Nine Dog House games share one idea and dress it up nine ways: a wild that lands with a multiplier, then behaves differently once free spins begin. This page works through each mechanic on its own terms: wild multipliers, sticky wilds, raining and random wilds, the 3×3 reveal, Multihold, cluster pays, Big Dog House’s colossal wilds and Ghost Wilds, the Ante Bet, and Pragmatic Play’s Buy Feature, with a table showing which games carry which.
Wild multipliers: the idea every game shares
Every Dog House title shares one building block: a wild carrying its own multiplier instead of just substituting for symbols, 2x or 3x in most of the series, 2x–10x on Muttley Crew’s treasure chest, up to 1000x on Megaways 1000. The 2019 original confirms the one combination rule: multiple wild multipliers on one payline add together, capping at 9x. Megaways 1000 is the exception — its multipliers stack multiplicatively, most of how it reaches 25,000x. The sources we checked publish no combination formula for the rest of the series, so this page won’t guess at one.
Added or multiplied: the arithmetic differs
Every Dog House game confirms one combination rule for its wild multipliers, and it isn’t the same rule across the family. On the 2019 original, Megaways (2020), Multihold, Dice Show, Royal Hunt, Dog or Alive and The Big Dog House, several wilds contributing to one payline win have their multipliers added together. No Dog Left Behind uses that same adding rule, carried over from the Dog or Alive game it’s built from. Megaways 1000 and Mansion Megaways break from the rest of the family: their wild multipliers multiply each other instead.
The gap that opens up is larger than it sounds. Take three 3x wilds landing on the same winning combination: added together, that’s 9x (3 + 3 + 3); multiplied, it’s 27x (3 × 3 × 3) — three times the boost from an identical landing, purely down to which arithmetic the game’s rules screen specifies. It’s the main reason Mansion Megaways and Megaways 1000 post the series’ two highest max wins despite a similar base wild range to everything else.
No Dog Left Behind adds a second layer on top of its own adding rule: land the 3rd, 6th and 9th sticky wild in a round and each milestone doubles every wild multiplier already on screen, not just the one that triggered it. A round with several wilds already banked compounds fast once a milestone hits, even though the underlying combination rule never stops being addition rather than multiplication. See our full reviews of Megaways 1000, Mansion Megaways and No Dog Left Behind for how each rules screen states it.
Sticky wilds: the mechanic behind almost every bonus round
Sticky wilds are the free-spins version of the same idea: any wild that lands stays put, multiplier included, for the rest of the round instead of disappearing after one spin. Most of the series confirms it: the table below lists which titles by name. The Big Dog House is a special case: the sources we checked never state the mechanic outright for it, but its Ghost Wilds modifier can strip an existing sticky wild off the grid, which only makes sense if sticky wilds already exist there.
Raining wilds and Random wilds: the alternative to sticking
Two titles offer a genuine choice instead of one fixed sticky format. The Dog House Megaways calls its second mode Raining Wilds: 15 to 30 free spins, up to six wilds landing at once on a spin, each worth 1x–3x. Megaways 1000’s equivalent is Random Wilds, though the sources we checked confirm no spin count or cap for it. Either way, the trade-off is the same: a longer round gets fresh chances at multiple wilds each spin, with nothing carried over, instead of a smaller number accumulating.
The 3×3 spin-count reveal
Three games decide free-spins count through the same pick-a-panel screen: land the trigger symbols, then choose panels on a 3×3 grid before spinning. The 2019 original confirms a 9-to-27 range this way; Royal Hunt uses the identical mechanic; Dog or Alive uses a 3×3 grid too, though its range isn’t confirmed. Every other title sets its count differently: by scatter count, grid number, or mode choice.
Multihold: stacking grids instead of spins
Multihold is Pragmatic Play’s name for a mechanic on exactly one title, The Dog House Multihold. Three scatters open Grid 1, worth 7 free spins; a further three while a grid is active opens the next, up to four side by side, each adding 1 to 3 more spins. Sticky wilds keep their multiplier and position as later grids join, so reaching all four plays out as four boards at once.
Cluster pays: changing what counts as a win
Every other title pays out along fixed paylines or, in the Megaways games, adjacent-reel combinations. Muttley Crew alone uses cluster pays: a win forms whenever five or more matching symbols connect edge to edge anywhere on its 5×5 grid. It’s the one mechanic here that changes the base game, not just the free-spins round.
