Game 6 of 9 · Pragmatic Play · 2024
The Dog House – Muttley Crew Review
Pirate dogs on a 5×5 cluster-pays grid
Our score: 7.8/10
Quick verdict: Muttley Crew is the series' biggest departure. The dogs turn pirate, the paylines disappear, and wins come from clusters of 5 or more matching symbols on a 5×5 grid. Treasure-chest wilds can land anywhere with 2x, 3x, 5x or 10x, every wild sticks in free spins, and the round can be retriggered. It's fresh and fun, but high volatility and a 7,500x cap make it a hard game to love on a budget.
- RTP
- 96.50%Up to 96.54% with buys
- Volatility
- HighThe game's own rating
- Max win
- 7,500xBase game and bonus
- Bonus buys
- 3 options100x, 250x, 500x
The game
What is The Dog House – Muttley Crew?
Muttley Crew sailed into casinos on . The reels are set on the deck of a pirate ship, with rope ladders, sails, a lantern and a seagull, and the dogs are the crew: a Rottweiler captain in a skull-and-crossbones hat, a Shih Tzu in a pink pirate hat, an eyepatch Pug and a Dachshund deckhand.
It's the only Dog House game without paylines or ways. The grid is 5×5, and symbols pay in clusters: groups of at least 5 matching symbols touching horizontally or vertically. The wild is a treasure chest, and for the first time it can land on any reel.
The free spins drop the barrels for a fixed count of 10, 15 or 20 spins, depending on how many Bonus symbols you land. And there are three bonus buys, one for each.
Cluster pays
How cluster pays work
Forget lines. On every spin the game looks for blocks of 5 or more identical symbols connected side by side or top to bottom. Diagonals don't count. The bigger the cluster, the bigger the pay, in six steps: 5–6, 7–8, 9–11, 12–14, 15–19 and 20–25 symbols.
- Each cluster is paid once, at its size's value.
- Several clusters on one spin are added together.
- Wilds join any cluster they touch, and one wild can be part of several clusters at once.
Unlike many cluster games, Muttley Crew's rules mention no tumbles or cascades: winning symbols don't disappear and refill, and each spin is paid as it lands.
Paytable
Symbols and paytable
| Cluster size | 20–25 | 15–19 | 12–14 | 9–11 | 7–8 | 5–6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 50x | 15x | 10x | 6x | 3.75x | 2.5x |
 | 30x | 12x | 8x | 4.5x | 2.5x | 2x |
 | 25x | 9x | 6x | 3.75x | 2x | 1.5x |
 | 20x | 7.5x | 5x | 3x | 1.5x | 1.25x |
| Bone | 15x | 6x | 4x | 2.5x | 1.25x | 1x |
| A | 12.5x | 4.5x | 3x | 2x | 1x | 0.75x |
| K, Q | 9x | 3x | 2.25x | 1.5x | 0.75x | 0.5x |
| J, 10 | 7.5x | 2.5x | 1.75x | 1x | 0.5x | 0.25x |
There's no collar in this game; the bone is the fifth regular symbol. A full board of 25 treasure-chest wilds pays 50x on its own. The Bonus paw can land on any reel: 3, 4 or 5 of them pay 2x your bet and start free spins.
Wilds
Treasure chest wilds
The open treasure chest substitutes for every symbol except the Bonus paw. Every chest lands with a random multiplier of 2x, 3x, 5x or 10x, applied to every cluster it joins.
When a cluster contains several chests, their multipliers are added. Our last free spin is a good example: a cluster of 6 Dachshunds touched chests worth 2x, 3x and 2x, so it paid $2.50 × 7 = $17.50 at a $2 bet. And because one chest can sit in two clusters at once, a well-placed 10x can multiply two wins on the same spin.
Bonus round
Free spins and retriggers
Land 3, 4 or 5 Bonus paws anywhere and you get 10, 15 or 20 free spins. The scene changes to a stormy night at sea, with rain on the deck and a sign on the left counting the spins left.
- Every wild sticks. Any chest that lands during the round stays in place, with its multiplier, until the end.
