spins. While using these, the multiplier value doesn’t reset between cascade sequences. Also, each scatter that lands gives you two extra free spins to use.

Similar Games & Best Alternatives

Christmas is a very popular theme for online slots, so you won’t struggle to find some festive slot games to play. Some great choices include Naughty Santa from Habanero, Santa vs Rudolf from NetEnt and Le Santa from Hacksaw Gaming.

Some others you might be interested in include Iron Dog Studio’s Merry Megaways, Big Christmas Present from Inspired Gaming and Games Global’s Festive Indulgence. Each of these combines a delightful Christmas theme with plenty of special features.

Discover the Dark Side of Christmas with Bad Santa

Bad Santa’s somewhat sinister take on Christmas sets it apart from other festive slots. Its gameplay is compelling thanks to cascades with a multiplier that doubles with every symbol drop and a free spins round with no multiplier resets.

Give the Bad Santa slot a try when it launches if you find it appealing. Spin the reels and see the cascades, doubling multiplier and free spins features in action for yourself. Check out some other Peter & Sons slots too.