Ancient Paws

Ancient Paws: Slot Overview

Work alongside a software provider of Hacksaw Gaming's stature long enough, and influences are bound to rub off. One thing that studio Bullshark Games appears to have picked up working side by side with its more established partner is the potent spreading wild with multiplier feature, which is a staple of Hacksaw Gaming's work. Bullshark Games has placed the mechanic into a dog-fronted, archaeology-themed slot titled Ancient Paws, and as well as expanding, multiplying, wilding effects, its free spins round also has a sticky/roaming one, as well.

Thanks to slots like NetEnt's iconic release Gonzo's Quest (and many others), online gamblers are well acquainted with placing a bet in this part of the world. That is, those Central/South American parts rich in ancient civilizations such as the Mayans or the Aztecs. Not often does a canine lead the expedition, though, and this one is an adorable wee furball with his Indiana Jones hat and whatnot. As well as a friendly doggy, Ancient Paws has a pleasant appearance in general, all clean lines and chunky artwork.

Ancient Paws likes its stones as stone block symbols land in a 5x4 stone-lined gaming grid that evaluates winning combinations with the help of 14 paylines. Bullshark has marked the game's volatility as 4 out of 5, putting it in a medium-high range, and the default RTP when betting 10 c to $/€100 per base game spin is 96.16%.

Ten pay symbols land on Ancient Paws' reels; half of them are 10 to A playing card symbols, while the other half are hats, lamps, compasses, binoculars, and maps. Royal 5 OAK wins pay 0.3-0.5 times the bet, while high pay 5 OAKs are worth 0.8 to 2 times the bet. Whenever wilds are on the screen, they're able to replace any of the regular pay symbols.

Ancient Paws: Slot Features

Expanding Wild symbols with multipliers is one of Ancient Paws' main features, and these appear in the base game and in the Trail of Treats bonus round where they roam.

Expanding Wild Symbols

Silver Expanding Wild symbols expand to cover 1x2 or half the reel. Golden Expanding Wild symbols expand to cover 1x4 or the full reel. When expanding, both Expanding Wild symbols can receive a random multiplier of x2 to x100. When 2 or more Expanding Wild symbols land on the same reel, when overlapping, they merge into a fully stacked wild with their multipliers added together.

Multiplier Adder Symbol

When the Multiplier Adder symbol lands, it adds 1 to 3 multipliers on top of the random Expanding Wild symbols - if there are Expanding Wilds in view. Possible values range from x2 to x100. Multiplier Adder symbols convert to wild symbols.

Trail of Treats

Getting 3, 4, or 5 scatters in the base game starts the feature by awarding 8, 10, or 12 free spins, respectively. When triggered by 5 scatters, at least 1 Expanding Wild is guaranteed on the first spin. During free spins, Expanding Wild symbols are persistent till the end of the feature, and on each spin, the Expanding Wild symbols shift to a new random position. Expanding Wilds that overlap merge into one symbol and add their multipliers. Each scatter in the feature adds +1 free spin.

Feature Buys

At the bonus buy menu, opting for BonusHunt FeatureSpins makes each spin 5 times more likely to trigger the free spins feature at a cost of 3x the bet. Paw-tential Riches FeatureSpins cost 50x, and they guarantee at least 2 wild symbols. For 150x, players can buy the Trail of Treats triggered by 8, 10, or 12 scatter symbols.

Ancient Paws: Slot Verdict

Dressing an animal up as a human and making it do humanistic things is an interesting way of holding up a mirror to ourselves. If a canine archaeologist went on an expedition, surely it would be more concerned with finding bones to gnaw on, new aromas to sniff, or getting a good old scratch under the chin in a new location. We, on the other hand, crave gold, jewels, artefacts, or the glory and fame which come with making new discoveries. What does that say about us as a species? Who knows, other than we are wired a lot differently to dogs and get our kicks in other ways.

The good news is that kicks are here to be found in Ancient Paws. Largely due to expanding wild multipliers, which have an inherent ability to transform a spin from nothing to something. They're helpful in the base game when they grow, multiply and merge, but potentially, sorry, paw-tentially better in free spins since they do not leave the screen till the round ends. However, the sticky trait is tempered by the merging quality, which has its ups and downs. The overall benefits are pretty obvious. Wilds roam, replace, and multiply. Can't argue too hard about that. However, merging 2 or more wild reels into 1 arguably makes it a bit trickier for that 1 wild to be included in wins compared to having multiple wild reels roaming about. Multiplier values do consolidate in a merged reel, fair enough, and the merging process does free up space to possibly land more. Either way, kudos to Bullshark Games for coming up with variety.

On top of all that, and winnable in any mode, Ancient Paws' 15,000x maximum win goes to show its particular rule set has the ability to go bananas in the right scenario. At first, there were suspicions Ancient Paws would be closer to Backseat Gaming's slot, The Cursed King, and while both games go big on expanded wild multipliers, they're distinct enough to sit on the same shelf while offering alternative entertainment roads.