Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis

Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis: Slot Overview

Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis is the third slot in developer ELK Studios' Battle of Nitropolis series, following Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis and Rogue Rats of Nitropolis, before leading into Pug Thugs of Nitropolis, and the conclusion, Nitropolis 5. If you caught Rogue Rats, you'll know how widely it diverted from the typical Nitropolis blueprint. For one thing, it wasn't really a regular slot per se, as it had no reels, rows, columns, ways, paylines, nothing like that whatsoever. Instead, it was a hugely experimental and largely successful creative endeavour. The question after racing around the wasteland with the rat was, what would the next one be like?

We can tell you that Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis largely returns to the series' usual modus operandi in look and function. Looks first, where players are pulled back into an urban dystopia, where a creepy 'Back to Work' sign on the wall gives the game a 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' vibe. Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis might not be the most visually rich example of a Nitropolis slot, but it looks absolutely fine and sounds excellent, too, as these slots tend to do. Slots from ELK, in general, really.

Also, like ELK slots in general, Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis has one RTP setting of 94%, both when betting 20 c to $/€100 per spin or when operating via X-iter feature buys. One of this highly volatile slot's shock points is its low, like, really low, number of ways for the Nitro team to win at a modest 20. Yes, 20, not 20,000, or 20 million, 20 paylines. The lines crisscross a 6-reel grid, with 4 positions on each reel.

Symbol payout info now, and when hitting a line of 6 matching 10-A card royals, the reward is 1 to 3.5 times the bet. Then we've got for highs, a bowl of dog food, a stein, a pistol, a dog collar, and what looks to be a badge. Hitting 6 matching high pays in a line awards 5 to 25 times the bet. Wild symbols substitute for any symbol except the scatter or Nitro Feature Box, and a winning wild line has the same value as the highest-paying symbol.

Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis: Slot Features

Nitro Wild Reels are one of the main stars of this show, joined by Nitro Feature box features, Dirty Wilds, a free spins bonus game, a free spins super bonus game, and X-iter buys.

Nitro Wilds Reels

When they land on the grid, Nitro Wild Reels cover 2 to 4 vertical symbol positions and contain a stack of wild symbols. The indicator level on the Nitro Wild Reel indicates the size of the wild stack. Nitro Wild Reels can be randomly upgraded to a higher level, increasing the size of the wild stack. Nitro Wild Reels can also expand from 1x2 to 1x3 to 1x4. A 1x4 symbol covers the whole reel. One Nitro Reel Wild can land per reel.

Nitro Feature Box

The Nitro Feature Box is a symbol that triggers a random modifier when it hits. It may even trigger additional modifiers within a spin. These are:

• Respin – awards a respin where Nitro Wild Reels, Nitro Feature Boxes, and scatter symbols are sticky.
• Wild – the Nitro Feature Box converts into a wild symbol.
• Nitro Expand – expands the size of a Nitro Wild Reel.
• Nitro Raffle – converts all Nitro Wild Reels in view into a number of 1x1 spinning reels where blanks or coins may hit. Any landed coins award their value, including a possible Max Win coin. Nitro Raffles occur after respins if applicable.

Dirty Wilds

The Dirty Wilds feature can trigger randomly in the base game. It lands a random number of fully expanded Nitro Wild Reels on the grid.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatter symbols awards the free spins game. Landing 3 scatters triggers free spins, 4 scatters triggers free spins with 1 sticky Nitro Wild Reel, landing 5 scatters triggers free spins with 2 sticky Nitro Wild Reels, and 6 scatters triggers super free spins with 3 sticky Nitro Wild Reels. The free spins bonus game starts when any respins or Nitro Raffle features have played through. No Nitro Wild Reels are brought from the base game to the bonus game. Landing 6 Nitro Wild Reels in the bonus round awards +5 extra free spins. The bonus game can only be retrigged once. In the free spins round, Nitro Wild Reels are sticky.

X-iter

Clicking into the X-iter menu is where these features can be activated:

• Bonus Hunt – 3x the bet for triple the chance of triggering the bonus game.
• Three Nitro Wild Reels – 25x the bet for one spin with 3 guaranteed Nitro Wild Reels, and where 3 or more scatter symbols trigger the super bonus.
• Dirty Wilds – one spin with a guaranteed Dirty Wilds trigger for 100x the bet.
• Bonus Game – 100x the bet for the free spins round.
• Super Bonus Game – 500x the bet for the super free spins bonus game with 3 persistent Nitro Wild Reels.

Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis: Slot Verdict

After going off-piste with the experimental Rogue Rats of Nitropolis, we're back on more familiar radioactive territory for Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis. So far, the Battle of Nitropolis series has provided an excellent opportunity for fans to dive deeper into Nitropolis' clans, from the doggie's eye view this time around. These dawgs are packing, too, and not just weaponry. Their mugs appear on the Nitro Wild Reels, which are one of Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis' most important components. Since there are far fewer ways to win than there normally are in a Nitropolis slot, the more stacked those Nitro Wild Reels can get, the better. What's interesting is that despite the colossal drop in ways, winning potential remains high at 25,000x the bet.

Adding petrol to the fire, if you're lucky, are Feature Box features and Dirty Wilds. One does wonder how critical the Max Win coin is in achieving the game's full winning potential. Absolutely essential, or just nice to know it's out there? It seems ELK Studios is relying more and more on those Max Win coins, too, as seen before in Pirots 2, Dam Beavers, and Rogue Rats. Only asking because, at times, it did feel hard to get ahead in Dirty Dawgs. Due to the low number of ways, low frequency of Feature Boxes, and their limited modifiers - no both ways pays, for example, Dirty Dawgs of Nitropolis didn't have as high an 'anything could happen at any moment' feel. There are hints of dangerous unpredictability, and things like Dirty Wilds and Nitro Raffles gel well, but the 'gee, this thing could explode at any stage' danger wasn't as keenly felt as in some other Nitropolis slots.

On the whole, though, the high quality of the games leading up to Nitropolis 5 has been impressive so far. Parts experimental, part traditional, clever, captivating, and in some instances very unique. The scene is set for a massive Nitropolis 5 release. No pressure, ELK, but the expectations are running high now, and the next stop on the journey - Pug Thugs of Nitropolis.