Book of Shadows: Nolimit City Slot Review (RTP, Max Win & Test)
Book of Shadows is our favourite horror-themed Book Of slot. A brutally volatile Nolimit City release with boosted RTP options, Shadow Rows, a Bonus Buy feature, and a high level of intensity
Released in August 2020, Book of Shadows is a gothic horror slot from Nolimit City that we return to regularly — both in demo mode and for real money on online casinos.
100% Bonus up to €500 on Book of Shadows? Take advantage while it’s live !This one sits at extreme volatility (10/10) and delivers a completely different experience for a “Book Of” style game. Not convinced? It carries a max win potential of 30,338x your stake, which is massive for this category.
What we love most? There’s an option that lets you change… the size of the slot itself. Yes, really. We’ll come back to that shortly.
Our hands-on experience with Book of Shadows from Nolimit City is based on 17,350+ spins logged across multiple sessions. Whether you’re testing Book of Shadows in demo mode or playing for real money on CrazyBet, we’ve run it hard to give you a straight, concrete verdict backed by actual play.
Book of Shadows – Technical Overview
Below are the core specs for Book of Shadows. All figures come directly from CrazyBet and Nolimit City.
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Provider | Nolimit City |
| Release Date | 20 August 2020 |
| Grid | 5 reels × 3 to 5 rows |
| Paylines | 10 / 15 / 20 (depending on active rows) |
| RTP | 96.01% to 96.43% depending on configuration |
| Volatility | Extreme (10/10) |
| Hit Frequency | 33,18% |
How Book of Shadows Works
Shadow Rows: Choose Your Risk Level
What we love about Book of Shadows from Nolimit City is that you control how many rows are active on the starting grid. The slot can run on a 3×5 layout (5 reels, 3 symbols high) and expand up to 5×5.
But that flexibility comes at a price.
| Rows | Paylines | Cost | RTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10 | Standard stake | 96,01% |
| 4 | 15 | Stake +50% | 96,07% |
| 5 | 20 | Stake ×2 | 96,19% |
Not seeing the point of increasing the number of rows? We absolutely do. Higher RTP, more ways to land the bonus trigger, and additional paylines in play.
Every single one of our sessions runs on the full 5×5 setup. The 3-row and 4-row versions just don’t cut it for us — they feel restricted and far less interesting once you’ve tasted the full grid.
That’s clearly our approach on Book of Shadows: accept the added risk, adjust bankroll management accordingly, and squeeze every bit of value out of the highest available RTP.
Book of Shadows Symbols
In total, we’ve logged 11 paying symbols on Book of Shadows. They fall into two clear categories:
Premiums → pay from 2 symbols, land less frequently, but carry higher payouts
Non-premiums → pay from 3 symbols, appear more often, but return smaller wins
We’ve broken everything down based on a €1 stake to keep the numbers clean and comparable.
Premium Symbols (pay from 2 symbols)
| Symbol | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book (Wild/Sc) | - | - | - | 500 € |
| Witch | 1 € | 2 € | 10 € | 500 € |
| Purple Cat | 0,50 € | 1,60 € | 9 € | 150 € |
Low Pay Symbols (pay from 3 symbols)
| Symbol | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0,80 € | 6 € | 25 € |
| K | 0,80 € | 6 € | 20 € |
| Q | 0,50 € | 5 € | 15 € |
| J | 0,50 € | 5 € |
Paylines on Book of Shadows by Nolimit City
Depending on the grid size you select, the number of active paylines ranges from 10 to 20. The more rows you unlock, the more lines come into play — which makes perfect sense for a high-risk horror slot like Book of Shadows.
Book of Shadows Free Spins
You can trigger Free Spins on Book of Shadows by landing between 3 and 5 bonus symbols in a single spin. The more scatters you hit, the more free spins you’re awarded — a mechanic we genuinely rate, as it rewards stronger bonus setups properly.
| Rows | Free Spins |
|---|---|
| 3 | 14 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 |
In 95% of the bonuses we triggered, it came from landing exactly 3 scatter symbols.
