Downtown Grand Unveils ‘Wolf Den’ with Launch of New Huff N’ Puff

^{Vlogger RubySlots (left) joined characters from Light & Wonder’s Huff N’ Puff slots for the ribbon cutting at the Downtown Grand’s new casino section dedicated entirely to the wildly popular game series. (Image: Light and Wonder / YouTube)}

There can be little doubt now that Huff N’ Puff is a veritable modern slots classic, and Las Vegas casino Downtown Grand is attempting to cash in on its popularity.

Last week, the casino officially unveiled the “Wolf Den,” an area on the relatively small gaming floor dedicated entirely to the hit Light & Wonder Huff N’ Puff series.

The area features four of the Huff N’ Puff series: Huff N’ Even More Puff, Huff N’ Extra Puff, Huff N’ Puff Money Mansion and, most interestingly, the newest title in the series Huff N’ Puff High Rise.

Huff N’ Puff’s Growing Appeal

The Huff N’ Puff Wolf Den opened to gamblers in November, but its official unveiling – with all the pomp and circumstance befitting people in pinstripe suits and little pig costumes – was scheduled to coincide with High Rise’s rollout across Las Vegas to maximum exposure for both.

High Rise does not offer a buzzsaw wheel bonus to the “more” series of Huff N’ Puff games, although the buzzsaws do make an appearance to upgrade your houses in the bonus feature.

It also features a blue hat that unlocks extra rows to play, as well as a little seen green that upgrades just about everything.

"I always have to go with what's new so right now high rise is my favorite [in the series] because it's the newest," YouTube influencer Ruby Slots said at the launch party earlier in March. "I have not gotten the green hat yet and I'm fighting to get it!"

"We're going through a big change here at the Downtown Grand and we're very excited to partner up with one of the biggest, Light & Wonder," Downtown Grand Casino Marketing Director Tony Barbato said. "It's something different to the rest of Downtown and the rest of Vegas in general.”

General Manager Eric Buksa added: "The inspiration was to keep the casino floor fresh. We try to keep the latest product out on the floor and keep the guests excited to visit our casino. This is a great product, it's a lively product. It's a great room back here and we couldn't be happier to have it."

Casinos having areas of the casino floor dedicated to a specific game is nothing new, and in fact downtown Las Vegas already has that with Huff N’ Puff. The Plaza has a wall of Huff N’ Puff titles with themed decoration and branding – including yellow construction hat lamps.

However, what makes the Downtown Grand’s Wolf Den different is that it is in its own enclosed space. In that sense, it is very similar to the dedicated Lightning Lounge at Bally’s in Atlantic City.

Given how much pressure casinos are under to maximize the income from every single square foot of the gaming floor, this is a considerable statement of trust from Downtown Grand and the Huff N’ Puff product.

Powering Light & Wonder Success

There can be little doubt that what started out as a simple slots game in the Lock It Link series based on a child’s fairytale has turned into a slots phenomenon.

The original game, which launched in 2019, spawned Huff N’ More Puff which, for many slots players, remains the best of the bunch. It introduced the buzzsaw wheel feature in exchange for slightly lower pay scales. No sooner had that hit casino floors that Huff N’ Even More Puff was announced, with a second wheel.

Since then, Money Mansion, Huff N’ Extra Puff, Nuff N’ Puff Power 4 and, now, Huff N’ Puff High Rise has seen a steady growth in the franchise to rival the likes of Aristocrat’s Buffalo.

It has, without question, powered Light & Wonder to a new level. For the fourth quarter of 2024, the company reported increased net income to $107million from $69million, underlying its status as a genuine giant in the industry.

It’s not all been off the back of Huff N’ Puff, it must be said. Their library of games is now a hugely impressive one, with the Planet Moolah series and Ultimate Fire Link also among it.

However, that prominence has also seen them attract the ire of top competitor Aristocrat. On Sept. 20, Light & Wonder were ordered to remove around 2,200 Dragon Train machines from casino floors by a court order.

That was due to a lawsuit from Aristocrat alleging copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation relating to their Dragon Link series.

The result of that was a 20% drop in their share price, although adjusted EBITA expectations were still healthy at £1.4bn. It also led to the Dragon Train designer, who the lawsuit claimed was a former Aristocrat employee, being terminated.

Still, Light & Wonder remain bullish about their future, and rightly so. With president and CEO Matt Wilson declaring that they have “the best game design talent in the industry.”

With Huff N’ Puff appearing to have delivered another huge hit and now taking over whole sections of casino floors in its branding, there are vanishingly few who would dispute Wilson’s claim.