The Dog House Multihold is an online slots machine developed by Pragmatic Play, a leading provider of HTML5 games for the iGaming industry. Released in 2020 as part of their popular dog-themed series, this slot game offers a fresh thedoghouse-multihold.com take on traditional multi-reel gameplay while retaining many of its original charm.
Theme and Setting
The Dog House Multihold takes place in a charming suburban setting with dogs playing prominent roles throughout its design and bonus features. The backdrop of the reels depicts a serene neighborhood with tidy lawns and colorful houses, where players can imagine themselves walking their dog on a sunny day. As you start playing, the symbols display adorable breeds such as dalmatians, bulldogs, golden retrievers, and other recognizable species.
Symbols, Animations, and Sound Design
In terms of graphics, the game boasts impressive quality, with intricate textures, vibrant colors, and subtle animations that bring to life each symbol. The sound design is equally engaging, featuring background music and realistic sound effects (such as barking dogs) that perfectly complement the theme.
The paytable includes six main symbols: dog breeds in various levels of win multipliers from 1x up to a staggering 500x for the highest-paying bulldog symbol. In addition to these animal-themed icons are traditional card values (A, K, Q, J, and 10), displayed as standard playing cards but retaining the game’s visual consistency.
Wild Symbol
The wild dog is represented by the dog with a party hat icon on its backside (referred to hereafter as "Party Hat Dog"). It functions similarly to traditional wilds in many slots games: it can substitute for any other regular symbol, apart from the scatter and bonus symbols, thereby contributing to forming winning combinations.
Scatter Symbol
The Bone scatter is denoted by a white dog bone icon. Three or more Bone scatters appearing anywhere on the grid will activate the Free Spins Bonus round.
Reels, Paylines, and Grid Mechanics
As its name suggests ("Multihold"), The Dog House features multiple reel sets: players can choose from one of three independently operable 5-reel grids simultaneously. Each set contains a distinct arrangement of symbols but is connected by shared progressive multiplier. Players have the option to configure their grid settings for varying degrees of multi-holding, as well as different stake levels.
One innovative aspect here is that while each set can hold up to six-of-a-kind combinations (potentially creating 18 wins on any single spin), the winning line mechanism awards per-line payouts only if a win occurs in both leftmost reel sets or at least one of the three reels contains two fully stacked wilds. This approach maximizes potential winnings by considering more variables and aligning them with the progressive nature of multiplier rewards.
Core Gameplay Mechanics
Gameplay is straightforward, requiring little strategy for casual players but offering room for experimentation among experienced gamers seeking bonus opportunities. To ensure even distribution between participating grid sets during each spin cycle:
- Randomized spins will automatically adjust individual set settings based on a dynamically generated random probability percentage.
- This internal setting governs how multi-hold values are applied across connected reel pairs (between any two or all three grids simultaneously).
- While no limit exists for number of active sets, betting stakes can reach up to $20 per spin across multiple lines.
Bonus Features and Rounds
In addition to the base game’s already mentioned features:
Free Spins Players activate free spins by achieving combinations of the scatter (three or more Bone scatters) anywhere on the grid. Awarded for any non-winning spin at a 1x multiplier, multipliers accumulate after every activation.
Bonus Mode: Super Hold
Upon entering this bonus round:
- Five reels change to "Super Hold" mode and transform into fixed payline structures.
- A separate progressive multiplier applies when triggering free spins within the "Hold & Win"-like format used for standard play; it can reach as high as 3,000x the initial bet amount per spin during this feature alone.
Payouts
All symbols payout differently based on winning combinations formed by matching adjacent reels. As a side effect of holding more than two full sets simultaneously while enabling an increased number of pay lines and triggering "Super Hold" or its free spins bonus rounds, rewards can accumulate substantially (up to 5x original bet amount).