Book of Monsters: Slot Overview
It might sound like a bit of light reading at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but software provider Pragmatic Play’s Book of Monsters is actually a cluster-paying grid slot. It is not, strictly speaking, a ‘Book of’ slot where special symbols expand to cover their reels, but books do flip open to reveal free spins and randomly chosen symbols. These randomly chosen symbols do expand in the bonus round, but they act more in the manner of a Fat Rabbit than a Book of Dead.
A Fun Twist on Monster-Themed Slots
This might be a game about monsters, but the monsters on the reels and the book don’t look like the kind who hide under beds to scare kids or get up to any sort of bad deeds, really. Rather, their wide eyes and toothy grins give them a Reactoonz vibe, more interested in participating in harmless acts of mischief than anything actually nasty. They inhabit a cave, which, okay, is populated by scary, glowing-eyed spectres, bathed in a blue light that shifts to orangey when free spins trigger. Hopefully, you see a cc6 lot of orange because Book of Monsters’ thrills probably have a greater likelihood of occurring in the bonus round.
The Cluster Pay System
Played on a 7×7 grid, Book of Monsters operates a cluster pays win system, creating winning combinations when at least 5 matching symbols are adjacent to each other vertically and/or horizontally. The base game is pretty much feature-free, so players can buy into the bonus round or use the ante bet to make it 7 times more likely to trigger free spins. Base bets of 20c to $/€240 may be selected, and when the ante bet is active, the stake is doubled. Highly volatile, the top RTP for all options is 96.5%.
Symbol Breakdown: Meet the Monsters
Book of Monsters has low-pay symbols that feature both a card rank and a suit on them, such as the jack of diamonds, the queen of clubs, the king of hearts, and the ace of spades. Up from them is a purple, green, and red monster. Clusters containing 5 matching symbols award players 0.2 to 2 times their stake, up to 100x to 5,000x for a 49-of-a-kind winning cc6 cluster. There are no wilds, but at random in the base game, so-called fat symbols of 3×3, 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, or 7×7 may hit.
Free Spins and Bonus Features
Hitting 4, 5, 6, or 7 scatters in the base game awards 5, 6, 7, or 8 free spins. If the ante bet is activated, then landing 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 scatters awards 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 free spins, respectively. The next thing that happens is a random pay symbol is chosen as the Fat symbol for the bonus round. Players are given a choice to gamble the Fat symbol for a more valuable one. They can also gamble to increase the number of free spins. Or collect to start the feature.
The Gamble Feature: More Spins or Better Symbols?
If you gamble for free spins or a better Fat symbol and the book reveals ‘The End,’ then the bonus round ends right there. Otherwise, up to 8 free spins can be awarded from successful gambles, and up to the highest value symbol is possible. This gamble feature adds an extra layer of excitement for players looking for bigger rewards.
The Progressive Fat Symbol
The free spins round has a progressive feature involving a Fat symbol. At the start of the round, the 1×1 Fat symbol is always present on the grid, and it moves to a new position at every spin. All instances of the Fat symbol type that hit during the round, which are not overlapped by the Fat symbol, are collected by a meter. At certain collection thresholds, the Fat symbol grows in size. Collecting 30 symbols levels the Fat symbol up to 2×2, collecting 27 more makes it 3×3, collecting 24 more makes it 4×4, collecting 20 more makes it 5×5, collecting 16 more makes it 6×6, and collecting 12 more makes it 7×7. Each time the Fat symbol increases in size, 1-3 additional free spins are awarded. The progressive growth of the Fat symbol offers a dynamic and evolving gameplay experience.
Bonus Buy Feature: Skip to the Fun
For those who don’t want to wait around for the bonus to trigger naturally, the Bonus Buy feature allows players to purchase the free spins bonus directly for a cost of 100 times their bet. When bought, 4, 5, 6, or 7 scatter symbols cc6 randomly land on the triggering spin, giving players the chance to dive straight into the exciting bonus features.
Final Verdict: A Monster-Sized Slot Adventure
The split second between noting the title and reading the rules or seeing the game in action was enough to assume Book of Monsters was going to offer yet more expanding special symbol action, Book of Dead-style. However, they say you shouldn’t judge a book (or a ‘Book of’ slot) by its cover, and that piece of advice rings true in this case because it didn’t take long to figure out Book of Monsters is not that sort of game.
However, it is a bit like one of those TV episodes that was created by stringing together a bunch of short clips from past episodes. Like a clip show, a number of things about Book of Monsters stuck out from the past. So, whether you’re in it for the quirky monsters, the gamble feature, or the progression of the Fat symbol, there’s definitely some monster-sized fun waiting for you! And if you need a little extra boost, don’t forget about cc6 to spice things up during your adventure.
