INTRODUCTION

Books of Shadows is a video slot with five reels, three rows and 10 pay lines as default. True to the name, you can add shadow rows for an extra cost for more frequent wins. Pays are awarded for two to five matching symbols on a line from left to right only. You can dwell in the shadows on desktop and mobile from 0.10 to 100 credits per spin, which some operators might limit at a lower value due to the high win potential.

The game has extreme volatility (10/10) with a default RTP range between 96.01% and 96.19% based on how many rows are activated. Using the Nolimit Bonus Buy option will get you an RTP of 96.20%, 96.29% and 96.43% for three, four and five active rows respectively.  Alternatively, it can be offered with the secondary DX1 setting at a default of 94.09%. Any changes in rows or using the Feature Buy will adjust it accordingly. Always check the help file to find out which version you will be playing.

An ominous forest scene is greeting you upon loading the game, held in hazy dark colour tones and accompanied by a sinister soundtrack. Spiritual icons dominate on the reels together with the insidious witch and the all-powerful book. Activating additional Shadow Rows will create a giant game window that will be set ablaze during the bonus feature.

The pay symbols start at the low end with red card royals from 10 through to A, awarding 10x to 25x your bet for a single five of a kind. They are followed by an eyeball in a vial, a moth, a ram skull, a cat and the witch. Hit five on a line to win 50x to 500x your stake. The mysterious book acts as usual on this kind of slots in a dual function as wild and scatter. While performing the usual substitution duties, it also yields 500x your bet for five on a row.

Book of Shadows Slot Features

Trust the creative and ambitious folks at Nolimit City to not simply churn out a standard “Book of…” slot that would add another clone to the hundreds already populating casino lobbies. Instead, they have taken the genre to a whole new level by including distinct extra features that allow players to adjust the game to their personal preferences. They did not stop there and gave it extreme volatility and a much higher win potential when compared to other “Book of …” slots. Literally, a feast for HV slotting nerds.

The first decision to make is whether you want to play the game on the default 5×3 grid with 10 pay lines or activate additional Shadow Rows. Choices are a 5×4 size with 15 lines and 5×5 with 20 lines. Each comes at an extra cost, for example, a bet of 1.00 credit on the standard format will increase to 1.50 for four rows and 2.00 for five rows. The total cost is displayed on top of the base bet. A simple tap on the extra Shadow Rows will activate or deactivate them.

Any spin in the base game will present you with extra opportunities to engage and thus more decisions to make thanks to the Lucky Locks mechanic. It will allow you to lock up to four reels and respin the others, e.g. to potentially land a missing scatter. Obviously, it comes at a cost which will be shown below each reel. We urge some caution on using the feature as there is no guarantee that the missing symbol will land on the respin and thus it can quickly drain your playing balance.

Hitting three or more scatters anywhere on the reels in one spin will award 10 Free Spins on the number of active Shadow Rows on the triggering spin. The free spins can be indefinitely retriggered. As usual with “Book of …” slots, the game will randomly select one pay symbol to act as the special expanding symbol, here called the Golden Symbol. You can decide to accept the selected symbol or opt once for a reshuffle for a different symbol (which can be a lower value symbol).

Plus, more decisions for you to make. You can select to play the full amount of awarded spins with the number of Shadow Rows active on the triggering spin or alternatively trade spins for more rows and vice-versa. A 3-scatter trigger will thus result in 6 – 10 free spins while 4 scatters will get you 8 to 12 free spins and lastly, 10 to 14 spins for 5 scatters.

When sufficient Golden Symbols land on a free spin, they will expand vertically to cover the entire reel and award wins for any additional pay lines, even when they are not adjacent. It will need minimum three low-paying symbols or minimum two premium symbols anywhere on the screen to see them expand and award a win. The wins from the expanding symbol are paid on top of any potential line wins.

Extra Tip for the Best Strategy: Always choose to play the Free Spins on five rows, no matter how many were active on the triggering spin. Plus, always reshuffle the expanding symbol if the initial choice is not a premium.

Nolimit City also included their newly-developed gamble feature, which was first seen on Immortal Fruits. Please note that it may be disabled in some jurisdictions. Two options are offered, the first being a standard 50/50 red-black card gamble for double or nothing that can be repeated up to five times when it is won. The second is the Wheel of Bonus where you can gamble your winnings from the current spin (max 60x bet) on a pie wheel to directly enter the Free Spins. You get one turn on the wheel with a coloured area in a size based on the amount of the winnings and the average payout of the feature. The gamble is won when the arrow at the top lands in the coloured area, triggering 10 free spins with the number of active rows played in the main game.

Lastly, should you want to cut to the chase and go straight to the main event, then simply press the Nolimit Bonus button to buy a Free Spins feature for a fixed price of 60x, 90x or 120x your base bet for 3, 4 and 5 active rows respectively. Once confirmed, the game will spin the reels once to land minimum three scatters that will lead you then directly into the bonus round. The option is restricted in some jurisdictions.

Final Verdict

Finally, someone is having the guts to bring a fresh breeze into the dust-gathering “Book of …” slot genre. Dozens of developers have so far taken the lazy road and delivered semi or full clones of the original “Book of …” slot featuring the immensely popular expanding symbol mechanic. Nolimit City took a bold approach and added ample new elements to the gameplay that not only allow players to adjust their gaming according to their risk appetite but also increase the win potential to an insane 30,338x bet.