The Dog House Royal Hunt

The Dog House Royal Hunt: Slot Overview

One of the most beloved, scratch-under-the-chin, toss-a-treat-to slot ranges in developer Pragmatic Play's portfolio has got to be its poochie-themed Dog House range. The original slot, The Dog House, was released in 2019, and since then, a number of iterations have followed, including a Megaways version and an experimental quad grid Multihold variant, among others. In the past, the 'Muttley Crew' have dressed up as pirates and cowboys as well as regular house pets, and in The Dog House Royal Hunt, the playful pups have a go at being blue-blooded aristocrats.

As a result, the green, green grass of the suburbs has been traded for rolling green, green meadows, rich in flowers and bounding bunnies, while in the distance, a fairy tale castle looks down on the fertile scene. It's all very regal and whatnot, but the dolled-up doggies and the warm soundtrack inject a feel-good factor that makes The Dog House Royal Hunt as easy to fall for as any other Dog House slot. Dogs in ruffs, dogs in top hats, and gentleman dogs in tweed, it's all amusing stuff.

A 5x3 gaming grid is the dogs' backyard, where winning combinations are evaluated by 20 paylines, starting from the leftmost reel. A sturdy 96.53% is the highest RTP when betting 20 c to $/€240 per spin or 95.51% when buying free spins. The return value is generated by a highly volatile math model, so this is no lazing on the couch lap dog of a game.

Big, bouncy, adorable imagery is the order of the day on the paytable, which includes 10-A card ranks, a bowl of bikkies, a collar, and 4 aristocratic canines. Five-of-a-kind royal wins pay 1.25x-2.5x, the middle symbols are worth up to 5x-7x, while the canine premiums pay 10 to 37.5 times the bet when landing 5 OAK.

The Dog House Royal Hunt: Slot Features

Like serving up your pet's favourite food, The Dog House Royal Hunt brings back the wild multipliers and free spins features the series is famous for.

Wild Multipliers

Wild symbols are present on the three middle reels. They substitute for all symbols except the scatter. On each spin, all wilds on the same reel have a multiplier of x2 or x3. Wild multipliers apply their value to the wins they are part of, and if more than one wild is part of the same win, the multiplier values are added to each other.

Free Spins

Hitting 3 scatters triggers the free spins round. Randomly, if the scatter symbols on the screen can move down one position without dropping out of view, a spin triggers where reels with scatters move one position down while the reels without scatters respin. Now, before the bonus round starts, a 3x3 grid spins, and each position reveals 1, 2, or 3 free spins. The figures are added up, and the total number of free spins is awarded. During the feature, all wild symbols that land on the three middle reels remain sticky on the grid for the remainder of the round. Sticky wilds have a random multiplier that is revealed when the wild hits and stays the same till free spins end. Scatter symbols do not land on free spins, so the feature cannot be retriggered.

Feature Buy

Players may spend 100x the bet to buy the free spins feature or pay 500x the bet to buy royal free spins where wild symbols have a multiplier of x10 or x20 when they hit.

The Dog House Royal Hunt: Slot Verdict

Anyone who's played and enjoyed The Dog House should instantly feel at home if they fire up The Dog House Royal Hunt for a crack. The theme shift is a bit of an unusual one, but it actually works quite well. The Arcadian background is just as inviting as the original's suburban bliss, and dogs dressed as humans is just good stuff. As such, The Dog House Royal Hunt rolls out a flea-bitten red carpet to effortlessly invite fans and newcomers in for a punt.

In some ways, newcomers might get more out of The Dog House Royal Hunt than old hands since the gameplay hasn't progressed much since the original. Main thrills are triggered by landing abundant wild multiplier symbols to knock out an augmented line win. What's nice is that this effect may occur in the main game, keeping players busy while they attempt to trigger free spins. Like a cartoon dog in a top hat, sticky wilds are just what you want to see. In a slot, the more sticky wilds, the merrier since their multiplier values are additive when more than one participates in the same win, and with a max win of 8,000x the bet, they're a forceful feature.

Then again, The Dog House Royal Hunt's cap isn't much greater than The Dog House's max win of 6,750x, which might be slightly disappointing for players who have their eyes on royal free spins, where wild symbols can have much greater multipliers on them. Especially considering royal free spins cost a not insignificant 500x the bet to buy and cannot be triggered organically. Add it up, and you've got an entertaining sticky wild multiplier Dog House slot, but maybe one with more entertainment value for deep-pocketed bonus buyers - others might have wanted more from a new DH slot than bigger multiplier values that you have to pay for.