Age of the Dogs Slot Review
Back in the day, there was a wild Athenian who had this philosophy about being a dog. He'd eat off the ground and bark at strangers and famously even slept inside a large jar. 🏺No, I’m not making this up.
Diogenes of Sinope, as our homie was known, even told Alexander the Great to get out of his sunlight. ☀️ Now that's some big dawg balls for you.
Playtech has built Age of the Dogs slot around the theme of 4 pups cosplaying as Greek gods. Yeah, this world has gotten a little too weird for me. I need a drink. 🥃
Gameplay
Playtech has gone for a Mount Olympus-in-the-clouds look, with marble columns, golden trim, and pink clouds rolling through the background.
The cartoon dog characters have personality, and I'll give the art direction credit for being a cut above the usual mythology approach.
The 7x7 grid uses Cluster PaysUnlike traditional paylines, Cluster Pays can award wins when a minimum number of matching symbols land adjacent to each other (vertically or horizontally), forming a cluster. (5+ adjacent symbols needed), the RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. is 96.21%, volatility is high, and the max multiplier is 3,462.4x. The max win is $173,120, with bets ranging from $0.10 to $50. This game's limited to fiat currencies.
Winning clusters are removed from the grid and new symbols cascade in from above, so a single spin can chain multiple wins.
The green and blue gem symbols share the bottom of the paytable at 75x for a 65+ cluster. The pink and red crystals sit one tier up at 100x.
A green shield with a bow and arrow pays 200x for 65+, and a blue trident hits 300x. A red shield with a war hammer reaches 600x.
The top-paying symbol is a golden caduceus staff (the snake-and-wings deal you’ll see on a paramedic’s truck) on a magenta background, paying 1,000x for a 65+ cluster.
The Wild symbol is a golden paw print that replaces all symbols except the Scatter and Dog symbols. The Scatter symbol is a bone dangling from a dog collar.
Three Scatters is both the minimum and maximum that can land per spin, and all 3 trigger Free Spins.
Features
DOG SYMBOLS:
Four dog characters land as special symbols during the base game and Free Spins. Each dog has a unique ability that fires when it hits the grid.
Ares:
This angry Doberman expands the grid by 1 row and 1 column when he lands, then transforms into a Wild. The grid starts at 7x7 and can grow to a maximum of 10x10.
Once the grid hits 10x10, Ares skips the expansion and transforms into a Wild straight away.
Hermes:
This greyhound in a winged helmet zips through the grid, dropping Wild symbols in random positions. After placing all the Wilds, Hermes snaps back to the original landing spot, and if any winning clusters formed, he disappears with them.
Artemis:
This bug-eyed pug picks up to 3 symbol types and transforms them all into a single type. If the transformation creates winning clusters, Artemis disappears with those symbols.
Poseidon:
A Shiba Inu with a trident and a permanent grin, Poseidon triggers a re-spin where winning clusters lock and everything else gets replaced. The chain keeps rolling as long as the replacements create new wins.
FREE SPINS:
Landing 3 Scatter symbols triggers a choice screen with 5 options: 10, 5, 3, or 1 Free Spins, plus Mystery. Each option guarantees a different minimum number of dogs per spin.
Mystery rolls the dice as to what outcome you’ll get. Landing 3 more Scatters during the round re-triggers additional spins.
BUY BONUS AND ANTE BET:
Buy Bonus:
The Buy Bonus costs 100x across all 5 options. You pick the same 10/5/3/1/Mystery combination as the natural Free Spins trigger.
Barking Bets (Ante BetAn Ante Bet is an option that costs a percentage of your bet but increases your chances of landing triggering symbols that initiate a feature.):
Barking Bets offers 3 options. The Dog option increases the chance of dogs landing and adds 20% to the base bet. The Bone option boosts the chance of triggering Free Spins, also at 20%.
The third option combines both (more dogs and more Free Spins triggers) but triples the total bet.
Performance
This game ran clean on my desktop device and on my iPhone.
Maximum Win
At the top bet of $50, the max multiplier of 3,462.4x means you can scoop the max win of $173,120. Bets start at $0.10.
Conclusion
Age of the Dogs slot is a Free Spins game, pure and simple. The base game keeps you alive with cascading clusters, but the movement happens when the dogs start firing on an expanded grid.
The choice between 10 spins with fewer dogs or 1 spin loaded with the whole pack is the best part of this game.
Low-risk players should go for 10 spins and let the dogs accumulate over time. High-risk players will want the 1-spin option and hope all 4 pups go off at once.
Barking Bets are next on our discussion list. The 20% add-on for more dog landings is cheap enough to leave on all the time, and the Free Spins trigger boost is solid for grinders. The combined 3x option is for players who've decided subtlety is overrated.
The 3,462.4x cap is rubbish for a high-volatility cluster pays game, though. This is probably my biggest gripe. My second biggest gripe, of course, would be that underfed max win.
So if you’re after the big bucks, this might not be the game you wanna risk your bankroll for.
Slot Details
Game Provider: Playtech
Game Type: Video Slots
PaylinesPaylines are preset lines that run across the reels, and when you land matching symbols on them, that will result in a payout. The more paylines, the more ways you can win, but also the higher your bet per spin.: Cluster PaysUnlike traditional paylines, Cluster Pays can award wins when a minimum number of matching symbols land adjacent to each other (vertically or horizontally), forming a cluster.
RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate.: 96.21%
Volatility RateSlot games can have low, medium, high, or extremely high volatility rates (or a combination thereof).
The less volatile the game, the more often it should pay out, but the lower the amount, the less the payout, as this is in keeping with the risk you’re taking. Volatility rate should be considered in conjunction with a game’s RTP.: High
Bonus Round: No
Progressive: No
Free Rounds: Free Spins
Max Multiplier: 3,462.4x
Max Win: $173,120
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