Wild Harlequin slot review

Wild Harlequin brings us a slight variation on the classic Joker character as we look at the female equivalent while we spin the reels on this game. The slot features things like stacked wilds, multiplier wilds and free spins to liven up the experience.

This slot was originally released in 2021 by developer Quickspin. The studio has shown its talent for producing very nice-looking games, and the slot is no different. When it comes to the gameplay, you can expect a rather standard experience. The game is built around a 5-reel, 3-row playing field with a modest 10 paylines. These are filled up with a variety of familiar symbols including the Harlequin and card suits.

It seems like the developers were content with keeping things simple. The graphics are nice and sharp, with a lot of details but not a lot of creativity. The symbols are ones we have seen before, the background only shows us the card suits in a larger form than on the playing field. There are some animations, most noticeably with the stacked wild. The Harlequin is always moving and does a special animation whenever they’re triggered.

When it comes to the sound design, I was pretty indifferent to it. It’s not bad by any means, the sounds aren’t grating or annoying. The music plays very softly in the background, having some jazzy undertones that I’m not sure fit the setting. I did like that the different sound effects for spins and wins are original sounding. It doesn’t seem like those were lifted from earlier slots.

Symbols

Wild Harlequin clearly harkens back to the classic slots from the old days and as such uses symbols that remind us of those games. The low-paying symbols are card suits while the high-paying symbols are different coloured gems. None of it is particularly interesting or innovative. Keeping in mind what they were trying to evoke, it does fit the style perfectly. I should also mention that although the ideas are derivative, the art itself is original.

Players have to contend with a High Volatility slot if they are looking for any wins. The game didn’t feel like it was very hard to get a win on, but those wins were often very meagre. This has to do with the Stacked Wilds that appear often. The game expects players to get these Wilds in the right place to get multiple paylines to pay out at the same time. That felt like the only way to get my funds back.

Speaking of funds, players can decide whether they want to spend a lot or a little with every spin. The game lets players choose their bet between £0.10 and £100 per spin. The high volatility always favours higher bets since their payouts are bigger, but they are a big drain on your funds. It’s better to pick a small bet and see how the slot feels first. There is a maximum win of 30,000x your bet. A massive win for sure, but not likely many of us will ever get our hands on it.

The symbols in the game include:

• Wild: Max. 10x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Diamond: Max. 7.5x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Ruby: Max. 5x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Emerald: Max. 4x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Sapphire: Max. 3x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Hearts: Max. 2.5x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Diamonds: Max. 2x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Clubs: Max. 1.5x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
• Spades: Max. 1x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.

Features

Wild Harlequin keeps things light when it comes to the features. Players will mostly deal with the Stacked Wilds named after the main character. These are also responsible for many of the other features. These include:

• Stacked Wilds: The Wild Harlequin is a Stacked Wild that fills the entire reel. Wilds substitute all other symbols in the slot.
• Nudged Wilds: When a Wild appears on a reel, it will be nudged to fit the entire reel.
• Free Spins: Get 3 or more Stacked Wilds on the screen to activate the free spins mode with 10 free spins.
• Multipliers: Reels that had a Stacked Wild on them when the free spins mode was triggered turn into Magic Reels. When another Stacked Wild appears on a Magic Reel, the multiplier counter will increase by 1. Get a multiplier of 5x on a single reel and you win an additional 2 free spins.

I spent most of my time looking at the base game as to be expected, but triggering the free spins mode was easier than it seemed. Without a specific symbol, the game requires you to get 3 Stacked Wilds on the screen at the same time. This was easier than it might appear, as the Wilds do show up quite frequently.

In certain countries, players are also able to activate the free spins through the Buy Feature. This is unfortunately not an option everywhere. This requires you to pay 80x your bet upfront to instantly trigger the mode with 3 Magic Reels. If you pay 200x your bet then it starts with 4 Magic Reels. I would advise playing the game regularly first to see how much a standard free spins mode awards you. In my experience, my wins with 3 Magic Reels would often be below the 80x upfront cost, which would obviously result in a deficit.

Once the free spins mode is activated, the game continues to rely heavily on the Wilds. Without them, getting a win is already tricky and the payouts are too low to profit from a single payline. The game also introduces multipliers at this stage, which can be an excellent way to increase your winnings but it won’t be easy. The game’s volatility clearly remains high throughout the entire slot.

In Conclusion

Wild Harlequin is a beautiful looking slot that takes its inspiration clearly from the classic slots of old. That said, they have managed to give it an updated appearance even though the originality is lacking. Everything feels like a coherent whole that brings us back to a more simpler time of gaming.

There aren’t a lot of features in this slot and the ones that are there augment the gameplay only in limited ways. That’s not to say these features aren’t very important. Without the Stacked Wilds, it will be tricky for anyone to keep their funds healthy. I found mine slowly draining over time as the game continued.

If you’re someone looking for a new type of game that introduces exciting features or some innovative presentation, you won’t find it here. The slot looks great but offers little in terms of creativity. However, players who would like a slightly updated variation on the classic video slot might find exactly what they’re looking for.