Elk Studios: Book of Toro

Coming as part of a game series, ELK Studios is back with another slot that continues to expand in a major way. Using a couple of extra features, Book of Toro managed to blend the bullfighting theme with the Book of mechanics. Since games with this mechanic have an Ancient Egypt theme, ELK made sure that it can also get that familiar appeal. But since this is also a part of the Wild Toro series, we got the Toro and Matador this time.

If you’re into games with these kinds of themes, Book of Toro can be a nice choice. It has few pay piles and smaller RTP but it is less risky. Winners can also win up to 10,000x the stake along with Bonus Spins and expanding symbols.

Book of Toro slot design

One look and it is easy to guess that Book of Toro has a combination of bullfighting and Ancient Egypt theme. The game showcases the mighty bull and the matador on the reels together with other related symbols in the game. The low-paying icons include the J, K, Q, A, and 10 Royal symbols. The premium symbols on the other hand include Scarab Beetle, Horus Falcon, Eye of Ra, and the Matador. The special symbols include the Wild, Toro Wild, Mummy, and the Book Scatter symbol.

Design-wise, Book of Toro has cartoon-style graphics that is similar to the first Toro slots. The story revolves around the quest of Toro and Matador to prevent the evil Captain Diaz from finding the Book of Toro. As the descendant, Matador Diaz Junior took the mission of raiding the chambers of ABU Simbel temple that is located in Egypt. To match the impressive visuals of the game, ELK Studios also incorporated background music that gives that classic but upbeat feel.

Book of Toro features

Book of Toro comes with a game mechanic that is similar to the “Book of…” slots especially in its Bonus Spins round. This means that there are different features that you might want to keep an eye on starting from the base game. Book of Toro has these fantastic features that include the Wild symbols, Scatter symbols, Respin, Bonus Spins, and more. Set in a grid with 5 reels and 3 rows, let’s check out how each feature works in this game.

Wild Symbol

The Wild symbol plays a key role in maximizing your potential to win. This symbol functions as a substitute for other paying symbols to improve your chances of creating a new winning combination. But the Wild symbols can be more valuable each time they appear as a part of a win on a pay line.

The Wild symbol is represented by an icon with the WILD Toro logo. The Wild Book on the other hand is represented by the book with the Toro logo on the cover. There is even a Walking Wild that is displayed as the Toro himself in a pharaoh costume and golden frame. These special symbols can replace all regular symbols except for the Mummy symbol. 

Scatter Symbol

To trigger the Bonus Spins game, the most important symbol you should focus on is the Scatter symbol. But in this game, the Scatter symbol is also a Wild one. The Wild Book is also the Scatter symbol that can help you trigger more actions throughout the gameplay.

Scatter Pay

The Scatter Pay mechanic takes advantage of 2 high or mid-value expansion symbols. It may also involve expansion symbols with a low value to trigger the symbol expansion that can cover the entire grid. Once triggered, the expansion symbols award the Scatter wins.

Toro Goes Wild

As mentioned above, Toro is a Walking Wild and he is here to award Respin while he moves along the reels. Once the Toro Goes Wild feature is triggered, Toro leaves the Wild symbols behind while he knocks mummies out of the reels. Defeating the mummies is another way to improve your chances of hitting a winning cluster.

But that’s not all you can have with this feature. Each time Toro is on the reels during this feature, all Wild Books transform into Sticky Book symbols and remain on the grid. This feature will give you 1 Respin for each step that is left by Toro which has a 5 total of Respin.

Mummy Respin

It is possible to activate the Mummy Respin feature by landing 2 or more Mummy symbols on the same spin. The Mummy symbols are locked in position as they become Sticky symbols while the subsequent Respin occurs. In case you land more Mummy symbols during this round, you will get more Respin together with a Toro symbol. Thus, you can also trigger the Toro Goes Wild feature while enjoying your Respin.

Bonus Spins

The Bonus Spins round can be triggered by landing 3 or more Book symbols on any position on the reels. Depending on the total number of Scatter symbols you land, these are the number of Bonus Spins you will also get:

• 3 Book Scatters = 10 Bonus Spins
• 4 Book Scatters = 15 Bonus Spins
• 5 Book Scatters = 20 Bonus Spins

Aside from getting these Bonus Spins, a random symbol is also chosen to become the expansion symbol. This random symbol can either have a low, medium or high value and occur as follow:

• 2 high paying symbols landed
• 2 medium paying symbols landed
• 3 low paying symbols landed

To get more Bonus Spins and even an extra expansion symbol, the best way to do it is by retriggering the feature. Therefore, you can get up to 40 Bonus Spins and 2 expansion symbols.

X-tier

The X-tierTM feature allows players to jump straight to the action and get 5 different game modes. This ranges from 5x to 500x Super Bonus Spins with expansion symbols and so much more. Quite similar to the Bonus Buy feature, these are what this X-tier offers:

• X-tier 1 = this comes with a 5x stake and 1 spin with a guaranteed Mummy Respin feature to trigger
• X-tier 2 = this comes with a 25x stake and 1 spin with a guaranteed Toro Goes Wild feature to activate
• X-tier 3 = this comes with a 50x stake and 3 Bonus Spins as well as a random expansion symbol
• X-tier 4 = this comes with a 250x stake and an entry to the Bonus Spins feature
• X-tier 5 = this comes with a 500x stake and an entry to the Super Bonus Spins feature

Whenever you want to buy your way into the bonus rounds in an instant, this is the feature that is suitable for you.

Book of Toro RTP, betting and prizes

Book of Toro is played with up to 10 pay lines that are paid from the leftmost reel to the right. ELK Studios used the classic “Book of” mechanic where a winning combination is formed by 3 or more matching symbols. To start playing this Book of Toro, you can bet a minimum of £0.20 up to a maximum of £100.

There is also an Autospin button on the right side of the reels that you can choose for a fast-paced game experience. On the bottom left corner of the reels, there is also a Coins icon that you can click to choose different bet levels. When it comes to the returns, this slot has a 95% RTP which is lower compared with the usual 96% RTP of slots. ELK Studios designed this with a 23% hit frequency so you can expect to land an average of winning combinations every 4/5 spins.

To make Book of Toro more appealing despite its lower RTP rating, ELK set its variance at a medium-high level. This level of volatility is set with a 7 out of 10 ratings according to ELK Studio’s standards. On the other hand, players still have a chance to hit huge winnings with the help of its bonus features. The lucky winners can win up to 10,000x their stake on each spin with maximum bet.

As for its paytable, the symbols with low value include the Royals that pay 0.75x to 15x the stake. Meanwhile, its symbols with high value include the Scarab Nettle, Horus Falcon, Eye of Horus, Eye of Ra, and the Matador. These symbols pay 0.5x to 250x the stake for 3 to 5 matching symbols. The special symbols don’t carry their value but are valuable in boosting your potential to win.

Conclusion

As expected, Book of Toro stayed true to its predecessor slots such as Wild Toro and Wild Toro 2. Thus, ELK Studios maintained its Walking Wilds and Respond features that play a big part in the gameplay. Of course, we can’t miss the additional expansion symbols and Bonus Spins that made the game more fun. These extra features did not surprise us anymore but are still handy throughout the game.

But compared with other “Book of…” slots, this game may not be the best option since ELK could have made it better. It has a lower RTP than most average slots but winning big here is possible especially with the help of Captain Diaz. Also, Book of Toro has great graphics to enjoy.