Wild Harlequin

The circus is in town! Quickspin is responsible for one of the hottest game additions of the fall. Wild Harlequin is a exciting slot filled with action - so we decided to take closer look.

Video slot software developer Quickspin remains very active in the slot development community. Given some of the games the company has introduced over the last few years, it's fair to say that Quickspin has become one of the development community's major players.

On October 12, 2021, Quickspin will be releasing its latest game. The game is called Wild Harlequin, which slot players will note is a common theme. What is immediately clear about this game is its simplicity. The graphics are fine while set against the backdrop of elegant jazz music. The game has a 1930s feel, which will have great appeal to the older generations of slot players.

Wild Harlequin: How it Works

For Wild Harlequin, Quickspin's software developers decided to go with a traditional game format. That format includes 5 reels and 3 rows, which create 10 pay lines. The game-playing matrix looks simple, especially when you compare the game to some of the more sophisticated games that are coming from other software developers.

Wild Harlequin offers wagers that range from .10 at the low end up to 100 at the high end. Payouts are made for three to five connecting symbols with the highest possible payout being a huge 30000x the player's original bet. With that kind of a potential jackpot, this is definitely a game that should draw a lot of attention for experience online video slot players. Standard payouts, depending on the number of connected symbols, will typically range from 3x the bet to 10x the bet. See RTP information below.

The game's low-paying symbols are represented by playing card symbols (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades). The higher paying symbols are represented by sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds. The game also features one wild symbol, which is the beautiful harlequin. It's noteworthy that the wild symbol also serves as the game's scatter symbol. The harlequin symbol serves as the primary access to the game's only special feature (more on that below). It's also used as a substitute for any of the game's other symbols to create bigger wins.

The wild symbol is intended to cover all three rows on a reel. If by any chance a partial wild harlequin symbol lands on a row, a "nudging" process will move the wild symbol until it does cover the entire reel. Quickspin fans should be very familiar with the nudging process as the software developer has used it for several other games in the past.

Wild Harlequin RTP%

The RTP percent is the percentage of every dollar wagered that a video slot will return to players over time. For instance, an RTP percentage of 95% indicates players can expect to get winnings equal to 95% of everything they wager on that particular video slot. That gives the online operator an advantage of 5% on that particular game.

Wild Harlequin has a verified RTP percentage of 96.27%. That is considered a player-friendly percentage. Also, the game's high volatility ensures players won't hit frequent wins but when they do hit a win, the amount could be substantial.

Special Features

As indicated above, Wild Harlequin comes with only one special feature, that being free spins. While the game itself is simplistic by nature, the free spins special feature does get a little complicated.

To initiate the free spins round, the slot player will need to land three or more connecting wild/scatter symbols on the same initial spin. When entering the free spins round, the slot player will get 10 free spins. Also, the reels that included the qualifying wild/scatter symbols will become what the feature refers to as "magic reels". Magic reels are significant because they can lead to some rather lucrative multipliers.

Here's where things can get a little complicated. Every time one of the wild/scatter symbols hits a magic reel, the multiplier goes up by one on that spin. If three magic reels are in play, it is possible for the player to get a multiplier as high as 1000x their wager on their last spin. That would require the slot player to hit the wild/scatter symbol all 10 times across all 3 magic reels. The calculation would be 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000x multiplier. While that is very unlikely to happen, the example does point out that the multiplier can get quite progressively large over 10 spins. Imagine for a moment how high the multiplier can get if four or five magic reels are in play.

Note: Free spins cannot be reignited. However, the player will get two additional free spins every time one of the magic reels gets to the multiplier level of 5.

Verdict

Wild Harlequin is what we would refer to as a simple throwback video slot. The game comes with very few bells and whistles. With that said, the video slot does offer the possibility of some major jackpots.

What's most intriguing about this game is the sole special feature. It's a little complicated, but it can lead to a lot of extra excitement. With a maximum wager and the right combination of multipliers in the free spins round, slot players could hit a life-changing win.

From a sophisticated perspective, this game does not deserve a high rating. However, the possibility of some really big wins holds great appeal. Bottom lines: online video slot players of all levels might want to give Wild Harlequin a look.