While being in ‘the dog house’ is normally a bad thing, in today’s ‘The Dog House - Royal Hunt’ slot review, we will discover that this might be exactly the place to be! Why? Well, with a free spin feature where every Wild is sticky, multiplier wilds, and a top prize of 8,000x the total stake, you might become barking mad for this slot. Keep on reading to learn more.
The Dog House - Royal Hunt slot game has a traditional layout with gameplay taking place on a 5-reel, 3-row, 20-payline slot machine. Starting from reel 1, winning combinations are formed of 3, 4, or 5 matching symbols or Wilds from left to right on an active payline.
Stakes start at 20p (1p per payline) up to £240 (£12 per payline) per spin. Players can configure their wager using the + and - buttons adjacent to the spin button. Two rapid and turbo spin settings, as well as an autoplay feature that allows up to 1,000 spins, are available to players in eligible regions (non-UK).
Although operators can also select to utilise one of the lesser RTPs of either 95.50% or 94.50%, (which is why it is always important to check the stats of a slot before committing to a real money wager); the game uses a default RTP of 96.51% by default; which is decently above the current market average. It is worth noting, though, that the volatility rating for this game is given as ‘very high’.
The slot game has a hit frequency of 28.82%; meaning a winning combination should occur every 3-4 spins; which is very competitive especially considering the games’ volatility. Unlinke many slots, data on the bonus activation frequency is also available with free spins being estimated as occurring on average at a rate of 1 in 179.05 spins.
The Dog House - Royal Hunt features a maximum win of 8,000x the total bet, and it is estimated that this prize will occur every 1 in 59,683,333 spins. Wins of 1000x the total bet and more are predicted to occur every 1 in 75,808 spins, on average.
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The Dog House - Royal Hunt is a slot with notable pedigree and is one in a series of slots started by Playtech in 2019. For this installment there are no mutts allowed as the setting is that of a fairytale royal court. The regal reels are filled with dogs in ruffs (love the pun), top hats, and deerstalters. The reels themselves are framed in gold and the backdrop is a verdant meadow complete with a castle in the distance.
The Dog House - Royal Hunt's joyful soundtrack matches its concept and images. Sound effects accompany gameplay, changing with different features, wins, and bonuses. These can always be toggled on and off as required if not to your liking however.
The game has smooth and engaging animations. Paw prints highlight winning combinations, and the dog characters wag their tails, and so on. This attention to detail means that the low-paying playing card symbols act as a welcome visual break, instead of detracting from the theme. The mid-paying symbols include witty items like golden bones in teacups, and the pooches themselves are, of course, the high-paying symbols of the game.
The full paytable for The Dog House - Royal Hunt is as follows:
Ten
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 0.1, 0.25, and 1.25x the total stake, respectively.
Jack
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 0.1, 0.25, and 1.25x the total stake, respectively.
Queen
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 0.1, 0.25, and 1.25x the total stake, respectively.
King
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 0.25, 0.5, and 2.5x the total stake, respectively.
Ace
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 0.25, 0.5, and 2.5x the total stake, respectively.
Golden Bones in a Teacup
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline award 0.4, 1, and 5x the total stake, respectively.
Collar with Golden Charm
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 0.6, 1.25, and 7.5x the total stake, respectively.
Pug in a Top Hat
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline award 1, 2, and 10x the total stake, respectively.
Maltese in a Purple High Top Hat
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 1.25, 3, and 15x the total stake, respectively.
Beagle in a Deerstalker
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 1.75, 5 and 25x the total stake, respectively.
Rottweiler King
3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across an active payline awards 2.5, 7.5 and 37.5x the total stake, respectively.
Dog House Wild
Substitutes for all non-special symbols to form winning combinations and only appears on reels 2, 3, and 4.
Bonus Symbol
Looks like a pink and gold paw print and can only appear on reels 1, 3, and 5. When the bonus symbol appears on all three reels within a single spin, the free spins bonus round begins.
The Dog House - Royal Hunt is fully optimised for play on all devices, including mobile ones. The game can be played in both landscape and portrait mode, and the bright graphics stand out well on small screens.
Despite its more unique theme, The Dog House - Royal Hunt keeps its bonus features rather simple, with multiplier wilds, free spins, and a bonus buy for those in permitted regions.
Reels 2, 3, and 4 feature the kennel Wild. Attached to these Wilds are either a 2x or 3x multiplier. Should you be fortunate enough to find a winning combination with more than one Wild, the values are combined (e.g. 2x + 2x = 4x total multiplier), leading to larger potential payouts.
In the main game, landing three scatter symbols on reels one, three, and five sets off the Free Spins round, and you will also receive a payout worth 5x your total stake.
Before playing the bonus, s 3x3 grid appears on screen. Each space will spin independently of the others and will land on the numbers 1, 2, or 3. These numbers are totalled together to form the final number of free spins awarded, meaning no fewer than 9 spins and up to a maximum of 27 spins, as the free spins bonus cannot be retriggered.
All Wild Symbols that fall on reels 2, 3, and 4 are sticky and will stay on the reels for the whole feature. Applied to all winning combinations, it forms the Sticky Wild can have a random multiplier value of either 2X or 3X attached to it. Should multiple Wild Symbols be included in the same win, their multiplier values are added together, just like in the base game and applied to all wins.
Players outside of the UK can make use of two Bonus Buy options:
Novelty slots are not everyone’s cup of tea; I can take or leave them, but fans of the genre should enjoy what The Dog House - Royal Hunt has in store. The game's 96.51% RTP is generous, and the 8,000x the total stake top prize is competitive, as is the 3-4 spin average hit rate.
Players should be wary of the high volatility rating, however, and if playing in regions like the UK, should be aware that the top payout potential for this game is locked behind the ‘Royal Free Spins’ bonus buy, which is disallowed. This is a frustrating move on Pragmatics' part that feels short-sighted given the recent shifts in online slot regulation.
The game is very well presented, and the character design is top-notch, however, I feel as though Pragmatic is missing a trick with this series, as it is begging for a more immersive storyline. Give the pooches names and roles to play in a larger storyline; does the pug want to overthrow the rottweiler king, for example? With the popularity of immersion and gamification in slots, I think this would be the perfect new trick to give to this old dog of a slot.
Overall I rate The Dog House - Royal Hunt slot at a respectable 7.5/10; making it certainly a pedigree pooch, but not quite best in show.
Rating: 7.5
Here are some of the most common questions we get asked about The Dog House - Royal Hunt.