- Bonus overlays. A small Bonus paw can appear on top of any symbol. Collect 2, 3, 4 or 5 of these overlays in the round and you win 5, 10, 20 or 30 extra free spins.
That makes Muttley Crew one of only three Dog House games where the bonus can be extended, along with Dog or Alive and Multihold. With sticky chests filling a 25-position grid, a long round can get very busy.
Bonus buy
Three bonus buys
A sign on the left of the deck opens a menu with three choices. Each guarantees a set number of Bonus symbols on the triggering spin:
| Buy | Price | At $1 | RTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 free spins (3 scatters) | 100x | $100 | 96.54% |
| 15 free spins (4 scatters) | 250x | $250 | 96.53% |
| 20 free spins (5 scatters) | 500x | $500 | 96.54% |
Notice the prices: 15 spins cost 2.5 times as much as 10, and 20 spins cost 5 times as much. The extra spins come with more Bonus pay and more chances to stack chests, and the RTP stays the same, so the pricier buys aren't a better deal, just a bigger bet.
Tested
Our demo round
We took the cheapest buy, 10 free spins for 100x, at a $2.00 demo bet.
- Three Bonus paws paid $4.00 (2x), and the ship sailed into a storm for 10 free spins.
- Chests began to stick: a 3x first, then a pair of 2x wilds on the right of the grid.
- We saw a few Bonus overlays during the round but not enough for a retrigger.
- On the last spin, a cluster of 6 Dachshunds touched three chests: $2.50 × 7 = $17.50.
- The round paid $33.00: 16.5x the bet.
Three chests in ten spins isn't many on a 25-position grid. The game rewards rounds where chests pile up and clusters grow around them, and those are rare: that's what the high-volatility rating means.
The maths
RTP, volatility and max win
RTP: 96.50%
The rules list 96.50% for normal play and 96.54%, 96.53% and 96.54% for the three buys. The real-money casino we checked and Pragmatic's website both show 96.50%.
Volatility: high
One of only two high-volatility games in the series, with Dog or Alive. Expect long quiet stretches between good rounds.
Max win: 7,500x
The cap is 7,500x in the base game and free spins. Some casino listings show it as a 5×3 game; it isn't, it's 5×5.
Mobile
Muttley Crew on your phone
A square 5×5 grid suits a portrait screen better than a wide 5×3 one, and Muttley Crew is one of the best-looking Dog House games on a phone. The grid fills the width, the buy sign wears a pirate hat, and the spin button sits on the deck next to a barrel.
Our take
Pros and cons
What we like
- A genuinely different Dog House: clusters on a 5×5 grid
- Wilds up to 10x that can land anywhere
- Every wild sticks in free spins, and the round can be retriggered
- Three buy options and a great pirate theme
What we don't
- High volatility with only a 7,500x cap
- No barrels and no doubling: the bonus relies on luck with chests
- Without tumbles, clusters can feel hard to form
Bottom line
Our verdict: is Muttley Crew worth playing?
Our score: 7.8/10
Muttley Crew deserves credit for daring to change the formula. Cluster pays, wilds anywhere and retriggers make it feel nothing like the other Dog House games, and the pirate art is a treat.
Our reservation is the balance of risk and reward. It's rated high volatility, like Dog or Alive, but its cap is 7,500x rather than 10,000x, and there's no doubling mechanic to give rounds a big finish. Play it for the change of pace, not as your main Dog House game.
- Gameplay
7 out of 10 7- Features
8 out of 10 8- RTP and maths
8 out of 10 8- Win potential
7 out of 10 7- Looks and sound
9 out of 10 9
Quick answers
Muttley Crew FAQ
How do you win in Muttley Crew?
Land a cluster of 5 or more identical symbols connected horizontally or vertically on the 5×5 grid. Bigger clusters pay more.
Can free spins be retriggered?
Yes. Collect 2, 3, 4 or 5 Bonus overlays during the round for 5, 10, 20 or 30 extra spins.
How much do the bonus buys cost?
100x for 10 spins, 250x for 15 spins and 500x for 20 spins.