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31 July 2024 
Pug Life Slot Review 2024
Join Pugly and his crew of mischievous misfits as they cause havoc in their home in Hacksaw Gaming’s latest release, Pug Life!
Pugs seem to be one of those fashionable dogs, dont they? Pugs and French Bulldogs seem to be all the rage; some love them, some hate them, and some even argue for a ban on breeding them because of their brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, (they can’t breathe).
Will Hacksaw Gaming’s latest release leave you as breathless as a pug? or will it put into perspective the breath of fresh air that is Hacksaw’s darker side?
We’ve voiced out opinions before on where we think Hacksaws talents are better suited, and we think it’s in their darker games.
Still though, we’ll give Pug Life the benefit of the doubt. Let’s check it out.
Pug Life Base Game and Features
Pug Life is a 5 reel slot with 16 fixed paylines. Winning combinations are formed when 3 or more of the same symbols land from left to right, starting from the left-most reel.
The minimum bet available to players is £/€0.10 per spin and the maximum bet available is £/€100 per spin, with plenty of other betting options in between the two. Pug Life has a theoretical RTP of 96.33% and a max win capacity of 7,500x.
In terms of symbols, the highest paying regular symbol here is the Pug, followed by the Chihuahua, Cat, Bird and Mouse. Low-paying symbols are standard Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten.
Treats
During gameplay, you will come across special symbols in the form of Biscuits, Bones and Steak. There is also a Toaster symbol available which substitutes for all regular symbols, appearing only in The Dawg’s Den round.
Treat symbols are revealing Wild Multipliers. Each time a winning combination is formed using one of the Treat symbols, a Multiplier will be revealed and applied to all wins the treat symbol is part of.
If more than 1 Treat symbol is part of the same winning combination, their Multiplier values will be added together and then applied to the win. Each Treat symbol has a range of different Multiplier values, these are as follows.
- Biscuit – Can reveal a Multiplier value of x2, x3 or x4.
- Bones – Can reveal a Multiplier value of x5, x10, x15 or x20.
- Steak – Can reveal a Multiplier value of x25, x50, x75, x100, x150 or x200.
Landing 3 Treats of any kind across the reels on any spin will trigger the Treat Yo’self Bonus round. The position in which the treat symbols landed will be carried over into the bonus round.
Pug Life Free Spins
Like many Hacksaw Gaming titles, Pug Life has not one but two exciting Bonus Games available, known as Treat Yo’self and The Dawg’s Den. Landing either 3 Treat symbols or 3 Dog Den symbols will trigger the Treat Yo’self and The Dawg’s Den bonus rounds respectively.
Treat Yo’self
Once active, you will be awarded with 5 Free Spins.
During the Treat Yo’self bonus, all landed Treat symbols will become sticky, remaining in their fixed position for the duration of this round. Once stuck in position, each Treat symbol will reveal a new Multiplier value based on the type of treat with every spin.
Landing additional Treat symbols during this round will award +1 Free Spin. All extra Treat symbols that land in view will also become sticky, remaining in their fixed position for the duration of the round.
The Dawg’s Den
Once The Dawg’s Den round is triggered, each of the triggering Scatters will reveal the number 3 or 4. These numbers equal the total number of Free Spins you will be awarded.
During this round, no wins are awarded until the end. Instead each win will be added to the top right corner of the reel set, along with any Multiplier values from Treat symbols that are part of a winning combination. At the end of the round, all wins that have accumulated will be Multiplied by the total stored Multiplier values.
If a Sticky Toaster symbol lands, it will either increase the collected Multiplier value or add extra wins to the total win during every remaining Free Spin.
The Toaster symbol can reveal its own Multiplier value of x2, x3, x4, x5, x10, x15, x20, x25, x50 or x100 that is added to the total win Multiplier or a Money symbol that will add your current bet times a random win factor to the total win accumulated. The Toaster symbol is only present on reels 4 and 5 and also acts as a Wild.
Landing Dawg’s Den Scatters during this round will award additional Free Spins.
Pug Life Bonus Buy
For those of you outside the UK, you will benefit from a Bonus Buy option.
Hacksaw Gaming has granted players access to a range of options which are as follows.
- Treats Featurespins – Each spin guarantees a minimum of 1 Treat for a total cost of 2x your current bet per spin. (RTP 96.25%)
- Bonus Featurespins – 5 times more likely to trigger any of the Bonus rounds for a total cost of 3x your current bet per spin. (RTP 96.3%)
- Treat Yo’self Bonus – Triggers the Treat Yo’self bonus round for a total cost of 100x your current bet. (RTP 96.27%)
- The Dawg’s Den Bonus – Triggers The Dawg’s Den bonus round for a total cost of 200x your current bet. (RTP 96.29%)
Pug Life: Our Verdict
Hacksaw are always switching to and fro between their darker games and those with a lighter side, so you never really know what to expect.
Providers like Nolimit City have a consistence about them, so you kind of know that you’re getting something relatively shocking, funny or controversial every time. Hacksaw Gaming can’t quite make up their mind, and this time around they’ve gone for fluffy and fun instead of fierce and frightening.
Some will find Pug Life cute, though in our opinion the little dogs are anything but. Sorry small dog owners, but bigger dogs are better and you know it.
When it comes to gameplay, Pug life is relatively consistent with what we’d expect from a Hacksaw Gaming title with plenty of multipliers, and in a way Pug Life reminded us somewhat of The Dog House from Pragmatic Play, and the potential doesn’t look bad here either at 7,500x as a maximum win.
Our issue with Pug Life might not even be indicative on anything that’s wrong with Pug Life, but with what we’re used to from Hacksaw Gaming instead. Undead Fortune, Hand of Anubis, Chaos Crew, Wanted Dead or a Wild and others just stand out, and they stand out because of their alluring artwork and incredible attention to detail.
Pug Life just doesn’t feel like that. If anything, it feels like a filler between their last great release and their next one. Maybe that’s not the case, but we think even Hacksaw Gaming might know that Pug Life isn’t going to be a smash hit compared to their other games.
Still, if you’re into a game with mechanics like these or you’re indifferent to how it looks then you may well appreciate Pug Life. It’s not a bad game at all, it just doesn’t look like a great one, and visual appeal is more important than one may think.
Welcome Bonus
