Lobster House: Slot Overview
Editor’s note: This review is based on an early access version of the game. We may update the review after the full release if necessary.
Lobster House might sound like a restaurant where you smash crustaceans apart with a hammer in order to gorge on the delicious flesh contained within, but it is actually the title of a party-going online slot designed by Pragmatic Play. If the word ‘House’ in conjunction with this software provider is conjuring memories of other Pragmatic Play slots, then pat yourself on the back because Lobster House is a remake of the classic 2019 canine hit The Dog House. As well as a skin that removes dogs and replaces them with lobsters, there are new parts, some of which are potentially quite contentious, such as a super free spins bonus buy as well as a reduction in winning potential.
If there’s one thing Lobster House teaches us, it’s that lobsters know a thing or two about chilling out and having a good time. Their chosen spot is next to the sea, with a comfy deck chair and a couple of surfboards close at hand – cocktails are not far away either. Lobster House’s base game setting is laid back to the point of almost drifting off into a blissful half-sleep on the sand, so if that sort of vibe’s not what you’re looking for from a slot, then something more high-octane might be a better match. In saying that, Lobster House’s sticky wild multipliers, when popping, can be the opposite of sleepy; we’ll get to them soon, so don’t get too cosy.
The grid housing Lobster House’s active play area is made up of 5 reels holding 3 rows each, and is equipped with 20 paylines for landing winning combinations along. When betting, players may stake 20c to $/€240 per spin or buy the free spins or super free spins round. In all cases, the maximum RTP comes in at 96.51% and the volatility is high.
Lobster House serves 10 to A card ranks as its low pays, followed by ice creams, cocktails, and four lobster character symbols as the higher pays. Hitting winning combinations made up of 5 matching symbols pays 1.25x to 2.5x for the royals or 5x to 37.5x for everything else. Wild coconut drink symbols substitute for all symbols except the pearl scatter. Wilds are present on reels 2-4, and all wilds on the same reel have a random multiplier of x2 or x3. Wild multipliers apply to all wins they are part of, and multiplier values are combined when more than one of them is part of the same win.
Lobster House: Slot Features
There isn’t a huge amount of features in Lobster House, but what there is to look forward to are free spins with sticky wild multipliers and a feature buy.
Free Spins
Hitting 3 scatters awards 5x the bet and triggers the free spins bonus round. In Lobster House, at random, if the scatters in view can move down one position without leaving the play area, a respin is triggered where reels with scatters move down one position while all other reels respin.
Before the feature starts, a group of 9 clams randomly reveals a number of free spins. Each clam reveals the number 1, 2, or 3, and the total numbers revealed by clams are added up and awarded as free spins. During the bonus round, all wilds that hit on the middle three reels remain on the grid for the full duration of the feature. Sticky wilds have a random multiplier which is revealed when they hit and remain at that value. Scatters do not appear in free spins, meaning the feature cannot be retriggered.
Feature Buy
Players are able to buy into the free spins round at a cost of 100 times their bet. At 400x, players can buy super free spins where wild symbols have a multiplier value of x15 or x25 when they hit.
Lobster House: Slot Verdict
Houses, sticky wild multipliers, random free spins reveals before the bonus round kicks into action, oh yeah, Lobster House is a crustacean-themed version of Pragmatic Play’s popular slot The Dog House. The two games share a bunch of technical commonalities, pretty much most of them, so, as always, when two slots are this closely matched, how you liked the original game is a strong indicator of how well the new one will be received, as well. However, Lobster House possesses a couple of possible show stoppers which may influence players’ decision to take it for a spin or not.
For one thing, while much else bar the skin is the same as The Dog House, winning potential is not. In this instance, the max win is capped at 4,000x the bet (compared to TDH’s 6,750x), which is odd in itself, but more so when considering that super free spins can land x15 or x25 multis, which are considerably more powerful than regular x2s or x3s. Furthermore, a super free spin bonus that tempts users with something desirable that isn’t available unless they fork out a considerable amount of dough is contentious in itself, and this seems to be something Pragmatic Play is increasingly putting into its releases.
And so, locking off the game’s most potent effects behind a costly feature buy that at best will return 10x the outlay (should Lobster House hit its full potential), well, it won’t be for everyone. Ultimately, the thinking on Lobster House is that unless you’re really excited by the bigger multiplier values available in super free spins and are cool paying 400x to attempt accessing them, then players are probably better off sticking with The Dog House.
Write a comment