Pragmatic Play spits out a lot of games, some of which hit, others which get lost in the deluge, shall we say. One that has shown impressive sticking power since it was released in 2019 is The Dog House, on account of its cute canine connection and sticky wild multiplier action. The studio has done well to keep the game fixed in the gambling consciousness by following up with numerous releases such as The Dog House Megaways, The Dog House Multihold, and The Dog House Royal Hunt. The latest is The Big Dog House, which comes stacked with extra gambling options and a number of extra bonus rounds.
Part of the joy of playing any Dog House slot is the adorable pack of poochies that bound about each release. The dogs have taken on various roles over the years, such as cowboys and pirates, but are back in suburbia mode for The Big Dog House. What a pleasant place it is, too, all white pocket fence, homely houses, and well-tended lawns. Pragmatic Play has wedged in a couple of extra bonus rounds, and you can tell they are in play by the change of background colouration. Otherwise, The Big Dog House looks exactly like a Dog House slot, cute, cuddly, and ready for a scratch under the chin.
Each game round sees a 5x3 gaming grid spin, awarding a payout when 3 or more matching symbols line up left to right along any of the 20 paylines. The Big Dog House is absolutely loaded with betting options, a lot more than normal, while its base bet range goes from $/€0.20 to $/€240 per spin. Math model volatility has been set to medium, and the most preferable RTP clocks in at 96.53%.
The original pay symbols are here, which means 10-A card ranks, bones, collars, and five lovable doggie character symbols. Landing a 5 OAK win pays 10x to 37.5x when made up of doggie symbols, or 1.25x to 7.5x for all of the symbols beneath them.
The Big Dog House: Slot Features
Wild multipliers remain a critical part of The Big Dog House, both in the base game and in its several bonus rounds. There are also more Special Bets and bonus buys here than your dog has fleas.
Wild Multipliers
Wild symbols may land on the middle three reels as 1x1 normal, 1x3 Expanded, or 3x3 Colossal symbols, substituting all regular paying symbols. Wilds have a random multiplier of x2 or x3, which multiplies the wins that the wild is part of. If there is more than one wild symbol in a win, the multipliers are added together.
Scatter Symbols
There are three types of bonus scatters. All are present on the leftmost, middle, and rightmost reels. Hitting 3 regular bonus scatters triggers the free spins round. If one of the triggering scatters is the Biggie Bonus scatter, free spins with the Biggie modifier are awarded. Or, if one of the triggering scatters is the Ghost Out Bonus scatter, free spins trigger with the Ghost Out modifier.
Free Spins
Before the round starts, a 3x3 grid spins to determine the number of free spins. Each position can award 1, 2, or 3 free spins, which are added together for a final total. During free spins, all wild symbols are of 1x1 size and stick to the reels till the feature ends when they hit. Ghost Wild symbols may land on the rightmost reel, which substitutes paying symbols and has an x2 or x3 multiplier. When a Ghost Wild hits, a random sticky wild on the screen is unstuck, causing it to leave the screen for the next spin.
If the Biggie modifier is active, all wilds on the middle three reels are fully stacked. If the Ghost Out modifier is active, the Ghost Wild cannot appear. It is possible to have both modifiers active during the round, depending on the triggering scatters. Free spins cannot be retriggered.
Special Bets & Bonus Buys
The Big Dog House has a lot of betting options, both in terms of special bets and bonus buys.
- Ante Bet 1 - Costs 2x, where the chance to win Biggie Free Spins is 24x higher.
- Ante Bet 2 - Costs 2x, where the chance to win Ghost Out Free Spins is 24x higher.
- Ante Bet 3 - Costs 4x, where the chance to hit free spins with or without any modifier is 6x higher.
- Ante Bet 4 - Costs 6x, where the chance to hit free spins with both modifiers is 24x higher.
- Super Spin 1 - Costs 5x to guarantee at least 1 Expanded Wild.
- Super Spin 2 - Costs 50x to guarantee at least 1 normal, Expanded, or Colossal Wild.
- Super Spin 3 - Costs 100x for a 50% chance of landing at least 1 Colossal Wild.
- Super Spin 4 - Costs 200x to guarantee at least 1 Colossal Wild.
Free spins cannot be triggered when using any of the Super Spins. However, players can buy standard free spins for 100x, the Biggie Free Spins or Ghost Out Free Spins for 200x, while 500x buys free spins with both modifiers.
The Big Dog House: Slot Verdict
Pragmatic Play's Dog House series has become something of a Golden Retriever of the iGaming world, reliable, ever-present, ready at all times for a walk around the block. With The Big Dog House, the studio has thrown gamblers another bone, constructing a veritable canine theme park for those who shun vanilla play in favour of ante bet augmentation. The Big Dog House maintains the original's suburban charm, while cranking certain elements up a notch or two, maybe not completely rewriting the way the game is played, but certainly altering it.
One possible bone of contention is the dreaded Ghost Wild debuff. The Dog House is famous for sticking wild multipliers to the reels, but the Wild Ghost will happily peel them off the grid, one by one, bye-bye. So annoying is this symbol that the game provides ante bets and bonus buys to avoid Ghost Wilds from landing. Is that user-friendly design, or providing solutions for an avoidable problem? Anyway, there are other, more coveted symbols in The Big Dog House to keep an eye on, such as full reel Expanded Wilds, or even better, 3x3 Colossal Wilds, and one of the Colossal Wilds led to the chunkiest hit of the review, proving its worth in one go. This leads to winning potential, which is much higher than the original, as Pragmatic Play has lifted the win cap to a hefty 15,000x the bet. It's a figure that confirms there is plenty of bite left in the series' wild multiplier mechanic.
Parts of The Big Dog House may feel like a betrayal for loyal Dog House followers, well, the unsticking Ghost Wild symbol might. Other than that tick of an extra, there is a good amount of meat here for fans to sink their teeth into. Especially, amongst gamblers who like a long steak house list of betting options and buys, in which case The Big Dog House definitely earns the 'Big' part of its title.
The Big Dog House expands on the familiar formula with bigger features and added volatility, though the intrusive Ghost Wild mechanic may divide fans of the series.