Colossal wilds, Biggie, Ghost Wilds and Ghost Out
Four terms are unique to The Big Dog House, the first title to change the wild’s physical size rather than just its multiplier. Wilds come in three sizes: a standard 1×1, an “expanded” 1×3 that fills a reel, and a “colossal” 3×3 block; Biggie is the mechanism that grows a wild to a larger size.
Ghost Wilds need explaining rather than assuming a pure upgrade: they land with their own 2x–3x multiplier, but can also strip an existing sticky wild off the grid: variance both ways, not just a bonus. Ghost Out is the fourth modifier, paired with Biggie in one buy option; the sources we checked don’t detail its standalone effect, so this page won’t guess.
Ante Bet: paying per spin for a better chance, not a bigger win
Confirmed on exactly one title, Megaways 1000: switching the Ante Bet on multiplies what each spin costs by about three, and multiplies the odds of the bonus arriving by about ten. It’s a running cost, not a one-off payment, affecting only how often you reach the free spins, not what they pay. See our bonus-buy guide for the lump-sum alternative other titles rely on.
Buy Feature: Pragmatic Play’s own term
Buy Feature is Pragmatic Play’s own name for paying to skip straight into a bonus round; “bonus buy” is the shorthand this site and most others use, not an official label. Six of the nine games have a documented price, from 100x up to Megaways 1000’s 2,500x top tier — our guide to every confirmed price has each one. Buying changes only how quickly you reach the round, not what happens inside it.
Which mechanic is in which game
| Mechanic | Confirmed in |
|---|---|
| Wild multiplier (2x/3x or wider) | All nine games |
| Sticky wilds in free spins | The Dog House, Multihold, Dice Show, Muttley Crew, Royal Hunt, Dog or Alive, plus one mode each on Megaways and Megaways 1000; implied on Big Dog House |
| Raining / Random wilds mode | Megaways (Raining Wilds), Megaways 1000 (Random Wilds) |
| 3×3 spin-count reveal | The Dog House, Royal Hunt; Dog or Alive’s version has an unconfirmed spin range |
| Multihold (multi-grid) | The Dog House Multihold only |
| Cluster pays | Muttley Crew only |
| Colossal wilds / Biggie / Ghost Wilds / Ghost Out | The Big Dog House only |
| Ante Bet | Megaways 1000 only |
| Buy Feature (confirmed price) | Megaways, Multihold, Muttley Crew, Dog or Alive, Megaways 1000, plus 2 of Big Dog House’s 12 |
How to use this glossary
None of these mechanics is better or worse in the abstract — they’re different answers to the same “make the free spins feel eventful” problem. Each game review explains its own version in context rather than repeating the definitions above; use this page as the reference to return to. Start from the series hub to match a mechanic to a full review, try any of them in the free-play demo, and check our where-to-play guide once ready to test one for real.
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FAQ
What’s the difference between sticky wilds and raining wilds?
Sticky wilds stay put, building up over a shorter round; raining or random wilds re-roll fresh positions each spin, spreading the same idea across a longer round with nothing carried over.
What does “Multihold” mean?
Pragmatic Play’s name for a mechanic where landing further scatters mid-round opens additional grids, up to four at once, each adding its own spins while sticky wilds from earlier grids stay in place.
Are Ghost Wilds good or bad for the player?
Both. They land with their own 2x–3x multiplier, which helps, but can also strip an existing sticky wild off the grid, which doesn’t: a genuine two-sided mechanic, not simply a bonus.
What is an Ante Bet, and which Dog House game has one?
Only Megaways 1000. Turning it on costs about three times as much per spin and improves the odds of the bonus arriving by roughly ten times: it changes how often you reach the round, not what it pays.
Is “Buy Feature” the same thing as “bonus buy”?
Yes, in practice. Buy Feature is Pragmatic Play’s own name; “bonus buy” is the informal term this site and most others use for the same thing — paying a stake multiple for direct entry to the bonus round.
Where to play The Dog House slots — the series is listed at VAVADA and 1WIN. Try the demo first. Availability of Pragmatic Play titles depends on your country and the casino’s licence.
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