Hounds of Hell: Slot Overview

Hell has been portrayed in countless ways over the ages, yet most versions agree on one thing: it’s not somewhere you’d want to end up. Still, Hacksaw Gaming has never avoided the bleak, gritty end of the spectrum, and it doesn’t get much more ominous than the eternal abyss. The slot is Hounds of Hell, and it’s loaded with familiar Hacksaw Gaming staples like spreading symbols and per-reel multiplier prizes, with a couple of devilish surprises mixed in.

With a name like Hounds of Hell, there’s no doubt about the setting. This time, players are plunged deep into the underworld, where everything looks sharp-edged and threatening—think a far less playful take on SixSixSix. The titular hounds loom on both sides of the play area, which glows fiery red in the base game and shifts to an icy blue during the bonus rounds. In some readings of Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’, the ninth and lowest circle is where Satan beats his wings, chilling the depths with freezing winds. It’s a realm without the comfort of love, hope, or joy. But there are wolves here, and they’re central to the biggest highlights in Hounds of Hell.

This is a scatter pays game, meaning wins are formed when 6 or more matching pay symbols land anywhere on the 5×5 grid. Winning symbols disappear and the reels cascade as new symbols fall into place, continuing for as long as fresh wins are created after each drop. In the depths of the ninth circle sits a medium-high volatile math model, alongside multiple RTP setups, with the top return ranging from 96.27% to 96.3% (depending on free spins gambling). Bonus buys are available, as is a gamble tied to the bonus round, and the base bet range runs from 10 c to $/€100.

Card ranks from Ten through Ace act as the low-paying symbols, while the higher pays are represented by 5 assorted Eldritch icons. Scatter wins for six-of-a-kind pay 0.1 to 2 times the bet, increasing to 5 to 50 times the bet for landing 10 or more matching pay symbols on the grid. There are no wild symbols in this game.

Hounds of Hell: Slot Features

Charging out from the infernal gates are Hellhound symbols, Roaring Packs of Hell, Hounds are Loose, a bonus gamble, the What The Hell! and the Who Let The Hounds Out?!? bonus rounds, plus bonus buys.

Hellhounds

Hellhound symbols act as cash prize multipliers that spread and get collected. When a spin ends, Hellhound symbols spread to the top of their reel, showing a multiplier value in every occupied position. These multipliers are collected from bottom to top, left to right and are displayed above each reel. The combined amount shown above the reels is then paid to the player. Adding multiplier values contribute 1x to 50x the bet to the reel total; Multiplying multiplier values apply an x2 to x10 multiplier to the current total. Only one Hellhound symbol may land on any reel.

Roaring Packs of Hell

When 2 or more Hellhound symbols land on adjacent reels on the same row, they form a Roaring Pack, which means their potential multiplier values are increased. Any Hellhound symbols that spread from a Hellhound belonging to a Roaring Pack also count as part of that Pack. Adding multiplier values from Roaring Packs add 5x to 100x the bet to the reel total; Multiplying multiplier values apply a multiplier of x3 to x20 to the current total. Once a Hellhound has joined a Roaring Pack, it remains part of the Pack even if cascades later separate it onto a different row.

Hounds Are Loose

Hounds Are Loose can trigger when no new wins appear after the grid has finished settling. It removes all low-pay royal symbols, allowing fresh symbols to fall into their spaces. This may happen multiple times within a single spin, and there is an increased chance of landing Hellhound symbols as the new symbols drop.

Bonus Gamble

On entering a bonus game, players have the choice to gamble or proceed with the free spins they’ve already been awarded. The gamble requires selecting 3 Hellfire Orbs, each containing 2 to 10 free spins or a Bonus Upgrade if What the Hell! was the original trigger.

What The Hell!

Landing 3 FS scatters in the base game awards 10 free What The Hell! spins. The feature uses the same core mechanics as the main game, except all multipliers from Hellhounds are kept above the reels until the end of the round and can continue to grow. Once the round ends, the full collected amount above the reels is paid out. Hounds are Loose is guaranteed to trigger after 3 consecutive non-winning spins. Landing 2 or 3 FS symbols during the feature awards +2  or +4 extra free spins.

Who Let The Hounds Out?!?

Hitting 4 FS scatters in the base game starts this bonus with 10 free spins. The standard base game mechanics remain in place, along with the enhanced Hounds are Loose feature from the What The Hell! round. Additionally, the first time a Hellhound lands on a reel, that reel becomes an activated Hell Reel. From then until the bonus ends, a Hellhound symbol is guaranteed to land on every activated Hell Reel on each free spin. In this mode, Hellhound multipliers are paid at the end of every spin, and the totals above each reel are reset to 0 between free spins. Landing 2 or 3 FS symbols during the feature awards +2  or +4 extra free spins.

Bonus Buy

Through the bonus buy, bonus modes can be enabled. Paying 3x the bet makes each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game. Spending 60x the bet purchases a spin that guarantees at least 3 Hellhound symbols will land. For 100x the bet, What The Hell! can be bought, while 250x buys Who Let The Hounds Out?!?

Hounds of Hell: Slot Verdict

Few developers swing between bright and bleak as sharply as Hacksaw Gaming, shifting from outright silliness—Donut Division, for example—to stripping away the jokes and going full-force on intensity, as in Rise of Ymir. There’s no mystery where Hounds of Hell lands. It’s firmly on the grim end, throwing players into one of the most hopeless settings imaginable and asking them to fight their way back. Thankfully, Hounds of Hell provides several potentially strong weapons for the task, including spreading bet multiplier symbols and two separate bonus rounds.

Spreading mechanics are clearly a Hacksaw Gaming favourite, although it’s more typical to see spreading wilds or wild multipliers. Here, the twist is generating bet multipliers and banking them above the reels via spreading symbols—less common, but not without precedent in titles like Evil Eyes or Chaos Crew 2. Overall, the action should feel comfortably familiar for Hacksaw Gaming fans, while still offering a handful of small adjustments and light evolutions. The Roaring Pack is one such addition, providing a satisfying way to raise potential multiplier values while ramping up tension. The inclusion of a pre-bonus gamble in a Hacksaw Gaming slot was unexpected too. The best part is that it isn’t a pure all-or-nothing proposition: you might end up with more free spins or a bonus upgrade, or you might receive fewer spins, but you still walk away with something. And for the luckiest players, Hounds of Hell can deliver huge results, with a 20,000x win cap that sits toward the upper end of the max-win range for a Hacksaw Gaming slot.

It’s difficult to imagine fans of the studio not having a good time with Hounds of Hell. It’s packed with signature HG-style gameplay, boasts a hefty max win, and includes enough extra turns to keep it feeling current. The result is a dark, hazardous scatter pays slot with equally dark, hazardous, and potentially very lucrative gameplay.