Blood and Shadow Slot Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Blood and Shadow Review

Does anyone remember Book of Shadows. You know, the dark, gothic, horror installment in the ‘Book slot’ genre that NoLimit City released back in 2020. Well, whether you do or not, Blood and Shadow follows closely in its footsteps when it comes to theme, although the occult horror elements have been taken even further this time. This is not a ‘book mechanic’ release however, and instead it comes with something rarely seen from this developer.

The game revolves around the Ritual Bar, which upgrades symbols in 2 different ways per level, as well as providing you with 2 Candle Spins with sticky dropping wilds. The aim is to fill the whole meter in one lengthy cascade, but this does not happen very often. In fact, you can expect 10,000 spins between each Cursed Spins Bonus Round trigger, but you will have plenty of fun along the way. The 6,666x potential is clearly a suitable number, but still lower than what most expect from NoLimit City.

Blood and Shadow Slot - Reels Screen

Blood and Shadow Slot Features

You get 5 scary looking characters as the premium symbols in this game, and they pay between 3 to 8 x your stake for 5 of a kind wins.

Wilds step in for pay symbols to help improve and/or complete wins, and all winning symbols are removed from the grid via the Cascading mechanic. New and/or existing symbols drop down to fill the gaps, and this repeats as long as you keep winning.

You will see the Ritual Bar below the grid, and mid and high level symbols add 1 or 2 points to it per removed winning symbol, respectively. The scatter symbol adds +10 points to this meter, and the Ritual Bar/Meter comes with 5 levels. It resets each time you level up, and you need 20, 30, 40, 60, or 80 points to fill the meter in level 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, respectively.

Each level you achieve removes the lowest value symbol from all spins, and it also upgrades a medium symbol to a premium symbol. The Ritual Bar resets between cascading sequences, and here are some relevant stats regarding this system:

• Reaching Level 1 has a hit rate of 1 in 13 spins.
• Upgrading to level 2 has a hit rate of 1 in 30 spins.
• Upgrading to level 3 has a hit rate of 1 in 99 spins.
• Upgrading to level 4 has a hit rate of 1 in 4,000 spins.
• Upgrading to level 5 has a hit rate of 1 in 10,000 spins.

You get 2 Candle Spins each time you level up via the Ritual Bar, at least until you reach level 4.

If you level up from level 4 to level 5, you win the Cursed Spins Bonus Round, which gives you 6 free spins. The Ritual Bar works the same as in the base game during the Candle Spins.

You can land Sticky Wilds on reels 2 to 5, and wilds drop down to the bottom of the grid during the Candle Spins feature. They remain frozen in place and accumulate at the bottom per Candle Spin, but wilds are removed if part of a winning combo.

The Ritual Bar is not active in the Cursed Spins Bonus Round, and it plays out on a 5x5 grid with 3,125 win ways. Only premium character symbols will appear during the bonus round, and you get +1 extra spin per scatter that lands during the feature.

The xSplit symbol will only land during the Cursed Spins Bonus Round, and it will split the symbols on the row it appears or double all symbols it goes through. You can get multiple xSplit symbols per row, but only one per reel.

Non-UK players, and anyone eligible, can purchase the Baphomet Rite feature, and it upgrades the Ritual Bar to level 3. You then get 6 Candle Spins where 3 of the low-value and medium-value symbols are replaced by premium symbols. The Bonus Buy menu comes with the following options:

• Baphomet Rite - costs 66x your stake (RTP of 96.18 %).
• Cursed Spins - pay 500x your stake for 10 free spins (RTP of 96.1 %).
• Lucky Draw Level 1-5 - pay 55x your stake (max RTP of 96.01 %).
• Lucky Draw Level 3-5 - pay 166x your stake (max RTP of 96.04 %).

The 200 Spins Blood and Shadow Slot Experience

You get to see the Candle Spins feature in action in the base game, before we purchase the Baphomet Rite at 1:07 into the 4:31-minute highlights video. We then purchase the Cursed Spins Bonus Round, and it triggers at 1:52 into the video.

You can check it all out for yourself by hitting the play button below.

Review Summary

Thematically, Blood and Shadow is obviously closely related to NoLimit City’s Book of Shadows, but the gameplay is miles apart. This is a far more complex game for one, and it has nothing to do with the ‘book slot’ genre. We want to make it very clear that getting to the Cursed Spins Bonus Round is not something you should expect very often. It comes with a 1 in 10,000 spins hit rate after all, so it’s more like a loyalty bonus you shouldn’t really keep in your mind until it takes you by surprise by actually manifesting.

There is plenty going on along the way though, and there is more than enough horror, blood splatter, and occult rituals to satisfy any horror fan out there. The Candle Spins come on a highly regular basis as a compensation, and the sticky accumulating wilds can prolong your winning streak and lead to more lucrative spins on higher levels. The 6,666x potential certainly fits the bill, but it’s far from the highest win cap we’ve seen from this developer.

Overall, Blood and Shadow is worth checking out for horror fans, but regular NoLimit City fans might be a tad disappointed.

Pros

• Cascading Wins for indefinite winning streaks
• 5-tier Ritual Bar provide 2 Candle Spins per upgrade
• Symbols are also upgraded per Ritual Bar upgrade
• Cursed FS w/ high-pay and xSplit symbols
• Win up to 6,666x your stake

Cons

• Max win hit rate of 1 in 97 million spins
• Cursed Spins hit rate of 1 in 10K spins
• Beware of adjustable RTP ranges

Related Slots