Introduction to Chihuahuas vs Goblins
Chihuahuas vs Goblins is a casino slot from Zerplaay Games featuring a fearless pack of Chihuahuas. Their mission is to defend the castle of King Purrumpi against an invading Goblin army. Chihuahuas are named after the Mexican state of Chihuahua, and they’re one of the smallest dogs on the planet. However, don’t assume that will stop this little four-pawed gang from fighting back hard.
What sticks out in this release is that there are no paylines or other typical ways to make winning combinations as in most slots. Instead, your mission is to unlock weapons to destroy Block Symbols and kill Goblin symbols, while collecting Coin symbols. Every blast can trigger a cascade that unlocks more weapons. Who thought that dogs that fit in a handbag were able to do all this?
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Chihuahuas vs Goblins is a video slot from Zerplaay Games with 5 reels and 5 rows. There are no regular paylines, since the game uses another system to hand out wins. The Min.bet is 0.1, and the Max.bet is 50. The RTP is 96.27%, the volatility is medium, and the max win is capped at 20,000x the bet.
The game is set on the wall of a medieval castle, with a cozy village and a mountain range in the background. The 5x5 grid is built into the middle of the wall, and on top of the wall stand dogs dressed in medieval clothes. Above the reels is also a counter keeping track of the wood, stone, and metal symbols you collect. On the ground at the bottom of the screen are four green goblins in armour, facing the wall. You score wins by destroying blocks, defeating goblins and collecting coins with your weapons, and the cascades keep rolling until nothing is left to activate. The slot runs smoothly on mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers, so you can defend the castle from wherever you are.
The lower-paying symbols in Chihuahuas vs Goblins are the Bronze Coin and the Prize Block. The Bronze Coin can land with values between 0.5x and 9x. The Prize Block pays a cash prize between 0.1x and 0.5x the bet when it is destroyed. The higher-paying symbols are the Silver Coin and the Gold Coin. The Silver Coins are worth between 10x and 25x, while the Gold Coin shows up with a value between 50x and 20,000x. There is no Wild Symbol in this game, but there are plenty of special symbols. The Resource Block can drop wood, stone or metal when destroyed, and defeated Goblin symbols work as Scatter Symbols for the bonus game. Then you have the weapons: Sword, Arrow, Cauldron, Ice Nova and Fire Nova, plus the boosters Gear and Musical Note.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Chihuahuas vs Goblins?
You can win up to 20,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Chihuahuas vs Goblins?
The features are Multiplier, Dragon Event, Weapons And Boosters, Goblin Symbols, Coin Symbols, Wrong Village Buddy (Free Spins), and Feature Buy.
Multiplier
Every time a weapon picks up a Coin symbol, its value is doubled. If multiple Coin symbols are collected, they are added together first, and then the 2x multiplier is applied. A Coin symbol can be collected more than once during a spin, and it will be doubled each time. The Musical Note symbol holds a multiplier between 2x and 10x, which is then applied to all the remaining Coin symbols at the end of the spin. During the Dragon event, all the remaining Coin symbols are combined and then multiplied by 2.
Dragon Event
The Dragon event is only available in the base game. Each destroyed Resource Block gives one resource (1 wood, 1 stone or 1 metal) or nothing. The resources only count for the spin in which you collect them, so there's no carryover to the next spin. To trigger the event, you need to collect 3 wood, 3 stone and 3 metal in the same spin.
When all three requirements are satisfied, the castle gets upgraded, and the Dragon appears at the end of the spin. It burns the entire grid, which means all the remaining Goblin symbols are destroyed, and all the locked weapons are unlocked. All the Coin symbols are collected and merged into a single Coin symbol of 2x the total value of the Coins. The grid is then refilled, and all the previously unlocked weapons go back on. The event finishes when the grid has been completely burned, the Coins have been paid out, and no further cascades occur.
Weapons And Boosters
Weapons and boosters all activate in a fixed order (Gear booster first, Musical Note booster last). In the base game, a spin can start with one of the unlocked weapons, and some spins will start with none at all. Any weapons that are unlocked at the start of the spin remain in that position.
