Golden Grimoire Slot Review

Golden Grimoire is a video slot from NetEnt with 5 reels and 40 paylines. Released in February 2019, you can play this game at online casinos such as Maria Casino, Vera&John or PlayFrank.

Theme and basic information

A grimoire is a book of magic and thus we get a magical theme with Golden Grimoire. We’re in the magical lab of some sort of wizard or sorcerer, looking at gems held by golden insects and some such as well as the card suit symbols (diamonds, clubs, hearts and spades).

It’s night time and the scene is only lit by candlelight, giving the whole scene a dark atmosphere. The background music is also somewhat dark and relatively subdued. We mostly get sound effects when the reels are spinning, or the symbols are transforming.

The red gem with the spider is worth 100 coins for a 5-of-a-kind win. The green gem held by tentacles or some such is worth 75 coins for such a win and the turquoise snake gem is still worth 40 coins in a winning combination of 5 on a payline. The purple follows with 30 coins. The card suit symbols are worth either 15 or 20 coins.

You can play this slot from 0.20 to 400, making it suitable even for high rolling slot fans.

Mystery transformations in the base game

On any spin in the base game, mystery symbols, the Golden Grimoire itself, can appear on reels 3, 4 and/or 5. Wherever they appear, they can transform into any of the other symbols. The corresponding symbol in the same row on the first reel is highlighted and if the mystery symbol happens to transform into the same symbol, all symbols on the reels in between will also transform into the same symbol. That can create 3-, 4- or 5-of-a-kind wins on more than one payline.

Additionally, the wild symbol (a glowing skull) can be revealed behind the mystery symbol. It’s actually the only way in this game a wild may make an appearance. When that happens, all symbols between the mystery symbol and reel 1 will transform into wilds, regardless of the symbols that appeared on reel 1.

Free spins with sticky mystery symbols

You will activate the free spins when the scatter (a keyhole symbol) appears on reels 1, 3 and 5. In that case, you’ll receive 8 free spins.

Now, the mystery symbols that land on the reels, will actually become sticky and remain in place on every spin, transforming into a different symbol on every spin as well. Additional mystery symbols landing on the reels will also become sticky, regardless of where they might land. Also, they can now land on reels 2, 3, 4 and/or 5.

Conclusion: A beautiful slot that can’t quite keep its promise

The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of Golden Grimoire is 96.44%, which is actually pretty good value. This is a low variance slot, which means wins are fairly frequent but hardly ever big. You’d need a high-paying symbol to make a decent win and here preferably the spider or the green gem symbols.

It’s also somewhat disappointing that the wild only shows up when a mystery symbol happens to transform into it. That is a rare occurrence, so don’t hold your breath. At least, the free spins feature appears often enough to keep you playing, though big wins may not be in store here either. Overall, Golden Grimoire is quite a beautiful slot, but it gets somewhat boring eventually and despite a good RTP, doesn’t manage to hold its promise of turning lead into gold. You’ll probably be looking to find something a little harder hitting soon.