The famous detective gets a canine twist with Sherlock Bones, the new online slot from Relax Gaming. But there’s no time to paws (!) as it’s straight down to business with reels filled with dastardly symbols and a mystery to solve. You’ll have some help from Watson, in dog form of course, but your job will be to line up the matches and hopefully collect the cash. The question, of course, is whether this slot will leave you howling at the moon or wagging your tail with delight?
Although it’s a Relax Gaming slot, you’ll see it attributed to Electric Elephant. It’s one and the same game; Electric Elephant is one of the studios who provide unique game concepts and designs for Relax. Bringing a detective onto the reels is nothing new, as there are plenty of other games in the genre. These include the topnotch Riddle Reels from Play’n GO; if you fancy being the detective, there’s the iconic Cluedo Cash Mystery from SG Digital.
There are five reels on the board which are laid out in the typical 5×3 configuration. The game has 243 ways to win, rather than traditional paylines. But watch out! If you trigger the feature to expand the reels, this can increase to 16,807 ways to win! The min bet is 0.20, and the max bet is 100.00, coupled with a healthy top payout of x5000.
You’ll find all types of online slots on our site, but if you enjoy those that set the scene well, Sherlock Bones could be one to check out. The backdrop is beautifully themed, with a cityscape in the twilight accented by illuminated windows. This creates a very Victorian atmosphere, perfect for a hound or two to be pounding the streets searching for dastardly wrong-doers.
On the reels, you’ll find kings and aces, together with an array of Sherlock Bones-themed symbols such as magnifying glasses, pipes, paw prints and Watson wearing a bowler hat. Of course, no Sherlock episode would be genuinely complete without his arch-enemy Moriarty, who appears here in cat form – obviously. Watson and Moriarty are the two premium symbols; landing five will win you x6-10. These symbols can be stacked and appear in extra reels too, so it’s possible to rack up an enormous prize if the reels land in your favour.
You won’t find jackpots or separate bonus games on this slot, but what it has instead are Rolling Respins. Electric Elephant has trademarked this feature as it’s such a unique element and pivotal to this slot. Expect to see them make an appearance in future titles from this developer!
To trigger Rolling Respins, you’ll need Sherlock Bones to make an appearance on the reels. He is the wild symbol, and when he lands, an extra row beneath the main board is unlocked. This new row spins horizontally, containing either empty slots or bones. If a bone lands below the Sherlock symbol, the wild becomes sticky and expands downwards, triggering Rolling Respins.
During Rolling Respins, you will be able to keep playing until you hit a win. At this point, the wild will move one reel to the left and add an extra row to the board. They will also expand in size by one symbol. If you land more bones at any time, more wilds will be added to the board. The Rolling Respins feature will continue until all of the sticky wilds have shifted off the board. A maximum of four extra rows can be added to this feature, taking the ways to win up to the maximum of 16,807. The board will return to its usual size when the feature is over, and the base game resumes.
Sherlock Bones is an excellent twist on a familiar theme, and it’s a slot that offers superb graphics. Nothing is boring about the design; even the symbols on the reels are full of character. It isn’t the most complex game, and the number of features is limited to just the Rolling Respins. However, this does include a plethora of extras such as stacked symbols, sticky wilds and expanding wilds, so there’s more than initially meets the eye! Sherlock Bones is a great slot for players of all levels of experience, but you can expect to see more of the Rolling Respins in the future.