Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Blackwood Slot
Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Blackwood was a November 2015 5-reel, fixed 30-pay line release from IGT. The theme of this slot is based upon the films directed by Guy Ritchie in 2009 and 2011. In these movies the world's most famous sleuth was handed a youthful makeover as the role of Holmes when to Robert Downey Jr. Joining Holmes in the films and on the reels in this game are Jude Law as Doctor John Watson, Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade and Mark Strong as Lord Blackwood. It is the pursuit of Lord Blackwood that is the central theme of IGT's online slot – Blackwood was an aristocratic serial killer with a pet crow and a love of dabbling in the dark side. Also featuring on the reels are a pipe, a magnifying glass, a watch, a violin and Sherlock's pet dog Gladstone.
To being your hunt for Lord Blackwood you need to select your coin size from 0.01 to 5.00. All 30 available pay lines and possible features are in play at all times, so your bet is always multiplied by sixty to determine your final wager. It costs two coins per line to play. You win cash payouts in the usual way – by landing at least three identical symbols in sequence on a pay line from left to right. When you're ready to start detecting some prize payouts, hit the spin button.
Payout & bonus rounds
The lowest winning payout in this game is 5x your bet-per-line for three pipes, magnifying glasses, watches, violins or Gladstone selfies. The top payout in normal play is for five 'Sherlock Holmes' symbols, at 500x.
During any spin that's not a free spin, a mystery multiplier might appear, multiplying your win by up to 10x! Also on any base game, all Holmes and Watson symbols may transform to create combined 'Holmes & Watson' symbols. You can then win prizes for three, four or five such symbols in sequence on an active pay line.
if you land three bonus symbols anywhere on reels one, three and five you trigger the Picker Puzzle round. You get to choose objects from Sherlock's rooms to reveal either cash prizes or clues. You start with five picks – find three or four Hunt Bonus symbols or Blackwood Wheel Bonus symbols to land either of these special bonus features.
Lord Blackwood makes an appearance on the Blackwood Bonus Wheel. This is filled with cash prizes and symbols of the devilish Lord Blackwood and the delightful Sherlock. There are three pointers on the wheel and you spin until all three pointers are deactivated, amassing cash as you go. If a pointer lands on Lord Blackwood it is deactivated. If it lands on Sherlock all three pointers are re-activated.
In the Hunt Bonus new reels are activated and you win ten free spins, or fifteen if you find four Hunt Bonus symbols. Five locations are circled on the reels, marking the scenes of Lord Blackwood's latest dastardly deeds. If a Holmes or Watson symbol lands on a location that symbol changes into a locked wild and remains in position for all the remaining free spins. If you manage to lock all five locations then your total bonus once you've played all your spins is doubled. Holmes and Watson symbols are both wild in the Hunt Bonus game.
With plenty of amazing features, and a soundtrack that sounds as if it has been lifted straight from the movie itself, this is a superb slot from IGT. Even without the movie tie-in this would be an entertaining game all on its own. It's always a good sign when a slots game tries something a little different to 'wilds' and 'scatters' and this game contains plenty that is innovative, or at least different. This is a jolly good show of a slot, Watson!