Dog Town Deal

The designers over at Quickspin are renowned for creating fun games with some interesting bonus features, but this is the first time we’ve come across Blackjack woven into the heart of a slot. Of course, we were keen to take it for a spin and see whether it lives up to expectations in Dog Town Deal!

Design

Quickspin has taken the idea of a card den and populated it with dogs instead of people. It’s a strange idea, but the graphics team have put in plenty of work to create a game that looks and sounds the part. There are some art-deco influences, and a string band playing out in the background, giving the air of an old-time speakeasy.

Gameplay

Throughout base game spins, Dog Town Deal plays out much like any other five-reel slot, with a Wild symbol to help form winning combos across paylines. It’s when the playing cards start spinning up onto the reels that the game moves up a gear.

Land two playing card Scatters to activate The Deal – the cards flip over, and if their value is 16 or higher, a multiplier is applied to your stake. Land three Scatters, and the Top Dog Free Spins feature is triggered, awarding 7 – 15 free spins according to the number of Scatters in view. Throughout the free spins bonus round the Blackjack feature and Multiplier Ladder become active.

Blackjack feature

Winning lines that contain 3, 4 or 5 matching symbols also award 3, 4 or 5 playing cards respectively. Cards are flipped one at a time, to see if any winning Blackjack hands are created.

All cards award their own value, with court cards valued at 10, while an Ace can be 1 or 11. The aim of the game is to achieve a perfect 21 in two cards, which is a blackjack. If the total of the hand goes above 21 it’s a bust, and a new game commences. A 5 Card Charlie is when five cards are collected but the total is 21 or fewer.

Once all free spins have been completed, if there are still cards remaining, additional free spins play out until all Blackjack games have been completed.

Multiplier Ladder

The Multiplier Ladder is located alongside reel 1, and your progress is determined by the results of your Blackjack games.

• A score of 16 or more moves you one step.
• A 5 Card Charlie moves you two steps
• A Blackjack moves you three steps.

When the free spins bonus round is complete, the multiplier award is paid out in addition to all other wins accumulated during the feature.

Win Potential

Casino chips pay up to 5x the stake for five-of-a-kind wins, The two small dogs and the cigar-chomping bulldog pay up to 15x the bet, but the smartly-dressed German Shepherd pays up to 60x. It’s the art-deco Wild that tops the paytable, awarding 120x your stake for filling a payline.

The Multiplier Ladder holds the best winning potential in Dog Town Deal. The better your Blackjack hands, the higher you could climb, all the way up to the top payout worth 1,000x your stake. This is a fairly low-volatility game, so even a modest gaming budget should provide plenty of reel-spinning action.

It’s not a feature available to UK players, but some jurisdictions allow players to buy the bonus feature for 50x the bet. Although this guarantees at least 7 free spins, it doesn’t mean you’ll win back the cost of triggering the feature, so explore this option in demo mode before risking your cash.

Our Verdict

We weren’t too sure what to make of this game when we first loaded up the reels, but once we’d got the hang of it, we really enjoyed it! The Blackjack element gives a whole new twist to the gameplay, and the Multiplier Ladder adds an extra fun touch – albeit one with prize-winning potential!

The top payout of just over 1,000x isn’t huge, by any stretch of the imagination. But coupled with the low volatility of this game, it puts Dog Town Deal within reach of just about every type of player. Give it a try and see whether you enjoy playing it as much as we did!