The Big Dawgs Slot Review

The Big Dawgs Slot RTP, Details & Wager Limits

The Big Dawgs slot is played on a 5×5 grid and has 2,304 ways to win. All symbols pay from left to right on selected paylines. You must land at least  3 to form a winning combination. After a winner is paid out, all those winning symbols disappear and the remaining symbols fall to the bottom of the grid. All positions above will remain empty, unlike some other slots where you might expect new ones to fall from above. This process continues until no more winners land or when the grid has been cleared.

Stakes range from just 20p up to £240 per spin, thus catering to all pockets. Like all Pragmatic Play slots, simply use the + and – buttons on either side of the spin button to change your bet value. Turbo spins and autospins are also possible options but only for non-UK players.

The Big Dawgs RTP is 95.97%, which is around the industry average for online UK slots. We’re used to seeing Pragmatic titles with an RTP rate above 96%, but this isn’t too far off. Note that there are 2 other RTP versions that casinos could utilise if they wish – 95.10% and 93.99%.

In terms of volatility, this game is as high as it can be and rated 5 out of 5 by the provider. The hit rate is 1 in 4.6.

The maximum win is 5,000 x your total stake. This is best achieved in the Free Spins feature. More on that further down in the review. The max win probability is 1 in 10,615,700.

Theme: you’re barking up the wrong tree

As soon as the game loads, the theme is instantly recognisable with dogs on the reels that look like they’re set on the dark backstreets of LA or something similar. It’s essentially a dog/gangsters/hip-hop theme all in one.

The visuals are great and seem to have drawn inspiration from other slots already on the market such as Relax Gaming’s Top Dawg$. I like what they’ve done here and the hip-hip audio really does bring it all together nicely. Land the Free Spins feature and the reels move to another back alley downtown with a fast beat accompanying the audio as you spin away. Everything is intensified to add to the overall appeal. You’ll know when the free spins have run out as the audio instantly switches to the slower base game soundtrack.

On the reels, the lower-paying symbols are made up of keyrings, scissors, bats, knuckledusters and grenades in dog bowls. These are joined by numerous dog characters as the higher-paying symbols. The green dog is the most rewarding symbol, paying 0.5, 2.5 or 25 x bet for 3, 4, or 5 in combination respectively.

There’s no Scatter in the game but there are 3 Wilds. The normal wild, which is a splash of pink and yellow graffiti, substitutes for all symbols and pays up to 25 x bet for 5 in combination. The Multi Wilds pays the same and multiply wins by 2x if they’re part of a winning combination. Then you’ve got the Colossal Wild. More on that in a moment in the bonus features section.

Symbol	Payouts/Info
Keyring	3, 4 or 5 = 0.15, 0.5 or 2.5 x stake
Scissors	3, 4 or 5 = 0.15, 0.5 or 2.5 x stake
Bat and Ball	3, 4 or 5 = 0.15, 0.5 or 2.5 x stake
Knuckleduster	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 0.75 or 5 x stake
Grenade in a Dog Bowl	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 0.75 or 5 x stake
Blue Dog	3, 4 or 5 = 0.25, 1 or 10 x stake
Light Blue Dog	3, 4 or 5 = 0.3, 1.25 or 12.5 x stake
Light Green Dog	3, 4 or 5 = 0.35, 1.5 or 15 x stake
Purple Dog	3, 4 or 5 = 0.4, 2 or 20 x stake
Green Dog	3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 2.5 or 25 x stake
Wild	Substitutes for all + pays up to 25x
Multi Wild	Multiplies wins by 2x
Colossal Wild	Can appear 2x2 or 3x3 in size

The Big Dawgs Mobile

Released on the 8th of January 2024, The Big Dawgs mobile slot is available on desktop, mobile and tablet devices including iOS and Android smartphones. Although I do prefer larger reel sizes on larger screens, the 5×5 grid size here plays very well on mobile and you can fully appreciate the visuals.

The Big Dawgs Bonus Features

There are 5 bonus features to enjoy in The Big Dawgs slot game. From Colossal Wilds and multipliers to 2 Free Spins features, there’s a lot to understand. Let’s start by explaining the Colossal Wilds.

Big Dawg Colossal Wild

Randomly on any spin, before any tumble begins, a 2×2 or 3×3 Big Dawg Wild can appear on the grid in any random position. It can help potentially land bigger wins.

Screen Clear Multiplier

If the grid only has Wilds on the screen after all tumbles have ended, a random multiplier of 2x, 3x or 5x is applied to the total win of that sequence.

Dirty Dawgs Free Spins feature

As you may notice slightly from the screenshot above, the word ‘DAWGS’ is written both vertically and horizontally in the background behind the symbols. Reveal one of the two words after Tumbles to trigger this bonus feature.

You will start with 5 free spins. A multiplier increases by 1x after each tumble with no upper limit. When a new spin occurs, that multiplier resets back to 1x. Reveal the word DAWGS to receive 5 additional free spins. If you manage to reveal both of the words, you will trigger the Double Dawgs Free Spins feature.

Double Dawgs Free Spins feature

Triggered when both DAWGS are revealed, you will get 10 free spins. It’s important to note here that this bonus feature cannot be retriggered, so you will only have 10 free spins in total. The win multiplier will begin at 1x and rise by 1x after each Tumble. Just like the other Free Spins feature, it will reset once a new spin begins.

If you want to buy the bonus feature, you can if you’re a non-UK player. It will cost you 80 x your total stake to buy the Dirty Dawgs feature and 250 x your total stake to buy the Double Dawgs feature.

The Big Dawgs Slot Verdict: well put together

3.6/5

Based on our expert’s review. Reviewed by Martin Backhouse

Martin Backhouse

Play The Big Dawgs

The Big Dawgs Slot

This game seems to have drawn inspiration from other providers to bring you some great gameplay along with a Free Spins feature that triggers fairly frequently.

Pros

• 5,000 x max wins
• Increasing multiplier
• Fun theme with a good soudtrack

Cons

• Highly volatile
• Max win probability high (1 in 10,615,700)

When I first started testing The Big Dawgs, I couldn’t help but think of other games like Relax Gaming’s Top Dawg$ and Play’n GO’s Moon Princess due to the visuals and the gameplay respectively. It’s like they’ve picked bits from other games and put it all together to make this one. Which isn’t a bad thing by the way. They’ve put together a great slot, to be honest.

You probably need to be a fan of dogs and/or hip-hop to enjoy this one as the max win potential of 5,000 x bet doesn’t really entice a neutral. The 1 in 164 free spins frequency might tempt you, though, as it’s low compared to many other slots on the market. I must admit that during my testing, I triggered the Free Spins feature numerous times, which was great to see.

Overall, I can’t fault too much. OK, so there aren’t any unique aspects to this release, but the fun visuals and groovy soundtrack alongside some great gameplay should pique your interest for a while. It’s just the low max win potential compared to other slots that might put you off.