The Dog House

There was a time when if you had been sent to the dog house, then you were likely to be in trouble for something and likely to have to try and wend your way back into somebody's good books. However, that's not quite the same threat nowadays thanks to the brand-new release The Dog House slot from Pragmatic Play.

Unlike the figurative version, The Dog House in the slot game is a genuine home for our canine friends and it provides the perfect backdrop for the slot itself, which is a high variance game that boasts 20 pay lines across the five reels.

Pragmatic Play have released a couple of cracking games in recent times and there's plenty of pressure on The Dog House to be as good, if not better, than some of those excellent recent releases, so how does this combination of teeth, fur and wagging tails all match up to other games by the company?

We decided to take a closer look to find out for ourselves just to make sure that the game is not a little 'woof' around the edges.

Overview

• Game: The Dog House
• Developer: Pragmatic Play
• Reels: 5
• Pay Lines: 20 (non-selectable)
• Minimum Bet: 0.20
• Maximum Bet: 100.00
• Jackpot: 6,750x
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes
• Other Bonuses: No
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: High

Where can I play the The Dog House slot?

If you are looking to play any of the top games available from Pragmatic Play, including the new The Dog House slot, then the place to head is to the Black Diamond Casino. This popular casino has been earning rave reviews from punters for quite some time now and they offer a wide range of slots and casino games to play.

New customers joining the site can sign up and receive 25 Free Spins, no deposit required, simply for registering with the site. Then once you have completed your welcome offer, you will receive a fabulous value 200% Matched Deposit Bonus on your second deposit on the site, which could potentially be worth as much as $2,000 if you make the maximum deposit.

With a fabulous starter offer and a wide choice of games, plus new games being added every month, Black Diamond is definitely a wise choice for any discerning slots or casino gamer.

Presentation

The presentation on The Dog House slot is very imaginative and has a Pixar-quality cartoon feel to it. The reels have been made up to look like the side of a dog house and the reels are superimposed over this. The music that accompanies reminds me very much of the music you have to listen to when playing a game like Candy Crush on your mobile device, so if you are keen on these soft melodic pieces then you are going to be happy with what Pragmatic Play have done here.

The graphics on the slot are somewhat simplistic, but bright and cheerful and it is a game that is designed to put a smile on your face and I think it achieves that aim. That said, it is not really going to win any awards for technical achievement, but as a slot game, The Dog House is clearly barking up the right tree when it comes to how it looks, sounds and plays.

What's on the reels?

As you would expect on a slot called The Dog House, there are a number of canine critters on the reels, but they are not the only things that you will find on this highly volatile slot. Starting off with the lower value symbols, there are five playing card low symbols from the 10 to the Ace. Don't expect to win much on these spins though as he maximum win is 2.5x your total bet and the lowest value win is just a tenth of what you spend on a spin.

The mid-value symbols are two doggie-related items of a bone and a collar. These offer mid range wins of between 0.4x your bet and 7.5x your bet.

The bigger value symbols are the four different types of dog. There's the dachshund which is the lowest value of the four, the pug, the Bichon Frise and the rather gormless looking Rottweiler is the largest value symbol which pays out between 2.5x and 32.5x your total bet. The good news is if you land any form of win using the dog symbols, then you will at least get your stake money back and sometimes considerably more.

Alongside these symbols on the reels there are just two additional symbols in the game and these are the Wild and the Scatter symbols and they are key to the main bonus features of the slot as we will explore below.

Wild features

The Dog House embellished in gold with curtains on the entrance is the Wild symbol in the game and it appears on the middle three reels of the slot. It can substitute for any of the standard value symbols outlined above but not the Scatter.

On every spin, each of the Wilds on the reels has a randomly assigned multiplier of either 2x or 3x the standard win and of course, if the Wild forms part of that win then you receive the multiplier too. Land more than one Wild as part of a winning line however and you will find the multipliers are added together to create an even larger value win.

Free Spins features

The dogs paw symbol is the Bonus or Scatter symbol in the game and this symbol only appears on the first, third and fifth reels in the game. You need to land three of these symbols, one apiece on each reel, in order to trigger the Free Spins bonus game.

At the start of the Free Spins bonus game a special set of 3x3 reels is spun and this will reveal a number of Free Spins on each reel. The number on each reel is added to the others to provide you with a total number of Free Spins.

