Pug Thugs of Nitropolis

Theme and Design

No Surprises Here - Another Variation on the Popular Nitropolis Design

By now you probably know the backstory for Nitropolis slots – a cartoon dystopian future where gangs of dogs and cats roam the city in search of Nitro fuel. The four gangs are at war and set to return for a final showdown in Nitropolis 5 later this year. This version sees us following the Pug Thug gang, joining them in their hide out in a building top, overlooking the city through the clouds behind a 6x6 grid. The frenetic soundtrack, with techno beats and siren sounds, helps set the scene and matches the action on the reels perfectly. In short, if you enjoy the atmosphere of other Nitropolis slots, then you’ll like this one too.

RTP and Variance

Pug Thugs runs at a fixed RTP of 94%. That is standard for ELK Studio slots now. All new releases from this provider are set to 94%. Whilst that is a little lower than you find in other online slots keep in mind that this is a fixed rate. Many providers now develop game with 2, 3, or even 4 RTP options for operators to run with. So, you can find you are playing your favourite NLC or Play n Go slots at less than 90% RTP at some slot sites. Pug Thugs will only ever run at 94%.

There is no let-up in the volatility in this game. It is high, as in all other Nitropolis slots, so expect a rough ride with an uneven win distribution.

Maximum Win

The max payout in Pug Thugs is 25,000x. Again, that is the same as you find in the other Nitropolis releases from 2024. It’s good potential. If that tickles your fancy you might also want to check out our list of the highest max win slots.

Symbols and Paytable

Pug Thugs has an interesting grid layout. There are 6 reels, displaying a 4-5-5-5-4 row configuration, with Feature Screens, randomly triggering features, in each of the 4 corners.

The game uses a Connecting Paylines pay model. That means winlines can start from any side of the grid, including top and bottom, and must include 3 or more identical symbols in adjacent positions.

The paytable contains EIGHT symbols. The 4 low value ones are the cards, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. These are valued at from 0.1x for 3 Jacks up to 0.7x for 6 Aces. The premiums are the gun, laptop, rocket boosters and pug, valued at from 0.3x for 3 guns up to 2x for 6 pugs.

There is also a Wild that substitutes for any pay symbol to complete a win line AND has the value of 0.75x, 1x, 1.5x or 2x for 3, 4, 5 or 6 on a line.

Features and Gameplay

There are some familiar features in Pug Thugs. This is how they work:

Nitro Reels

If you’ve played any other Nitropolis slot then you’ll be familiar with the Nitro Reels feature. When one of these lands it displays a stack of symbols within one position on the grid, creating more opportunities for win ways. You’ll see a number on the Nitro Reel that shows how many symbols appear in the stack.

Where you have intersecting win lines, a Nitro Reel will be created at the point of the intersection. And if one already exists in that position, then it will be upgraded to a stack of 8 high.

NOTE: In this version of Nitropolis, Nitro Reels can ONLY appear in the central 4x4 area of the grid.

Four Feature Screens

Watch the four feature screens – one in each corner of the grid – during the game. They will randomly display one of the four following features when the reels stop. And more than one can be displayed at any time.

Make Big – any symbol on the grid is expanded to a 2x2, 3x3 or 4x4 size.

Collect – This potentially powerful feature sees the value of all coins visible on the grid collected for a payout. The nice part is, after the collect, the coins spin to reveal either a coin again or a pay symbol. The process keeps repeating until no more coins are visible. Before the feature starts, more coins may be added to the grid in a Coin Rain.

Nitro Wild – one or more Nitro Reels on the grid become wild where all symbols in their stacks turn wild.

Nitro Match – any Nitro Reels on the grid are matched to a randomly selected symbol. This potentially creates more instances of one symbol and a higher chance of creating win lines.

Nitro Insane 

This is a random feature that triggers at the start of a spin. A random number of Nitro Reels are added onto the grid.

Bonus Symbols And Free Spins 

The free spins round here is triggered by landing 3 or more Bonus symbols. There is also a Super Bonus symbol. Where one of these is included, the Super Bonus round is triggered.

During Free Spins a Nitro Insane is triggered at the start of each spin so you are GUARANTEED to have Nitro Reels on each spin. And in the Super version, Nitro Reels are sticky for the whole round.

And finally, if you land more Bonus symbols during the round, you earn more free spins.