Year of the Dog

Genesis Gaming comes at us once again with a slot that clearly draws inspiration from Chinese mythology. I am no expert on star signs or calendars, but Google tells me that this character might have something to do with luck. And obviously with the animal itself. Combine these two and you have the guardian of luck and fortune! The game uses a larger than normal reel setup, but luckily this is augmented with 1024 ways to win. 

Theme

Chinese influences are clear from the art style and music. The latter is good enough to be entertaining, with the sound effects letting your know whenever significant wins have landed on the reels. The symbols, of course, include the dog itself, working as a scatter, as well as an assortment of Chinese symbols and playing card ranks. The background has a few animations going as well, though these quickly fade into obscurity.

Betting Options and Functions

Betting starts from 0.40 coins per spin and can go as high as 400 coins per turn, at least in theory. As we all know, such bets would be insanity, which means that in use the upper cap is limited by online casinos to more manageable sums. The RTP is quite decent, standing above 97%. 

The basic payouts are not the highest, which means that special features are the source of real wins. Still, you can expect returns between 5 and 300 times your bet. Remember that there are 1024 ways to win, which means that wins can and do stack up. Some symbols offer wins for just two symbol combos.

Features

Five scatters will return 800 times the bet, which is a nice win on itself. The scatters also trigger the bonus games feature, which in turn comes with four different choices. The player can choose to let the computer decide which one to go with, but in truth, it’s better to make the decision yourself.

Besides allowing for choice, the number of scatters that trigger the feature also affect each choice. These are basically a tradeoff between more bonus games or higher multipliers. For example with three scatters you get to choose between 10 to 15 spins with a multiplier of two to five. This means that you can choose to bank on higher wins or more chances to win. The highest multiplier is five, whereas the highest number of spins is 30. We suggest going with the high multiplier.

The kicker here is that the multipliers do not apply to all wins. Instead, the wild symbols come with multipliers, thus affecting the wins that are lucky enough to land one. Landing more scatters will also land more bonus games!

Our Take

Year of the Dog feels like it gets almost everything right. Now, this Genesis Gaming title doesn’t necessarily fit all tastes. But if you are into multipliers, bonus spins, and high volatility then it is for sure something that you will want to try.