Purrrminator: Slot Overview

Is there anything more annoying than heading out for a calm walk around the neighbourhood and planting your shoe in a warm pile of dog mess because some inattentive or careless owner didn’t bother to bag it and bin it? Sure, it’s a pretty minor problem in the grand scheme of things, and plenty worse can happen. Still, stepping in poo is, well, not exactly a good time. Sorry for the canine bathroom chatter, but it’s hard not to go there when reviewing Relax Gaming’s release Purrrminator, an online slot that brings a Reverse Avalanche mechanic, free spins, and a few small heaps of doo-doo.

Purrrminator seems to be the name of a robotic dog controlled by a sinister-looking cat, sent in to handle a gang of unruly canines—and the “work” they’re leaving behind on the streets. You can spot some of that work right on the left side of the game grid, resembling chocolate soft-serve, only with flies circling it. Clearly, Purrrminator is built around a certain brand of toilet humour—not quite Punk Toilet or xWays Hoarder, but it nudges that way, just with a more childish tone. Trigger free spins and the action shifts to the pound, where naughty—or at least stray—dogs end up.

A metal grid, like a section of a cage, frames the symbols in a 6×4 alignment, forming wins via a connected ways pay system from left to right, starting on the leftmost reel. Under the hood sits a medium-high volatile math model, and the best available RTP is 96.1%, though lower RTP settings may also exist. Bets range from 10 to $/€200, and there’s also a bonus buy option.

Chunky spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts make up the low-paying symbols, while 5 dog symbols sit at the top end. Hitting a six-of-a-kind card suit combination returns 0.4-0.5 times the bet, whereas the 5 dog symbols pay 0.6x to 3x for 6 OAK. The free spins scatter in Purrrminator also acts as a wild, substituting for any standard paying symbol.

Purrrminator: Slot Features

Purrrminator doesn’t come loaded with loads of add-ons, but what it does include is a Reverse Avalanche feature, plus free spins that increase the play area and add expanding symbols.

Reverse Avalanche Feature

Purrrminator’s Reverse Avalanche feature locks winning symbols along with every other instance of that same symbol type on the grid, plus wild/scatters, while clearing away the remaining symbols. After that, only the winning symbol type, wild/scatters, winning symbols that expand (during free spins), or blanks can land during an Avalanche. If fresh symbols drop in, the spin continues; if nothing new lands, the spin ends, and the accumulated win is awarded. If the initial spin produces a multi-symbol win, then for the Reverse Avalanche phase, only the highest paying winning symbol stays on the grid—the lower-value winning symbol pays out first and is then removed. The round finishes when an Avalanche results in all blanks or when the grid becomes full.

Free Spins

In the base game, landing 3 scatter symbols awards 5 to 20 free spins, 4 scatter symbols awards 7 to 20 free spins, while 5 scatter symbols awards 9 to 20 free spins. Free spins run on an expanded 6×5 gaming area. On top of that, Avalanches may drop winning symbols that expand. Expanding symbols occupy every position in the direction indicated by their arrow—up or down.

Feature Buy

Anyone prepared to spend 50 times the base bet can activate the free spins bonus round instantly. The RTP when buying free spins is 96.5%.

Purrrminator: Slot Verdict

Before fully understanding how it operated, the Reverse Avalanche Feature felt like a neat little puzzle—wondering what “reverse” would actually mean. Would symbols rise upward like in Klowns, or would it go in an even stranger direction? Instead, the reverse element is about keeping winning symbols in place rather than removing them, as happens in typical avalanche/cascade/reaction mechanics. This style of feature has appeared under different labels; hold and respin is one that’s been seen before, if memory serves, or simply respins, as in Serial, or the Sticky Win feature in NetEnt’s Jack Hammer 3. Put simply, the “stick the winners and respin the rest” idea is one that pops up from time to time—and it makes sense, because it’s a strong mechanic when you get a juicy run of matching symbols filling the board.

Ideally, the symbol that sticks is the Doberman—or even the bulldog—since they pay far better than the others. And even though Purrrminator isn’t a “pure” ways slot, the connector system still creates plenty of routes to a win. The larger free spins grid, paired with the expanding symbol feature, also widens the potential outcomes. Purrrminator doesn’t bring a huge number of features, though, so it can slip into a bit of a tail-chasing loop: lock a winning symbol, hope more of it lands on respins, and repeat. The cartoonish cats-vs-dogs slapstick vibe, mixed with general animal attitude, gives Purrrminator some punch, and a 5,000x the bet win cap beats stepping in a fresh, steaming surprise. Even if the mechanic can feel a little slow—which may irritate some players—and the overall gameplay isn’t especially standout by Relax Gaming’s past historical standards, Purrrminator is still a solidly made slot overall.