Book of Shadows Slot Review

Even though Book of Shadows joins the “Book of” slots, it takes a different approach to the typical Ancient Egyptian theme. The scene is much more gothic, with an even more eerie soundtrack. Notwithstanding, the game brings several familiar bonus features like expanding symbols, respins, and free spins.

Book of Shadows debuted on 20th August 2020. It is one of the most notable “Book of” slots from Nolimit City, with no prequels or sequels. Even so, the game is one of the few slots where players can alter the number of rows. That increases the potential for more frequent wins and higher payouts, but it does come at a cost.

Even after adding the reel-altering feature, the Book of Shadows slot still offers a gamble feature. This feature increases the potential payout after a win and is common among “Book of” slots. For Book of Shadows, you can use it during the base game and the bonus round.

While most providers end there for their gamble feature, Nolimit City offers players the chance to get free spins from the feature. That is thanks to the Wheel of Bonus option.

The standard layout in the game is five reels with five rows. However, you can lock some reels in place after a spin and spin the rest of the reels. It is similar to Microgaming’s hyperspin feature, which is common in both real-money and free slot games.

You can also adjust the number of rows through the Shadow Rows feature. Even better, you’ll still get the free spins regardless of how many rows you have.

As for the return-to-player percentage (RTP), the number varies based on the number of shadow rows and when engaging them with the free spin buy bonus feature. It starts from 96.01% when played at its basic level and increases to 96.43%.

Unlike the RTP, the volatility remains high throughout the gameplay. The same also applies to the maximum win, which stays fixed at 30,338x.

Regarding the betting range, Book of Shadows accepts bets between $0.10 and $100.

Book of Shadows has an eerie feel with its graphics. There is a spooky graveyard in the background, with trees on either side of the grid and a skull on the left. For animations, Nolimit City adds rising red particles on either side of the grid. We also get movements with the two locked rows when using the Shadow Rows feature.

As if the background wasn’t spooky enough, the Book of Shadows slot adds animated movements to some of the symbols. The most notable of them are the female and the eyeball within a jar.

For the music and soundtrack, the game features soft chimes when the reels are not spinning. The music becomes louder as you spin the reels. Besides that, you’ll have sound effects when you hit winning combinations. An example is the ticking sound effect when you hit a win and the gamble feature pops out.

The basic part about playing this game is adjusting your bet and hitting the spin button. For the bet, you can get it among free casino games or play the real-money version. Either way, you’ll still get the same betting range.

Book of Shadows has an autoplay option where you can get up to 1000 auto-spins. Still on this option, you can set a single win limit to stop the autoplay. You can also end the autoplay when your balance drops below 50% or 75%. The other option is to stop when your balance exceeds 150%, 250%, or 500%.

To play the game, do the following:

1. Load the game from a reputable casino.
2. Click to adjust your bet size.
3. Use autoplay or click the spin button to begin.
4. You can add turbo spin if needed.

This slot has five primary bonus features, with the free spins being the most prominent. Others, except the gamble feature, cost money to unlock. The game will add the extra cost to your bet. In essence, that will increase your actual bet.

The Lucky Locks Feature

With this feature, you can lock reels after a spin and spin the rest. The feature allows up to 4 locked reels. While not common among Nolimit City slots, the feature increases the chances of hitting certain symbol combinations.

Bonus Buy Option: No

Free Spins

Three or more Book of Shadows symbols will trigger this bonus feature. First off, you’ll get ten free spins on the Shadow Rows that were unlocked during the activating spin. The number of free spins will change when you change the number of shadow rows.

Once the free spins kick in, the game will pick a random symbol as its golden icon. This symbol will expand and cover the reels and may be reshuffled once.

To retrigger the free spins, simply land three or more Book of Shadows symbols on the reels before the round ends. 

Bonus Buy Option: Yes (up to 120x)

50/50

This is a card game that pops out after every winning spin through the gamble feature. You can either play it or collect your winnings.

To use this feature, you can play the pick-a-card color game or go for the Wheel of Bonus. The pick-a-card color game will double your win immediately if you pick the right color. As for the Wheel of Bonus, you can get 10 free spins and increase your chances of winning.

Shadow Rows

The Shadow Rows feature allows you to play with three, four, or five rows. It will increase your bet by 1.5x for four rows and even more for five rows.

Bonus Buy Option: Yes (1.5x for four rows, 2.5x for five rows)

You’ll find ten regular symbols on the reels, starting with the 10 to a female goth. The 10 to A symbols pay when you have at least three on a payline. As for the rest, excluding the Book of Shadows, you’ll need at least two of them on the winning way.

Like in most bonus buy slots, the payout will vary based on the bet size. 

Book of Shadows has only two special symbols: the golden symbol and the wild icon. The golden symbol is picked randomly at the start of the free spin round. It can expand and cover the reels and pay all win lines from any position.

Whether playing the Book of Shadows demo or the real-money version, all winning combinations pay from the leftmost reel. Even so, coinciding wins on multiple paylines will be paid as well.

Speaking of paylines, the game has 10 paylines when the fourth and fifth rows are locked. The number increases to 15 and 20 when you unlock the fourth and fifth rows.

With the 50/50 gamble feature, you can make five guesses in a row. The next win you have after that will not include the 50/50 feature.

As for the Wheel of Bonus feature after a winning spin, you can only select it if your win is less than 60x your bet.

However, note that all your winnings will be collected when you are in autoplay mode.

Red Tiger, Play’n Go, and Pragmatic Play are prominent “Book of” slot providers. They have options with the buy bonus feature as well as high volatility. The top versions include Legacy of Dead by Play’n Go and Book of the Fallen by Pragmatic Play.

Legacy of Dead has a lower maximum win potential of 5,000x compared to Book of Shadows. However, it doesn’t require adjacent expanded symbols like the golden symbol in the Book of Shadows to win.

For megaways slots in this category, Book of Tut Megaways and Book of Gems Megaways stand out. Book of Tut was developed by Pragmatic Play, while Book of Gems was developed by Skywind.

Book of Shadows might not have many paylines, even with all the rows unlocked. However, it offers a chance to double your wins up to five times in a row. You can also win free spins from the Wheel of Bonus and retrigger them by landing more Book of Shadows scatter symbols.

The limitation on the Wheel of Bonus means we can’t have it on all our winning spins—only those below 60x will qualify. Some players might also not appreciate the fixed volatility in the standard play without any purchases.

In summary, Book of Shadows is a great choice for players who don’t mind getting a fixed volatility and a variable RTP.