The Dog House: A Ruffin’ Good Time

If cartoons and dogs are up your alley, then you have found the perfect slot game in The Dog House, which you can play at any reputable online casino. Pragmatic Play is known for games with dynamic slot mechanics, engaging soundtracks and charming visuals, and they’ve hit the nail on the head with all three in The Dog House.

Let’s see how our canine companions fare in this slot game that has plenty of bonus features, such as wilds, multipliers and free spins. Here is our review.

Theme

The game opens with a cartoon-like and picturesque scene: vibrant green grass, a white picket fence, blue skies with perfect clouds, and lush trees in a neighbourhood filled with idyllic homes.

The theme is obviously dogs, with a kennel for a grid. Expect to see the elements you would in any neighbourhood, like flowers and birds. The cartoon colours work well with this particular theme, design and layout. It’s a simple concept but an effective one, and we like that it’s not overwhelming with the theme, which can also be distracting for some players.

The soundtrack is upbeat, with the kind of music you would expect as an intro for a cartoon about a bunch of fun-loving dogs. There are harps, wind instruments and an up-tempo beat that builds to a crescendo in anticipation of a winning spin. However, we did find the repetition a bit grating, and that’s the only gripe we have with a lot of slot games. In the end, we turned off the sound, and it in no way detracted from the vibe of The Dog House.

Symbols

There are big, juicy symbols for suit values, like Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten. They are displayed with vibrant colours like blue, red, purple, yellow and green. When matching symbols appear on the screen, they spin around like an excited puppy, which is quite fun.

There are cutesy dogs with big eyes and silly expressions—enough of them to put you in a good mood (we especially like the pup who is catching a tennis ball.) Of course, you will also find some hoity-toity dog symbols with pink bows in their hair and collars to match. There is also a Doberman symbol, but he’s got such a goofy look on his face that even a player who is deathly afraid of dogs would have a hard time finding him scary.

Bright red and yellow kennels, bonus symbols depicted by ruby-red prints, and green collars with golden name discs are also in the mix. And where would a good doggie be without a doggy treat to spur them on?

Now that you know what symbols to expect, here is a breakdown of their payouts should you get three, four or five matching symbols in a spin:

• 10, Jack, or Queen: 0.1, 0.25 or 1.25 x your bet.
• King or Ace: 0.25, 0.5, or 2.5 x your bet.
• Bone treat: 0.4, 1, or 5 x your bet.
• Green collar: 0.6, 1.25 or 7.5 x your bet.
• Dog with a pink bow: 1,2 or 10 x your bet.
• Pug: 1.25, 3, or 15 x your bet.
• Chihuahua: 1.75, 5 or 25 x your bet.
• Doberman: 2.5, 7.5, or 37.5 x your bet.

The kennel is Wild and substitutes for all other symbols, while the paw acts as a Scatter and three of them activate the Free Spins round.

Gameplay

At the start of the game, the grid, which is a huge kennel, is just off-centre as the display gives you the option to press the standout spin button. Pragmatic Play also takes the time to show some of the more important aspects of the game, such as the volatility, the maximum win, where wild multipliers will be found and what they turn into during the free spins round.

Once you have entered the game, you are in the doghouse. Literally. The kennel is the grid with five reels and three rows. It takes up most of the space, so the background isn’t prominent at all.

The banner at the top of the kennel reiterates information about Wilds and Multipliers. At the far left you have the system settings info, which shows your game history and allows you to adjust your total bet amount. You can also choose to activate the battery saver, turn the game music and game sounds on or off (we suggest off), and decide whether you want the intro screen before starting the game. There is also a speaker button where you can increase or decrease the volume of the soundtrack and game sounds.

Buttons

Next to these icons, you will find an information button. If you click on it, you will find the game rules. Essentially, it’s the payout for each symbol when they appear three, four or five times from left to right on adjacent reels, starting with the reel on the left. There is a more detailed description of the Wilds and Scatter symbols and how they work, as well as the rules for the free spins round.

On the next page, you will find the volatility of the game, and how the symbols can line up in order to become a winning combination. Players can also find the RTP of The Dog House, and the minimum and maximum bet. Pragmatic Play has made it really easy for anyone to play this slot, even including instructions on it and explaining what you can find on the main game interface. This includes your settings, information screen and bet menu (everything we have discussed above.)

Finally, on the right-hand side, you will find the spin button. Clicking on the plus will show you the paylines you are betting on, how many coins per line, the coin value and what your total bet is. You can also select the “Bet Max” option if you want to.

Features

Multiplier Wilds

Kennel wild symbols have 2x and 3x multipliers and appear on the three middle reels, so when they are part of a winning combo, the amount is either doubled or tripled. It’s a dog’s life if you get a winning line with more than one multiplier. Then, the values are combined. For instance, should you get a 3x and 2x multiplier in a single line, you get a pawsome treat of a 5x multiplier boost.

Sticky multiplier wilds and free spins

When the paw-some bonus symbol hounds its way onto reels 1, 3, and 5 on the same spin, you’ll fetch the feature round! A 3×3 grid then appears. In each spot, individual spins roll over to reveal 1, 2, or 3 free spins. These amounts are paw-sitively added together to give you a grand total.

The kennel multiplier wilds are must-haves during this round too The even grrr-eater news is that whenever one of these symbols sits and stays, it locks in position for any spins you have left to go. The only paws for concern here is that it’s not paw-ssible to re-trigger any more free spins but up to 27 free spins are collected in total.

Specifics

The Dog House specifics are as easy as sit, stay, and heel, which we appreciate. The grid is a classic 5-reel, 3-row setup consisting of 20 paylines that read from left to right. Playing with these pooches starts from as little as £0.20 and goes as high as £100 per spin.

The RTP is 96.51%, and it’s a high-volatility game. Wilds come attached with 2x or 3x multipliers and three or more scatters that trigger the free spins feature. The maximum win is nothing to bark about, at 6,750 x your stake, although there is no traditional jackpot.

Unfortunately, UK players do not have the autoplay option available to them. The minimum and maximum coins you can wager are 1 to 10 respectively, and the minimum and maximum coin sizes are 0.01 and 0.5. The highest-paying symbol is the goofy Doberman, which, should you get all five, pays 37.5 times your stake.

Final Verdict

The Dog House slot has proven to be a popular game since its release in 2019 and has had subsequent spin-offs due to this. The Dog House Multihold, for example, has features and visuals that are similar, with one big difference. The Multihold element that is activated in the free spins round rewards players with double free spins. The maximum win here is also significant, being 9,000 times your bet.

All in all, with its cartoon theme and simple gameplay, we think you will have a barking good time at The Dog House, where you won’t find any ruff play at all.