Once you have your total number of spins, the Free games then begin but in this bonus round, any Wild symbol landed not only awards their random multiplier but they will also be Sticky Wilds, which will remain in the place on the reels for the remainder of the Free Spins bonus game. The multiplier on the Wild remains the same for all subsequent Free Spins, so it can pay out its multiplier on several wins during the bonus feature.,

Other bonus features

Other than the bonus features outlined above, there are no other different aspects to The Dog House slot.

Best feature of the The Dog House slot

Although the Free Spins bonus game is the part of the slot game that will allow you to win the largest amount of money, chiefly because of those Sticky Wilds being in play and applying their multipliers, for me, I think the Wild is the key aspect of the slot. Sure, it is Sticky in the bonus game but it is also key in the base game too and is often responsible for the majority of the better value wins you can land in the base game and seeing as they occur far more often than big Free Spins wins, I think this makes it a key component of the slot.

What does the The Dog House slot lack?

I think Pragmatic Play have crunched a lot into what is ostensibly a simple 5x3 reel slot with a Free Spins bonus game and a Wild. The addition of the Sticky Wilds in the Free Spins round is a great idea and does make this particular aspect of the slot hugely appealing, but the base game is also good fun. If it lacks anything though, I feel a randomly triggered feature, perhaps in the base game may have livened things up a little and I'd have liked to have seen a more imaginative choice for the lower value symbols other than the standard playing card symbols.

Conclusion

Overall, The Dog House is a fun and enjoyable slot that has our canine companions as its main theme. It has been done in a style that clearly echoes popular social media games, but that is not a bad thing as Pragmatic Play slots all have this somewhat cartoon-styling and in general it works very well and that is certainly the case here. The high volatility is also appealing if you like potentially rewarding slots, but remember that this can also mean you burn through a bankroll quickly if the slot does not decide to play ball. Overall, The Dog House is certainly not a dog's dinner of a slot,

Ratings

• Presentation: 16 / 20 - The Dog House is a typical Pragmatic Play slot in that the graphics and bright, cheerful and eye-catching and the sound is also very nicely done, but in this case while it sounds like playing Candy Crush, it is a bit gentle and twee for the dog theme I feel. That said it is a very minor criticism and in truth, there is absolutely nothing wrong with how this slot looks, sounds or plays.
• Game-play: 15 / 20 - Admittedly, if you are a lower variance slot game fan then this slot probably won't tick all the right boxes for you, but if you love games that are hard to earn big money on, but when you do win you feel suitably rewarded for your efforts, then The Dog House is certainly one that fits perfectly into that category.
• Bonus Features: 15 / 20 - Although the bonus features on The Dog House slot are somewhat standard and nothing out of the ordinary, there are a couple of little tweaks to the Wild symbol and Free Spins bonus game that lifts the slot above the ordinary. Having a random multiplier on Wild symbols in both the base game and Free Spins is a very nice touch and can add some real value to wins while having them also become Sticky Wilds in the Free Spins bonus round, as well as applying their multiplier to wins, does make the Free Spins bonus game particularly attractive and it is easy to see why it is here you can land some of the bigger value wins in the game.
• Entertainment Factor: 13 / 20 - In truth, this is a decent high variance slot game, but I would have liked to have seen Pragmatic Play move out of their comfort zone a little with the slot as when you play it, if you have played any Pragmatic Play slot before, particularly higher variance ones, then you will feel like you have played the game before somewhere. It does have a feel of being just another Pragmatic Play slot, rather than having its own identity and that's a shame because there was real potential to make this a standout slot. As it is, it is good, but it just doesn't have that 'wow' factor which would make it a regular must-play game.
• Play Value: 10 / 20 - it's a high variance slot and it makes no apologies for that, so this is very much a case of a dog that has a bite as well as a bark. However, it can also be a very generous dog and pay out some lovely sized wins, especially if you are either patient, lucky or both. Don't be tempted to try and bet more than the usual on this slot, as it can be very volatile, take a longer term view to your play and you should then be able to enjoy the slot more and enjoy more of its features over the time you play.
• Overall 69 / 100 - The Dog House is a slot which is one that will grow on you over time, especially if you are a fan of slots with a much higher variance than usual. The game can be a roller coaster, you can have sessions where you win hardly anything and others where a big win comes in just a few spins. Patience, good bankroll management and a long-term approach will enable you to get the best out of this fun and enjoyable new slot from Pragmatic Play.

Good Luck!

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