How the Bonus Works
Just like Book of Dead, Book of Shadows selects one symbol before the free spins begin. That symbol becomes the expanding special for the entire feature.
What we genuinely like here is the gamble element: if you’re not happy with the chosen symbol, you can reroll it. The game will randomly pick another one.
It can be worse than the first.
For example, we often land the J as the selected symbol, decide to reroll it… and end up with a 10. That’s the risk. You can improve your setup — or make it worse.
Once the symbol is locked in, the feature plays out like a classic Book Of mechanic. If the chosen symbol lands two or three times on a reel (depending on the grid setup), it expands to cover the entire column and connects with matching symbols across the reels.
Book of Shadows Bonus Buy
Sometimes we don’t feel like sitting through a bonus drought waiting for the feature to fire. In those cases, we buy the free spins — always on the full 5-row setup.
That said, we strongly recommend having at least 500x your base stake in your bankroll before hitting the buy. The variance is brutal here, and without proper cover, this one can punish hard.
| Rows | Cost | RTP Bonus Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Shadow Rows | 60x | 96,20% |
| 4 Shadow Rows | 90x | 96,29% |
| 5 Shadow Rows | 120x | 96,43% |
That’s the standard approach on a high-variance Nolimit City slot: the Bonus Buy can land heavy, but it demands serious bankroll discipline.
RTP & Volatility of Book of Shadows
Volatility on Book of Shadows
How do you describe the volatility on Book of Shadows? Simple — it’s explosive. Nolimit City officially rates it 10/10, and after thousands of spins, we can back that up without hesitation.
This is a slot that rarely pays big. But when it does, the hits can be massive. Classic high-variance Nolimit City behaviour.
What we particularly like is that even the base game runs hot. We’ve had multiple sessions where the selected symbol formed a full line outside the bonus, delivering proper standout wins without the feature even triggering.
Return to Player (RTP)
We’ve logged six different RTP configurations on Book of Shadows. Yes — six. The variation comes down to how you play it: 3 rows or 5 rows? Bonus Buy active or not? Across our testing on CrazyBet, RTP ranges from 96.01% up to 96.43%.
Our setup is always optimised for maximum RTP — 5 rows active, and if we buy the bonus, we keep it on the full 5-row configuration as well.
RTP in Base Game
| Setting | Paylines | RTP |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Shadow Rows | 10 | 96,01% |
| 4 Shadow Rows | 15 | 96,07% |
| 5 Shadow Rows | 20 | 96,19% |
RTP When Buying the Bonus
| Setting | Cost | RTP |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Shadow Rows | 60x | 96,20% |
| 4 Shadow Rows | 90x | 96,29% |
| 5 Shadow Rows | 120x | 96,43% |
Book of Shadows: Who Is It Really For?
After thousands of spins on this Nolimit City release, one thing is clear — this slot isn’t built for everyone.
If you’re wondering how to play Book of Shadows without torching your bankroll, our advice is straightforward:
- Keep your stake sensible
- Accept that some sessions will be long and completely dry
- Save the Bonus Buy for moments when you’re genuinely ready to handle the variance
With that in mind, here’s the player profile this slot is absolutely perfect for.
| ✅ Recommended if: | ❌ Avoid if: |
|---|---|
| You enjoy high-variance Nolimit City slots | You prefer frequent, steady hits |
| You have a bankroll built for volatility | You’re working with a small budget |
| You’re chasing a massive max win (30,338×) | Dark, macabre themes aren’t your thing |
Our Verdict on Book of Shadows
Book of Shadows is the horror-themed Book Of slot we recommend most if you genuinely enjoy volatility. This one delivers a max win of over 30,000x your stake, which is serious territory for a Book-style release.
Volatility? 5/5. It’s explosive. No sugar-coating it.
If you’re into dark, macabre atmospheres, immersive audio, and mechanics that are easy to understand but brutal in execution, Book of Shadows hits the mark. We’ve landed huge wins here — 22,530x with the top symbol on 9 November 2023 — and we’ve also sat through completely dead sessions. That swing, that tension, that feeling when it finally lands heavy… this slot delivers something very few others do.