Book of Shadows slot review

Book of Shadows slot in brief

Book of Shadows keeps the familiar shape of a book slot, a single symbol acting as both wild and scatter, then adds a choice that most book games don’t give you: how many rows to play. That choice changes the paylines and the length of the bonus, so it is the first decision on every session.

Nolimit City is a studio with a registered office in St Julian’s, Malta, co-founded by Jonas Tegman, and Evolution announced a deal to buy it in June 2022. Its games are known for very high ceilings: Book of Shadows tops out at 30,338x, while Mental lists 66,666x.

How the features work in Book of Shadows

There are four ideas to understand: the row selector, the Book symbol, the free spins trigger and the golden expanding symbol. Each one is described in the game’s own help screen, and the summary below follows that structure.

The row selector

Before you spin, you choose three, four or five rows. The number of rows sets the number of paylines, from 10 up to 20. You can think of it as choosing a taller or shorter grid, with more lines to connect symbols on the taller version.

The Book: wild and scatter in one

The Book substitutes for other symbols to complete line wins, which is what a wild does in most slots. It also acts as the scatter, so it counts anywhere on the reels towards the bonus rather than needing to sit on a line.

Free spins and the golden symbol

Three or more Books start free spins. The number of spins depends on the rows you chose, and fewer rows give more spins. At the start of the round, a randomly chosen symbol becomes the golden symbol. Whenever it forms a win, it expands to fill its whole reels, which lets it pay across far more positions than a normal symbol.

Landing three or more Books again during free spins retriggers the round. That is the main route to the slot’s biggest results, because more spins means more chances for the golden symbol to expand. The OLBG overview of Book of Shadows (opens in a new tab) describes the same core mechanics.

Three, four or five rows: choosing your Book of Shadows set-up

The row choice is a trade-off between more paylines in each spin and a longer bonus. Neither option changes the long-run maths in your favour: the RTP already reflects how the game is built.

Check the help screen in your app before choosing, because it shows how the stake and spin counts work for each set-up in the version you’ve loaded. A useful habit is to pick one set-up for the session and leave it, so that you’re comparing like with like when you look at your session history.

What extreme volatility means in the Book of Shadows slot

Extreme sits above high on the volatility scale given for this game. It means a very large share of the game’s return is packed into rare outcomes, such as a long free spins round where the golden symbol keeps expanding. The rest of the time, returns are thin.

The default RTP is 96.01%, which leaves a house edge of 3.99%. Over a huge number of spins, that is an average cost of just under 4p per £1 staked. In a single session, extreme volatility means the range of outcomes is very wide, and losing your whole budget without a bonus is a normal result.

Casinos can run different RTP versions of the same game. The figure that applies is the one in the game’s information screen in your app. Our guide to finding a game’s RTP shows where to look.

Book of Shadows on a £20 budget

Expected loss is stake multiplied by house edge. Using the 3.99% edge on the default version, here is what a £20 budget means at three stakes if you staked it through once, plus what an example 500 spins would cost on average.

On an extreme game, those averages hide a lot. Twenty spins at £1 may never reach three Books. Two hundred spins at 10p gives the bonus more chances to land, though nothing about any spin is predictable. If you play for the feature, a smaller stake is the way to give a fixed budget more spins.

The top win scales with stake: 30,338x is £3,033.80 at 10p, £60,676 at the £2 cap for 18–24s and £151,690 at the £5 cap. Treat these as the ceiling the maths allows, not something to plan around. Our budgeting guide for casino apps has practical ways to fix a spend before you start.

Playing Book of Shadows on your phone

Book of Shadows is a browser-based game that runs inside casino apps and mobile sites on iPhone and Android. You open it from a casino’s lobby; it isn’t a separate download.

1. Choose a UK-licensed casino and install its app, or open its mobile site.
2. Register and pass the age and identity checks required before you can deposit.
3. Set a deposit limit when the app asks; UK operators prompt for one before your first deposit.
4. Search the lobby for Book of Shadows and open it.
5. Read the help screen for the RTP version and the row options.
6. Choose your rows and stake, then tap to spin each time.

A five-row grid holds 25 positions, so it is the busiest version on a small screen. Whether the game supports portrait as well as landscape depends on the version your casino runs, so try rotating the phone. Our guide to landscape and portrait mode explains why it varies.

If the game freezes mid-spin, UK technical standards set out how an interrupted game must be handled, and what happens if your app crashes walks through it.

UK rules for Book of Shadows players

Book of Shadows is often discussed online alongside features that UK players won’t see. Here is what applies on a UK-licensed app:

• No bonus buy: since a Gambling Commission warning in January 2020, feature buy-ins are not offered to British players. The Commission’s games warning (opens in a new tab) explains why. The only way into free spins is three or more Books.
• Stake caps: £5 a spin for players aged 25 and over since 9 April 2025, and £2 for those aged 18 to 24 since 21 May 2025, under the Gambling Commission’s stake limit guidance (opens in a new tab). See our page on slot stake limits.
• Speed and autoplay: no autoplay, at least 2.5 seconds per spin and no turbo or slam-stop since 31 October 2021. Our page on game design rules has the detail.
• Honest presentation: returns equal to or lower than your stake can’t be celebrated as wins.
• Live session figures: since 17 January 2025, net spend and time played must be shown in real time.

Winnings aren’t taxed for UK players. Credit cards can’t be used to gamble in Great Britain, including through e-wallets funded by a credit card.

Book of Shadows vs other book slots

Book slots share the wild-and-scatter book and an expanding symbol, but the maths varies a lot. Here is how Book of Shadows compares with other book-style games we review.

Book of Dead is the closest like-for-like option with a fixed layout. Book of Ra Deluxe is the older land-based style, and Book of Oz has the highest listed RTP of the four. Book of Shadows stands apart on ceiling and on the row choice.

If you like Nolimit City’s style, San Quentin xWays and Das xBoot are two more of its extreme-volatility slots that we cover.

Book of Shadows slot review verdict

Book of Shadows suits players who enjoy book slots but want more say over how the game plays, and who are comfortable with extreme swings. If you prefer steadier sessions, a medium-volatility slot will last longer on the same budget.

More reviews sit in our mobile slots hub, and our list of high RTP slot apps explains how to compare returns across casinos.

Casino apps for Book of Shadows players

We don’t confirm game-by-game listings, so search the lobby of any app for Book of Shadows before you join. The partner offers below are slot welcome offers on games set out in their terms, not on Book of Shadows. They’re for new customers aged 18+, and terms apply.

• PlayOJO: 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza at 10p each when new UK customers (excluding Northern Ireland) make a first deposit of £10 or more. There’s no wagering, so winnings are paid in cash. Only through the designated offer link, and not combinable with other offers.
• Coral: bet £10 or more on slots after a qualifying deposit to get 100 free spins on selected games at 10p each, with no wagering on winnings. You have 48 hours to accept them and 7 days to use them; the offer runs until 1 February 2027. PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Paysafe, prepaid cards and certain debit cards are excluded.
• Ladbrokes: spend £10 on slots after depositing and get 50 free spins a day for the first 10 days, up to 500, at 10p each on selected games with no wagering. Each day’s spins must be claimed by 23:59 and are valid for 7 days. PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, Neteller, Moneybookers and prepaid card deposits don’t count.

Coral and Ladbrokes share an operator, LC International Limited (Entain), so holding new accounts at both may not be possible. Our page on no wagering casino apps compares offers where winnings are paid as cash.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.