221B Baker Street Slot Review

Well-known amongst literary fans, thanks to the efforts of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 221B is not just a random name which Merkur, this game’s developer, came up with. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the title, this particular one relates to the address of the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. The wily London-based detective has been seen in numerous incarnations over the years, from television series to films, video games to board games, and of course, the original story books. He’s also been imagined in one or two different video slot products as well, and this one from Merkur presents an action-packed thriller of a ride, with atmosphere and intrigue included alongside.

Spying the Reels!

You’ll find a nice and standard five reel layout of this game, which is accompanied by three rows worth of icons. These icons are Sherlock Holmes-inspired all over, from the red-hued bottle of poison, to the bullet-surrounded pistol, as well as the shot of a misty London street, and an image of Holmes and his criminal enemy, Moriarty standing back to back with their guns out. When included in a winning combination, these symbols are elegantly animated to provide an extra touch of visual brilliance to the product, and every time you spin the reels, you’ll be greeted with a piece of music that just about screams out “mystery!”.

Other features of the interface include the addition of 20 pay lines, which are able to be customized, if you should feel the need to do so. Meanwhile, there’s also a changeable coin value to the bottom right of the screen, offering up the chance to be switched from $0.01 per line to $2.00 per line. If you’re playing at maximum coin value and also have the maximum amount of pay lines activated, you’ll be able to place a wager of $40 per spin.

It’s Elementary, my Dear Watson! Special Features Do Exist!

There’s a close up shot of Sherlock himself, smoking his infamous pipe, and this symbol will act as the wild icon for the game. He substitutes for all other symbols on the reels to make a win, except for the scatters. Should you spin five of these across the reels on a winning pay line while maximum betting, you’ll receive a pay out of 20,000 coins!

221B Baker Street also features two different scatter icons, with the first of these being a close up shot of Holmes’ enemy, Moriarty. These pay in any position that they land in, and spinning three or more reaps huge benefits. Five of these appearing across the reels will pay out a big balance-boosting 4,000 coins.

Finally, if you spin three of the other scatter icon, which is the aforementioned symbol with Holmes and Moriarty standing back to back, you’ll trigger the ‘Duel Bonus’ round. This particular icon will only appear on reels two, three and four, so three is the maximum amount of these that can appear during any spin.

The ‘Duel Bonus’ awards between three and five duels, which are given at random. During this special round, Moriarty will shoot at a field of random prizes, which will remove a prize option. Sherlock will then shoot afterward, and the reward will be shown and offered to you. Players can discard the prize and duel again or accept the current offer available. This round continues until the last offer, acceptance of the current prize, or if you achieve the maximum reward.

Finally, if you spin three or more Big Ben icons on an active pay line, you’ll trigger the game’s free spins round. You’re first required to select one of the triggering symbols to reveal the number of free spins and the round multiplier. If you spin three Big Ben icons, you’ll be rewarded with two to six free spins. Spinning four of the icons will provide you with six to 14 free spins, and spinning five of them will reward you with 10 to 20 free spins of the reels. These rounds are always played with 20 pay lines active.