In Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books, the brilliant detective stays at 221B Baker Street. Despite this address existing in modern London, in 1892, when the book was written, Baker Street didn’t have addresses into the 200s.

A useless piece of bar quiz trivia? Probably. But, it’s also a perfectly adequate introduction to Holmes: Reel Detective from Kalamba.

Will the reel Sherlock Holmes please stand up?

There have been many iterations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous protagonist. Robert Downey Jr. turned him into a brawler, Benedict Cumberbatch, a cerebral psychopath, and Jonny Lee Miller, a heroin-addicted wild child that was accompanied by a female Watson played by the woman who appears to defy aging, Lucy Lu. The character has proven to be compelling to generation after generation of fans through all of these iterations.

Now, we were not expecting Holmes: Reel Detective slot to make a case for its inclusion in the pantheon of great adaptations of Doyle’s work. It’s just a slot, after all. Despite this, it does a solid job.

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The slot’s setting is true to the book, unfolding on the rainy streets of London in the late 1880s. The reels are framed with ornate molding and feature pocket watch, quill, journal, and smoking pipe symbols. The slot’s low-paying symbols are the standard playing card suits in a gothic type that is true to the period.

There is, however, one small gripe. Holmes is a detective who solves crimes. While there are references to how he conducts his work, there is no attempt to frame or describe the crime or crimes he is trying to solve. We know the medium only offers so much in the way of story-telling devices but get a little creative, will you!

Hunt for clues with Holmes and Watson

When you’re on the case with Holmes and Watson, you’ll need to look out for every detail to solve the crime and get the reward.

During base gameplay, magnifying glasses with random prizes will move one position across the screen from right to left with each spin. If a magnifying glass lands on a fingerprint symbol, you’ll be awarded the cash prize. The base game also has a spooky wild symbol that will substitute for all other symbols except for the scatter symbols, yes there is more than one scatter symbol.

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With each non-winning spin, you’ll add to the Holmes and Watson Free Spins meters. After a certain number of spins, the meters will reach capacity and add an extra free spin to the tally before resetting. This will continue until you manage to unlock a round of either free spins.

With the appearance of three or more Holmes or Watson scatter symbols, you’ll be transported to your character’s desk, unlocking the free spins that you accrued during base gameplay. During both rounds of free spins, as the magnifying glasses move from left to right, the cash prizes will increase with each position they move.

If all this sounds like a little too much work and you’d prefer to skip to the end of the book to see what happens, you can buy a round of free spins with the slot’s HyperBonus feature.

Is Holmes: Reel Detective slot a real page-turner?

It would be a lot to ask of a slot to uphold the legacy of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. The medium lacks the story-telling devices needed to truly attempt such a feat. However, Holmes: Reel Detective slot, for the most part, won’t disappoint fans of the books, movies, or television series. The graphics are great, and the gameplay is fun and engaging.

When we investigate the numbers, things continue to look good for Holmes: Reel Detective slot. It features an impressive 97.24% RTP rating and a maximum multiplier of 20,550x your bet. It does suffer from high volatility, but with that RTP rating, you should experience fairly balanced gameplay.

If you’re just not into Holmes: Reel Detective slot, it’s not the only Sherlock Holmes adaptation available at BitStarz. Holmes and the Stolen Stones slot from Yggdrasil is a great alternative offering a slightly darker and grittier look at the famous detective.