Any weapon that comes in during a cascade is semi-locked. It drops in like any other symbol, subject to gravity, but it's already scheduled to activate prior to the spin finishing. If a semi-locked or locked weapon is hit by another weapon, it becomes fully unlocked and stays where it is. An unlocked weapon then just sits there waiting for its turn. If another weapon hits it, nothing changes, and it still goes off when it's due.
Weapons are upgraded in a fixed order: Sword, Arrow, Cauldron, Ice Nova and Fire Nova. The Sword deals 1 damage to the cells directly to its left and right. The Arrow deals 1 damage to 3 random positions on the grid. The Cauldron deals 1 damage to all cells directly below it. The Ice Nova deals 1 damage to all cells in an X pattern out to the edges of the grid. The Fire Nova deals 1 damage to all cells immediately around it. Each weapon deals 1 damage to any Goblin symbol it hits.
The Gear and the Musical Note are boosters that are not part of the upgrade order. The Gear is always unlocked and will activate as soon as it lands. It will break the glass on all locked weapons and will upgrade the unlocked ones to the next level. The Musical Note will store a multiplier between 2x and 10x, which is saved until the end of the spin. If more than one of them activate in the same spin, their values will be added.
Goblin Symbols
You need to hit goblins with weapons in order to defeat them. The goblins have 1-3 HP, and each hit deals 1 damage. The low-tier goblins have 1 HP and drop Bronze Coin symbols. The mid-tier goblins have 2 HP and drop Silver Coin symbols. The Goblin King is the toughest with 3 HP, and he drops a Gold Coin symbol. When a goblin is knocked down, it also acts as a Scatter symbol to trigger the bonus game.
Coin Symbols
Coin symbols appear when a Goblin symbol is destroyed, and they remain on the grid until the end of the spin. When a weapon strikes a Coin symbol, it is collected and will appear in the position where the weapon was fired from. If a weapon strikes two or more coins at the same time, they will all merge into a single Coin symbol in that position.
Wrong Village Buddy (Free Spins)
Wrong Village Buddy is the bonus game and is triggered by 4 or more goblins being defeated in a single base game spin. It starts with 8 spins, and you get 2 more spins for every additional goblin you defeat during the triggering spin, up to a total of 16.
All weapons on the grid are fully unlocked at the start of each free spin (although weapons that appear as a result of cascades remain semi-locked). The Dragon event is off, and no resources can be collected. The Goblin counter carries over from one free spin to the next, and every 8 goblins you kill in the bonus gives you 2 more free spins. The bonus ends when you've used up all your free spins.
Feature Buy
If you don't fancy waiting around for the action, you can simply purchase some features. The Bonus Hunt Feature Spin costs 3x the base bet and makes it five times more likely to trigger a bonus game. You can buy a full weapon unlock Feature Spin for 50x the bet, and the Wrong Village Buddy feature will set you back 100x the bet.
Final Thoughts on Chihuahuas vs Goblins
When opening Chihuahuas vs Goblins, we expected a quirky dog slot, and that’s exactly what it is. However, Zerplaay Games hasn’t just slapped a new theme on a regular grid. The game looks nothing like what we have seen before, which turns out to be both good and bad.
First, we have to say A for effort in constructing a complete siege system with weapons, cascades, resources, and a dragon. All presented on a castle defended by tiny dogs. It feels great when a weapon lands and sets off a chain reaction that unlocks the next one and so on. The negative side is that the system is pretty complicated to follow, and you probably need to spin for some time to get the hang of it, even if you’ve read the rules.
We respect the innovative sides of the game, but we’re not completely hooked on the gameplay. It takes some patience to get into, and not everyone will want to do homework before a spin. However, if you’re tired of the same old paylines, it's worth a look. The max win of 20,000x the bet is pretty generous, and we can’t complain about the 96.27% RTP either.
Chihuahuas vs Goblins from Zerplaay Games is a bold and original slot that trades simplicity for creativity. The game is very charming, but a bit messy to follow.
