I own a dog, I like to watch Animal Planet, and I sometimes think animals have better characters than some people. So, I generally think of myself as a big animal lover. However, I’ve never been too fond of animal slots, as I often found them plain and boring. That’s why my expectations about RTG’s “Golden Retriever” slot weren’t very high. But oh, how I was wrong!

Let’s start with the basics: this is a 5-reel, 20-line video slot, which also offers a random progressive jackpot that can be won at the end of each spin. It’s a dog-themed slot (as its name says), so it involves a number of dog-related symbols: a golden retriever, a lady spaniel, a dog house, the retriever’s collar, a diamond bone, and many other symbols that are in line with the theme. Some of those symbols aren’t plain symbols, however. They also serve as a wild symbol, a scatter, a multiplier, and may even award you with some free spins.

It’s not hard to play, just choose the amount of bet you want to place, and go spinnin’! If you feel like trying it out before going for the big thing, you can place a minimum bet on all 20 lines, which will cost you $0.20 per spin. But if you’re all about bug stakes, you can play with up to $100 per spin. Of course, everything has its advantages and disadvantages: with small bets you lose a little, but with big bets you win big. And in this slot you may get a lot of free spins, so it’s probably better to play with some average to higher sums.

Wild Symbol:

The Golden Retriever represents a substitute which will replace any other symbol, except scattered bones, to form a winner. It can be seen on reels 2, 3, and 4, and when it finds itself in a winning combination, the prize amount gets twice bigger.

Scatter Symbol:

It would be difficult to imagine a dog slot without a nice bone. Well, here we have not an ordinary bone, but a special, lucky diamond bone which awards free spins and a bonus feature. So, when you see three or more scattered bones on the reels, you can count on 10 free spins. This feature can be retriggered, and everything you win during the free spins goes to a special prize pool. When the free spins are spent, you’ll be guided to a Golden Retriever Feature. This is where the retriever will dig up a bone with a multiplier, which can increase your prize pool by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, and 20x. What I can tell you from my personal experience with this game is that the free spins are triggered quite often, allowing a number of smaller wins, but I have to admit that I retriggered the feature on a couple of occasions, and even won all 5 scattered bones once, which made the prize pool quite big. As for the multiplier, I never saw higher than 4x, but that can be quite enough, depending on the free spins winnings.

Putting my great experience with this slot aside, it is generally very good. Its cute characters win you over immediately, it offers a variety of features, so there’s something to keep you interested all the time, and finally, it seems like the winning odds are quite decent. All this makes “Golden Retriever” a highly recommendable slot, which will bring a smile to your face and make you more playful than ever. Just like a real puppy!

- reviewed by Latest Casino Bonuses, last updated 2011-04-03