Blood & Shadow (Nolimit City) Slot Review

Blood and Shadow: Slot Overview

As many of you probably know, there are different kind of online slot games. Of course there are happy ones, with many beautiful colours. But there are also darker ones, which have way less colour and a more darker theme to them. And then there are some which require you to fulfill a satanic ritual to get big wins. Okay, the last one is very far fetched. But this is more or less what you have to do in NoLimit City’s Blood and Shadow.

Blood and Shadow is the spirutal successor of Book of Shadows, one of the more popular online slot games of NoLimit City. The game is played on 5 reels with 4 to 5 rows and it uses winning ways, which means that there are up to 3,125 winning ways possible. Additionally, Blood and Shadow uses Tumble Wins. This means that, on a winning combination, the winning symbols are destroyed and new ones drop into the playing field. Bet sizes range from 0.20€ to 280€ (or equivalent), but may vary depending on where you play.

In terms of winning symbols, Blood and Shadow got quite darker and there are way more. Blood and Shadow actually features 15 different winning symbols. 5 are on the lower end, 5 in the middle and 5 on the higher end. For the lower symbols NoLimit City went with cryptic symbols that represent the other, higher symbols. So we begin with the Bird and the Snake for 0.15-times your bet size for a full way. Next up are the Circle with Horns and the Dog’s Head for 0.3-times your bet size. Last one of the lower symbols is the Circle with two Half Moons left and right, clocking in at 0.6-times your bet size for a full way.

The mid-tier symbols are easier to describe. Here you will find scary demons. So we begin with the Raven and the Snake, this time as pictures, for 0.9-times your bet size per full way. Next up are the Goat and the Wolf for 1.2-times your bet size. And the last middle symbol is the Zombie Lady for 1.5-times your bet size.

Now on to the higher tier symbols. These are actually upgraded versions of the middle tier symbols. That’s why they all look like satanic-demonic versions of their counterparts. So first we have the blue Demon Raven for 3-times your bet size. Next is the green Demon Snake for 4-times your bet size. As you might have already guessed, the next is the Demon Goat, clocking in at 5-times your bet size. Second to last is the Demon Wolf, netting you 6-times your bet size for a full way. And last but not least, you guessed it, is the Demon Lady for 8-times your bet size.

Blood and Shadow: Special Symbols and Stats

Usually NoLimit City games come with a great repertoire of Special symbols and features. But there aren’t actually that many in Blood and Shadow

First up is the Wild symbol. This one is portrayed by 3 skulls, of which the middle one is carrying a „W“ on its forehead. Wild symbols will substitute for any winning symbol except Scatter symbols. Wilds can only land on reels 2 to 5 and play a pivotal role in creating Big Wins.

Speaking of Scatter symbols, these are displayed by a human heart. When landing on the screen, they will burst and fill up the Ritual Bar. What exactly the Ritual Bar is and what exactly it does will be covered in our Feature Overview section of this online slot review.

The last symbol is exclusive to the „Free Spin“ Feature and it is the xSplit symbol. This one is showcased by two arrows pointing either vertically or horizontally. Whenever this one lands, it will split all symbols vertically or horizontally, letting them count as two symbols.

Now it is time for stats. Blood and Shadow comes with a base RTP of 96.13%. The max win potential is capped at 6,666x, which is pretty fitting for the dark theme. However, your chances of ever getting one of these are vanishingly low, as you will need 97 million spins on average to get one. The last thing we can tell you, is that you have a hit frequency of 27.18%, which means that you will get a win roughly every fourth spin.

Blood and Shadow: Feature Overview

As per usual for NoLimit City games, Blood and Shadow comes with some interesting features.

• Ritual Bar

First of all, let’s talk about the Ritual Bar. This bar will be vital throughout the course of the game. Without it, it will be hard to get any big wins. Because you see, whenever the Ritual Bar is filled, you will advance by 1 stage. On every stage, the lowest symbol present will be eliminated from play. Additionally, the lowest mid-tier symbol present will be upgraded to its satanic version.

Filling the Ritual Bar will get harder and harder the more you progress through stages. You will need to fill the Ritual Bar with 20, 30, 40, 60 and then 80 blood points. But how exactly do you get blood points? There are 3 ways to get them. The first is, win with a mid-tier symbol. This will net you 1 blood point per medium symbol. The next is, win with a high-tier symbol. High tier symbols will bring you 2 blood points per winning symbol. And the last way is through the bursting heart Scatters, which will bring you 10 blood points at once.

The Ritual Bar is reset once your game round is over.

• Candle Spins

Upon filling up the Ritual Bar, you will be awarded Candle Spins. For every stage you will get 2 of them. In Candle Spins you will be able to profit from filling up your Ritual Bar, giving you spins with your eliminated and upgraded symbols. Another feature that is only present in the Candle Spins are the Sticky Wilds. If you managed to land a Wild symbol and did not win with it, the Wild will remain on the reel for the remainder of your Candle Spins. If you cannot fill up your Ritual Bar during the Candle Spins, your game round is over and the Ritual Bar is reset.

• Cursed Spins

Entering the last stage, you will be rewarded Cursed Spins. You will get 6 Spins on top of your remaining Candle Spins. What makes Cursed Spins so special is the fact, that the Ritual Bar will now disappear and reveal another row of symbols. In Cursed Spins, you will only have high paying symbols. Additionally, xSplit symbols will now start to appear.

• Bonus Buy Feature

Of course a NoLimit City game comes with a Bonus Buy option. But not only one, there are four different options you can choose from. We will list them below.

Blood and Shadow: Conclusion

NoLimit City really upped their game with Blood and Shadow, at least in terms of design. The spiritual successor of Book of Shadows has a way more darker feeling, with all these satanistic and demonic creatures, bursting hearts, rituals and more. And if you manage to get the max win potential of 6,666x, you will Seal the Pact.

But speaking of the max win potential, while it is rather low for NoLimit City standards, this isn’t even the problematic part. The real problem is the max win probability. With 97 million spins on average it is needless to say that the chances of you ever getting a max win are brutally low. And given that Blood and Shadow is already a highly volatile game, this dampens the mood a bit.

That doesn’t mean that Blood and Shadow is a bad game or anything, it definitely has its thrilling moments, and the excitement when you first enter the Cursed Spins is immeasurable. NoLimit City didn’t do anything innovative with Blood and Shadow, but this is just proof that not every game has to bring in all-new mechanics. If it’s done right, that is.

In the end, Blood and Shadow is definitely an enjoyable game. Not as packed with features as other games of NoLimit City, but it’s still a welcome sight. We had lots of fun testing all of the features and we are sure that you will have lots of fun with it too.