Software studio Play’n GO welcomes spinners to a day at the greyhound derby with Wildhound Derby, a race-themed slot that uses 30 paylines across 5 reels and 4 rows. This 2020 release puts spinners right in the center of the racing action with the help of a two-level bonus feature.
Players can speed towards accumulating prizes of up to 100x the stake in the base game by aligning three or more identical icons on the fixed win lines. The slot stays true to its dog racing theme by incorporating related symbols like betting slips, winner rosettes, wads of cash, and guides on the greyhound racing fixtures.
Featured in the race toward massive cash prizes are five wilds for substitution along with a lucrative bonus called the Dog Race, in which players can pick a greyhound to back. Wildhound Derby also boasts a Winner’s Wheel that gives players the chance to further increase their gains with the help of multipliers that go as high as 15x.
| Wildhound Derby Slot Summary | |
|---|---|
| Software Provider | Play’n GO |
| Paylines | 30 fixed paylines |
| RTP | 96.93% |
| Min Bet | $0.10 |
| Max Bet | $100 |
| Wild Symbol | Wild Greyhounds, Champion Trophy Wild |
| Scatter Symbol | N/A |
| Bonus Features | Dog Race Free Spins with Golden Hare Feature, Winner’s Wheel with Multipliers |
| Jackpot | 15,000x the Bet |
Symbols and Winning Combinations of Wildhound Derby Slot
Wildhound Derby gets you into the winning spirit with a sleek design that brings you right to the dog racing track. We mean this almost literally as the five reels are set on top of a backdrop that features a starlit racetrack, filled with exciting spectators that cheer on the greyhounds on their way to the trophy.
Attention to detail is important if a software company is looking to design a slot game with some staying power. It appears Play’n GO is well-aware of this since its designers have given quirky names to the four stars of Wildhound Derby – Braveheart, Oh My Dog, Daring Rex, and Beadle’s Teabag.
All four dogs are wild, substituting for all other icons. They also return regular payouts of 4x and 12x the winning bet for three or four matches, respectively. The most rewarding regular symbols include the wads of cash (100x the winning bet), the red winner rosette (20x), the betting slip (10x), and the fixtures guide (5x).
The listed payouts correspond to matches consisting of five alike symbols with a $1 wager. If you play at the maximum of $100 per spin, you can win as much as 10,000x for five wads of cash. The low payers in Wildhound Derby have a very straightforward design and are represented by the hackneyed royals A, K, Q, and J.
These award significantly smaller payouts of 2x to 0.10x the winning wager for three, four, or five alike icons. Payouts are awarded for combinations from left to right and only the higher win per line is paid.
Bonus Features of Wildhound Derby Slot
Wildhound Derby features five different wilds that help players out with more winning combinations. Oh My Dog, Daring Rex, Braveheart, and Beadle’s Teabag are all wild but their appearance is restricted only to the fifth reel. The Winner’s Cup can substitute for other symbols and shows up on all five reels.
This one can also assist you during the Dog Race Free Games, triggered when all four hounds land on the fifth reel at the same time. The player is prompted to back one of the four dogs before the bonus feature begins. The animals will then take their starting positions on the fifth, rightmost reel.
A hound will transition one position to the left whenever the symbol with the Golden Hare shows up on the same row. A new sixth reel will appear for the hare icons during the feature. The bonus spins continue until eventually one of the hounds wins the competition.
A hound needs to move past the first reel to emerge a winner. If your selected animal wins the trophy, it unlocks the next level of the feature, the Winner’s Wheel. You spin it to multiply your free spins wins by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, or 15x.
We personally found the race aspect of the game extremely engaging and kept rooting for our chosen dog, Beadle’s Teabag. He unfortunately finished last but we still hit a decent enough win during the free spins feature.
With that said, players should take into account that Wildhound Derby is a game with very high volatility. Sometimes one can go through twenty or more spins without earning anything. The free spins feature is also hard to unlock but once triggered, it can lead to a very satisfying windfall, especially with the help of the multipliers.
Verdict
Wildhound Derby is a highly enticing and interactive game even if one is not a diehard fan of dog racing. We particularly liked the Dog Race feature and the option to choose which hound to back. The game offers a rather appetizing maximum win of 15,000x the stake, a prize that definitely deserves attention despite the slot’s higher volatility.