Book of Vlad Slot Review
Bare black trees dissolving into blue fog, a gravestone cropped at the edge of the frame, and a set of reels locked inside an iron crypt door: Endorphina have built their vampire slot the old way, in blood red and silver. Strip the paint off Book of Vlad and the skeleton is a Book game, but the free games replace the usual one random expanding symbol with a system you build yourself, meter by meter. That difference is the whole reason to play it.
The game runs on a 5×3 grid with 10 paylines, at high volatility, and with a 98.04% RTP that sits comfortably clear of the industry norm. Endorphina’s vampire pedigree runs through The Vampires 2, and the studio’s broader catalogue includes Crystal Skull and Joker Ra.
The Base Game
Wins are combinations of a kind, left to right on adjacent reels across the 10 fixed paylines. Scatter symbols count in any position. Only the highest combination on each payline is paid, and scatter wins are added on top of line wins. Standard shape, cleanly executed.
The Book symbol does double duty as wild and scatter: it substitutes for every regular symbol, it counts anywhere on the reels, and three or more of it trigger the free games. During free games the wild can’t stand in for special expanding symbols, which keeps the feature’s own rules intact.
Prizes are multiples of the total bet. The full ladder looks like this:
- Vampire man – 1x for two, 10x for three, 100x for four, 500x for five
- Goblet – 0.5x for two, 4x for three, 40x for four, 200x for five
- Castle carriage / Gargoyle – 0.5x for two, 3x for three, 10x for four, 75x for five
- A / K – 0.5x for three, 4x for four, 15x for five
- Q / J – 0.5x for three, 2.5x for four, 10x for five
- Book (wild and scatter) – 2x for three, 20x for four, 200x for five
Free Games with the Expanding Bloody Symbols Feature
Three or more scatter Books trigger seven free games. Inside them, any symbol except the scatter can gain the capacity to expand, and that capacity is earned rather than given. That’s the accumulator system, and it’s what separates this feature from a standard expanding-symbol round.
How the Accumulators Work
Each paying symbol has its own collection meter, starting at five cells and growing no further than 12. When a symbol carrying a blood drop indicator lands anywhere on the reels, it refills one cell of that symbol’s meter, even if the symbol isn’t part of a winning combination. Filling a meter is where the round opens up.
A filled accumulator sets three things in motion at once:
- The corresponding symbol gains the capacity to expand, activated on the next spin
- Every other symbol’s accumulator gains one extra cell, making the remaining fills easier
- The round awards two additional free games before the meter switches itself off
Landing three or more scatters mid-feature extends the round by three more games, on the same bets and lines as the triggering spin.
How Expanding Symbols Pay
Expansion happens vertically, but only when enough special symbols to complete a winning combination are on the reels. Position doesn’t matter, only the count. Expansion occurs after regular symbols have paid out, so a spin can collect twice from the same symbols.
Expanded symbols pay for combinations of a kind in adjacent and non-adjacent positions, on enabled paylines only. In practice that means a full column of an expanded premium symbol pays across every line it touches, which is where the round’s real potential sits.
Risk Game (Gamble)
After any win, the game offers a card gamble instead of the standard collect. Four cards are dealt face down; pick one and it goes head to head with the Dealer’s card. Beat it and the win doubles, with up to 10 attempts available in total. Lose at any point and the winnings are gone.
The detail that matters is the Dealer’s card. The Joker beats everything and the Dealer can never draw one, but your odds shift with what you’re facing:
- 2 – 162% return
- 3 – 121%, 4 – 113%, 5 – 101%
- 6, 7 and 8 – 100% each
- 9 – 92%, 10 – 78%
- J – 69%, Q – 66%, K – 64%
- A – 42%, the worst card to gamble against
A matching value is a draw: winnings unchanged, another attempt available. Taken blind, the gamble averages an 84% return, so chasing it every time costs money in the long run. The smart play is to gamble only against the low cards, and collect against anything from a 9 upwards. TAKE WIN is always there as the exit.
Bonus Pop Buy Feature
Buying the Free Games
The BONUS POP button jumps straight to the free games at any time. It activates a package of seven free games that behave exactly as they would if triggered by scatters, starting with one base game spin that lands the three triggering Books.
The cost scales with the total bet. It’s a steep entry for a round whose accumulators start empty, so the buy is really a bet on filling several of them before the seven games run dry. The retriggers help: each activated accumulator adds two more spins on top.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.8/10
Spinning the base game is familiar Book work: small line wins, long gaps, and the count of Books on the reels mattering more than anything else. The reason to sit through it in this graveyard is that the bonus isn’t a lottery ticket – it’s something you construct. Every blood drop nudges a meter, and a filled meter pays out an expanding symbol plus two extra games at the same time.
That accumulator loop is the game’s best idea, and it works because the metres interact: filling one makes the others easier. The weak point is the Bonus Pop price. Seven games with every meter at five cells is a thin return unless the retriggers come early, and the base game doesn’t offer much while you wait for them.
It suits players who like a Book format with something to work at between triggers, and a 98.04% return makes the patience cheap. Anyone after big production values or instant action will find the crypt a quiet place.
Book of Vlad FAQs
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What is the RTP of Book of Vlad?
Book of Vlad runs at 98.04% RTP, comfortably above the industry norm. -
Is Book of Vlad high volatility?
Yes, Book of Vlad is a high volatility slot, so wins tend to be less frequent but larger when they arrive. -
How do you trigger the free games in Book of Vlad?
Landing three or more Book scatter symbols anywhere on the reels triggers seven free games with the Expanding Bloody Symbols feature. If three or more scatters land mid-round, the feature extends by three more games. -
How do the symbol accumulators work in the free games?
Every paying symbol collects into its own meter, which opens with five cells and is capped at 12. Symbols with a blood drop indicator refill one cell wherever they land, even outside winning combinations. A filled meter makes that symbol expand on the next spin, adds a cell to every other meter and awards two extra free games. -
Can you buy the bonus on Book of Vlad?
Yes. The BONUS POP button buys a package of seven free games at any time, with the cost tied to your total bet. The bought round works exactly the same as one triggered by scatters. -
Is the Risk Game gamble worth taking?
The gamble averages an 84% return if taken regardless of the Dealer’s card, so it loses money over time. Your odds range from 162% against a Dealer’s 2 down to 42% against an Ace, so it only makes sense against low cards. -
How many paylines does Book of Vlad have?
Book of Vlad is a 5-reel, 3-row slot with 10 fixed paylines, and wins pay left to right on adjacent reels. -
Who makes Book of Vlad?
Book of Vlad is made by Endorphina, the studio behind titles including The Vampires 2 and Joker Ra. Its release date is 19 August 2022.
