The Wildos: Xmas Xpress Slot Review

If you played The Wildos 2, three reviewers say you already know what to expect from The Wildos Xmas Xpress. Thunderkick releases it on 25 November 2026, just in time for the holiday season, and those reviews call it the same gameplay under a Christmas theme. What is new is the dressing: a snowy train robbery, with a 10,000x max win on top. It's not exactly groundbreaking, but if you liked The Wildos 2, the holiday vibe is a fun touch.

Triggering the bonus happens the usual way: land three bonus cakes, or two regular cakes plus a "super cake" for the top-tier feature. If you want to speed things up, there are two BET+ options, Bonus Boost and Bonus Boost Plus, that cost a bit more per spin to boost your trigger chances.

If you're into bonus buys, the four standard ones, the Bronze Wild Bonus, Silver Wild Bonus, Gold Wild Bonus and Random Bonus, each cost a flat 100x your bet, and that gives you a genuinely interesting choice. Instead of charging you more money for higher volatility, the game lets you trade spins for multiplier potential:

• Bronze: 12 spins with wilds ranging from x1 to x3.
• Silver: 9 spins with wilds ranging from x5 to x8.
• Gold: A risky 6 spins with wilds ranging from x10 to x25.
• Random: A mystery mix of spins and wilds, with a slight chance to upgrade to the Super Bonus.

The twist here is how the sticky wilds work. When you choose your metal, only that specific wild becomes sticky on the middle three reels. They keep their position, but not their value. Every single spin, the multiplier re-rolls within its tier's range. Also, these multipliers add together rather than multiply. So, two x25 Gold wilds on a payline give you a 50x boost, not 625x. Filling a whole reel with sticky wilds adds extra spins (a third of your starting amount), though neither of my rounds got that far.

To see how the math actually feels, I bought two of them. I went with the 100x Gold option first. With only six spins, it's a bit of a nail-biter, but I managed to lock in two Gold wilds early on. On the very last spin, they both re-rolled to their max x25, catching a small line win that brought my total return to 87x. It didn't quite cover the 100x cost, but it showed how quickly the additive math can save a bonus at the last second.

Then I tried the 500x Super Bonus. This one skips the choice, giving you 12 spins where all wild tiers are sticky, and higher-tier wilds can land on lower ones to upgrade them permanently. Unfortunately, my board filled mostly with Bronze and Silver wilds. Because they re-roll at such modest ranges, the payouts just couldn't keep up with the steep entry price. I walked away with 121x, about a quarter of what I paid. It's a stark reminder of how volatile that 500x buy can be.

As a 10,000x max win game, it's a solid, familiar addition to Thunderkick's lineup.

When you compare it to Thunderkick's two cluster games due out this autumn, Greedy Pumpking on 21 October and Shark Park on 13 November, the math here feels a bit more restrained because the multipliers add rather than multiply together. It's also interesting to look at how it handles bonus buys compared to outside competitors. Backseat Gaming's Strawberry Land uses similar sticky multipliers but charges 100x, 300x, or 500x just to guarantee higher multiplier ranges.

Thunderkick keeping the standard buy at a flat 100x and letting you choose your own volatility (spins vs. multiplier size) is actually a really player-friendly touch. If you like high volatility and wild multipliers that add on a line, the way Pragmatic's Zeus vs Hades - Gods of War adds its locked wild reels in the free spins, this one is definitely worth a few spins over the holidays.