Head to head
The Dog House vs The Dog House Megaways
The 2019 original and its 2020 Megaways remake share the dogs, the back yard and the sticky wilds, but they play very differently. We put the rules side by side, ran both through thousands of demo spins, and here is which one suits which player.
Short answer
Which one should you play?
Pick The Dog House if you want the classic: 20 lines you can follow by eye, 2x and 3x wilds that add up, and a bonus you have to earn, because there's no buy. It's capped at 6,750x.
Pick The Dog House Megaways if you want more going on: six reels that change every spin, wild multipliers that multiply each other, a choice of two bonus modes, a 100x buy and a cap above 12,000x. It also has the best RTP in the series, 96.55%.
Neither is "better" in the long run: both return about 96.5% and both are rated medium volatility. The difference is in how a session feels.
| Feature | The Dog House | Megaways |
|---|---|---|
| Released | ||
| Layout | 5×3, 20 lines | 6 reels, up to 117,649 ways |
| RTP | 96.51% | 96.55% |
| Volatility | Medium | Medium |
| Max win | 6,750x | 12,000x+ |
| Wilds | 2x or 3x on reels 2–4, added together | 2x or 3x on reels 2–5, multiplied together |
| Free spins | 9–27 spins, sticky multiplier wilds | Pick Sticky Wilds (7–20) or Raining Wilds (15–30) |
| Bonus buy | None | Free spins 100x |
| Special bets | None | None |
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Play nowDifference 1
20 lines against 117,649 ways
The original pays along 20 lines from the left. A win is three or more of a symbol on one line, and five top dogs pay 37.5x. In the Megaways game every reel shows between two and seven symbols, and any run of matching symbols on neighbouring reels pays once for every combination. Six Rottweilers pay 7.5x per way, so the figures in its paytable look small, but a screen full of dogs can pay them many times over.
You might expect all those ways to mean more wins. In our runs it was the other way round: the original won something on 27% of its spins, the Megaways on 23%. What the Megaways adds is range, because a screen full of matching dogs pays many ways at once.
Difference 2
Wilds that add up, wilds that multiply
Both games put a 2x or 3x multiplier on every wild. In The Dog House wilds land on reels 2, 3 and 4, and two wilds in one win add up: 2x and 3x make 5x, and the best a line can do is 9x with three 3x wilds.
In the Megaways wilds land on reels 2 to 5, and their multipliers multiply each other. 2x and 3x make 6x, and four 3x wilds in one win make 81x. That's where the higher cap comes from.
Difference 3
One bonus against a choice of two
The Dog House has one bonus. Three paws on reels 1, 3 and 5 pay 5x, then nine barrels count up 9 to 27 free spins, and every wild that lands stays to the end. No retriggers, no buy.
The Megaways asks you to choose once 3 to 6 scatters land:
- Sticky Wilds: 7, 12, 15 or 20 spins. Every wild stays, its multiplier now 1x to 3x, and the wilds stretch with the reel.
- Raining Wilds: 15, 18, 25 or 30 spins. Up to six wilds of any size drop in on each spin, then leave.
You can also buy the bonus for 100x, and the buy lands 3 to 6 scatters at random before you choose.
Done with the demo? Play the Dog House slots for real money, from the 2019 original to Megaways 1000. 18+. Play responsibly.
Play nowOur numbers
What thousands of demo spins showed
We played both games through Pragmatic Play's own demo servers at the minimum bet, recording every spin. The original has no buy, so its bonus figures come from rounds it triggered itself; the Megaways figures include the 100x buys we made, split by the mode we chose.
| Measure | The Dog House | Megaways |
|---|---|---|
| Base game spins we played | 6,045 | 3,054 |
| Spins that won anything | 27.5% | 23.1% |
| Free spins triggered | 1 in 202 | 1 in 254 |
| Average free spins round (triggered) | 75.3x (30 rounds) | 38.5x (12 rounds) |
| 100x buys we made | No buy | 120 |
| Average 100x buy paid | – | 105x (105% of the price) |
| Median 100x buy paid | – | 51.5x |
| Buys that paid back 100x or more | – | 23% |
| Best single round, any buy | 379x | 1,114x |
The full method, the per-game breakdowns and the raw files are on our statistics page.
Quick answers
Questions about the two games
Is The Dog House Megaways harder to win on?
No. Both are rated medium volatility in their rules and their RTPs differ by 0.04 points. In our runs the original won on slightly more base spins, while the Megaways' multiplying wilds and higher cap make its bonuses swing further.
Which has the higher max win?
The Megaways: its intro promises over 12,000x the bet. The original is capped at 6,750x.
Can I buy the bonus in the original?
No. The Dog House and Dice Show are the only two games in the series without a buy. In the Megaways it costs 100x.
Sticky Wilds or Raining Wilds?
Sticky Wilds gives fewer spins but lets wilds pile up and multiply; Raining Wilds gives about twice as many spins with fresh wilds each time. Our statistics compare how each mode paid across our buys.
Ready to play for real? All nine Dog House slots, with the same rules you read about here. 18+. Play responsibly.
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