Sherlock and Moriarty WowPot
By Just For The Win
Just For The Win invites you to solve a (potentially lucrative) mystery with Sherlock and Moriarty Wowpot. This slot has a non-progressive max win of 200x your stake, but has a huge progressive jackpot on offer too. It has medium volatility and an RTP of 92.1%. It’s played on 5 reels and 3 rows, with 20 paylines. There are lots of interesting mechanics including mystery symbols which trigger respins and turn symbols sticky too.
| Game Name | Sherlock and Moriarty WowPot |
|---|---|
| Developer | Just For The Win |
| Theme(s) | Crime |
| Release Date | 25.03.21 |
| Rows | 3 |
| Reels | 5 |
| Paylines | 20 |
| Volatility | Medium |
| RTP Rate | 92.1% |
| Max Win | 200x |
| Min Bet | £0.10 |
| Format | 5-Reel, Progressive Jackpots |
Sherlock and Moriarty WowPot Demo - Freeplay
Game Information
Play Sherlock and Moriarty WowPot For Real At These Slot Sites
Review Scorecard
What Our Reviewer Says …
With its Mystery Re-spins, Free Spins and medium variance this is one of the more entertaining WowPot jackpot slots
What We Like
- Wilds AND mystery symbols are sticky during re-spins
- Chance to land HUGE progressive jackpot
- Fun crime mystery theme
- Play from just 10p
- Good win rate of 28% in testing
What We Didn't Like
- Very low non-progressive max win of 200x
- Low RTP due to jackpot contributions
Theme and Design
The Sherlock Holmes theme is always popular, we’ve seen it in Mystery Mice, and A Case of Riches to name just two. So in a way, Just For The Win has made a rod for their own back. There are a lot of great games to directly compare it too. This game has gone for the understated approach, which is maybe appropriate for a detective. The London streets behind the reels are dark, lit only by streetlights and the characters don’t come into play except as symbols. It’s atmospheric, but not mind blowing, though maybe it doesn’t need to be?
RTP and Variance
This game has an RTP of 92.1% which is, honestly, a little disappointing. Sure, it’s a progressive slot and you can expect a lower RTP, but combined with its lowly non-progressive max win, this seems a bit mean. However, you do benefit from medium volatility which might help you to keep those dry spells to a minimum.
Maximum Win
Let’s cut to the chase, the max non-progressive win in the base game is 200x the bet. Politely, that’s rubbish. However, the Wowpot! Jackpot seeds at €2,000,000. It’s clear to see what everybody is playing for here and it isn’t the non-progressive jackpot.
You can increase your chances of landing the Wowpot! By increasing your stake amount. The higher your stake, the higher your chance of landing the big one.
Symbols and Paytable
The game features a 5-reel, 3-row setup with 20 paylines. To win, you need to land three or more matching symbols across the 20 paylines.
The paytable has 8 symbols plus a scatter, a wild, and two other specials. The lower paying symbols are beautifully illustrated J-A royals. The higher-paying symbols consist of four characters: a policeman, a lady, Watson, and Holmes. These symbols offer payouts ranging from 6x to 10x the stake for five of a kind.
The wild symbol, which shares the same payout as the Holmes symbol, also substitutes for regular symbols to help complete winning combinations and can award up to 10x the stake for five of a kind.
Moriarty appears as the scatter symbol, along with two other special symbols. Sherlock and the wild symbols offer the highest payouts, with 10x the stake for five-of-a-kind combinations, while Watson provides a maximum win of 8x.
Features and Gameplay
The Wowpot! Is without a doubt the leading feature in this game, but there are some other fun mechanics at play here too. Let’s take a look at them in detail.
Mystery Symbols
The golden question mark is the mystery symbol. If you land 4 or less of these in the base game then they all turn into the same regular pay symbol. However, if you land 5 or more then you trigger Mystery Respins.
Mystery Respins With Sticky Mystery Symbols and Wilds
The round begins with the triggering mystery symbols locked in place as well as any wilds that were present on the reels. All the other positions spin once more. If you land a new mystery symbol or wild then these too turn sticky and you get another respin. Once no new ‘stickable’ symbols land, you’re awarded a final respin. Then, all mystery symbols turn into the same random pay symbol.
Free Spins With Sticky Wilds and Multipliers
Moriarty is the scatter symbol, land 3 of him to start the free spins round with 10 free spins. Every additional Moriarty that you land grants a further 2 free spins. In the free spins round you’ll also find a new question mark symbol with three question marks. Whenever one lands it randomly reveals a feature.
- Sticky Wild - a wild that sticks in place for the rest of the round
- Multiplier - the overall multiplier is increased by 1
- Spins - 1, 2, or 3 free spins
WowPot Jackpot Game
In the base game only, magnifying glass progressive tokens can land on high value symbols. They only land on reels 2, 3, or 4 and do not show in respins or free spins. If you land enough of these then it triggers the jackpot wheel to appear. Spin the wheel and you’ll be awarded one of the four jackpots, with seed values shown below.
- Mini starts at €10
- Minor starts at €100
- Major starts at €50,000
- Wowpot! starts at €2,000,000
Final Verdict
This slot game is a tricky one to sum up, just as Sherlock would have wanted. On the one hand, there’s a huge progressive jackpot, but on the other there’s a non progressive max win of 200x your stake. There’s such a dichotomy between the two that it’s difficult to say whether the top payout is good or bad. One thing that definitely is good is the huge number of features. The mystery symbols, respins, and free spins all combine to bring you closer to the non-progressive win, but that progressive jackpot is surely where we all want to be?
In short, if you’re playing because you love the mechanics, the theme, and the gameplay then you’d be better off with the original of this game! On the other hand, if you’re playing for the progressive jackpot, then perhaps the brilliant mechanics of this game don’t really matter to you. It’s a confusing quandary, one that Sherlock himself might struggle with.
Testing Notes
Test spins and results analysis by Mark Wadie.
Results from 100 spins Sherlock and Moriarty WowPot for real money at Casumo.
- Stake Size: 10p
- Start balance: £870.41
- End balance: £869.42
- Hit Rate: 28% (28 winning spins in 100)
- Biggest Win: 15.6x
- Free Spins Round: 0
The gameplay in Sherlock and Moriarty looks a bit more interesting than that found in other WowPot slots that are usually a bit of a slog whilst waiting for the jackpot feature to drop. And this one was a bit more entertaining as a result. Overall the win rate was a very decent 28% which reflects the medium variance and meant I was only down £2 after 100 spins. Neither free spins nor jackpot game triggered but to fair, a longer session would usually be needed for that anyway. But Mystery Re-Spins did drop 3 times, triggering an 8x, a 1.2x and then finally a 15.6x win after 95 spins. The latter came from 10 Sticky Mystery Symbols on the reels by the final re-spin. I could have expected more from that, but still, not a bad result.
Overall, not a bad game and more interesting features then most of the WowPot slots.
Now keep reading our review to find out more about the game.
Who Made Sherlock and Moriarty WowPot?
- Name: Just For The Win
- UK License: Via Microgaming
- Total Games: 45 +
- Known For: Partnerships with Microgaming, high variance games
- Popular Slots: Western Gold, Bandit and the Baron, Diamond Sands, Wolf Howl
