The Dog House Multihold review
On 27 February 2023 Pragmatic Play put out another game about the most popular dogs in its catalogue. The press release calls it an “enhanced version” of one of the studio’s best-loved slots. The grid is 5×3 with 20 lines. What separates it from the 2019 original is not the number of features but how they are built: the free spins run on four boards at once, and sticky Wilds with their multipliers travel from one board to the next.
A backyard, a kennel and the paytable
The title screen shows a suburban yard with a fence, trees and a wooden kennel. A rottweiler sits in the kennel arch, pugs and a spotted dog beside it, and the logo hangs on a sign shaped like a big bone. Symbols read cleanly: dogs hold the top pay rungs, accessories and card ranks the bottom.
There are eleven paying symbols. The figures are lifted from the pay data of the official Pragmatic Play demo; each line pay was divided by 20, so every figure is a share of the total bet.
| Tier | 3 of a kind | 4 of a kind | 5 of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 2x | 5x | 25x |
| Second | 1.5x | 3.75x | 17.5x |
| Third | 1x | 2.5x | 12.5x |
| Fourth | 0.75x | 1.5x | 7.5x |
| Fifth | 0.6x | 1x | 5x |
| Sixth | 0.4x | 0.75x | 3.75x |
| Seventh (two symbols) | 0.25x | 0.5x | 2.5x |
| Bottom (three symbols) | 0.1x | 0.25x | 1.25x |
The spread is modest: the top symbol pays 25 bets for five of a kind, a top-tier triple pays two bets and a low-tier triple a tenth of the bet. A single Wild at 3x turns the top triple into 6 bets, so in the base game the noticeable wins come mainly from spins with a Wild, while the serious numbers come from the bonus boards and their multipliers.
Adding, not multiplying
Wilds show up only on reels 2, 3 and 4 and stand in for everything except the bonus symbol. On every spin each Wild carries a random multiplier of 2x or 3x, applied to each winning line it takes part in. When several Wilds sit in one combination, their multipliers are added together rather than multiplied.
A worked example helps. Suppose a payline has top-tier symbols on reels 1 and 5, and three Wilds on reels 2, 3 and 4 showing x2, x3 and x2. The combination counts as five of a kind, so 25 bets. The line multiplier is 2 + 3 + 2 = 7, and the line pays 25 x 7 = 175. Had the multipliers been multiplied, the result would be 12 and the payout 300. Addition is the more cautious rule, and it caps the line multiplier at nine: three Wilds at 3x. Nothing higher is possible because Wilds can only show up on three reels.
Two Wilds on a line give x4 to x6 (multiplication would allow up to x9), and three give x6 to x9 instead of a possible x27. Addition keeps the ceiling within reason, yet the span from x6 to x9 still changes a payout noticeably. A screen full of Wilds looks spectacular, but only those on the same line as a long left-to-right chain of symbols multiply anything; a Wild outside the chain does nothing.
The trigger and four grids
The BONUS symbol appears only on reels 1, 3 and 5. One on each of those reels starts 7 free spins and pays 2x the total bet on the spot. This asks more than a scatter that pays anywhere, since the symbol must appear on three specified reels at the same moment.
The round is played on four 3×5 grids. At first only the top left grid is open and the others are locked. Each grid has its own set of paylines, identical to the first; wins on each are formed and paid separately and then added up. Every spin plays all open grids together rather than one after another.
Grids open in the strict order named in the rules: top right, bottom left, bottom right. Each adds 1, 2 or 3 spins. With no unlocks the round lasts 7 spins; with all three it runs from 10 to 16.
Scatters unlock the next grid
A scatter shows up during the bonus, and the rules attach a hard restriction: it can land only on the most recently unlocked grid. Three scatters open the next grid in the sequence and award one to three extra spins. If two unlocks happen on a single spin, the extra spins are paid twice and the sticky Wilds are copied to both new grids at once.
This makes play oddly non-linear. While one grid is open, scatters are hunted on that grid alone. Once the second opens, they are hunted there instead of on the first. Every new step therefore demands fresh luck on a fresh grid, and reaching the fourth is no easier than reaching the second. Even the final spin can extend the round, so nothing is settled until the counter hits zero.
Wilds that move to new grids
Every Wild that lands on the last open grid stays there until the round ends. When a new grid unlocks, it begins already holding all the sticky Wilds from the previous one. The rules spell it out: sticky Wilds on up to four screens. The multiplier, though, is drawn afresh on each spin, so the same Wild can bring x2 on one spin and x3 on the next.
The best case looks like this. A sticky Wild on reel 3 of the first grid is copied over with each unlock until it sits on all four. Say that on one spin every grid shows a line of four top symbols built with this Wild, and the multiplier is 2x. Four symbols pay 5x, doubled that is 10x, and across four grids 40x for one spin; with 3x it would be 60x. Such spins are rare: the Wild has to be part of a chain on every grid, and symbols do not fall identically on each.
How it differs from the original
The original The Dog House came out on 9 May 2019 and, judging by the rules on the demo server, is built quite differently. The same three BONUS symbols on reels 1, 3 and 5 start it, but they pay 5x the bet, not 2x. The number of free spins comes from an automatically spinning 3×3 grid where each cell shows 1, 2 or 3 spins and the numbers are added. There are no retriggers. Sticky Wilds remain on reels 2, 3 and 4, and the multiplier is fixed when they land and stays until the round ends.
| Parameter | The Dog House | The Dog House Multihold |
|---|---|---|
| Pay for 3 BONUS | 5x | 2x |
| Starting spins | 3×3 grid sum, 9 to 27 | 7 fixed |
| Round extension | none | 1 to 3 spins per new grid |
| Playing field in the bonus | one | up to four grids |
| Sticky Wilds | on one field, multiplier fixed | copied to new grids, multiplier redrawn each spin |
The original pays up front and draws the spin count before the round begins; Multihold pays less at the door but grows as it goes. The Dog House has an RTP of 96.51% and a 6,750x cap, and The Dog House Megaways, released on 12 August 2020, has 96.55% and 12,305x (The Dog House versus Megaways). Multihold is the only one of the three with an RTP under 96.1%, falling 0.45 points short of the original.
Buying in for 100 bets, and no ante
Entry to the round is sold for 100 bets, but only where the operator has switched on the bonus buy. The game lists an RTP of 96.08% for the purchase and 96.06% for the regular mode. For those 100 bets you get a guaranteed start, the same as a regular trigger, not a guarantee of extra grids: the round may stay on a single grid from beginning to end. There is no ante mode, so a per-spin fee to raise bonus odds does not exist here.
Volatility and the win ceiling
The game rules describe it as highly volatile: wins are less frequent, but the chance of large ones over a short stretch is higher. Neither the bonus frequency, nor the share of winning spins, nor the odds of unlocking the next grid are published. The base game pays small, most of the result sits behind the bonus, and if no grid unlocks, the round may finish on a sum below the stake.
The maximum is limited to 9,000 bets. Under the rules, once the total result of a round hits that limit, the game cuts the bonus short: the payout is credited and everything unplayed is forfeited. Per the demo server’s info block, hitting it takes on average one round in 5,266,088. The demo runs on the studio’s server without registration, with a notional balance.
