Books & Bulls Slot Review

What do books have to do with bulls? Everything when you’re playing Bally Wulff’s video slot dedicated to the subject. It’s not the first time they’ve introduced literature to slots – see also Black Beauty and Book of Romeo & Julia – but this time they’ve taken a matador approach, with bullfighting the overarching theme. As for where the books come into play, that’s anyone’s guess.

Provided you’re not an animal rights activist, the sport of bullfighting is a fascinating one with a lot of history woven into it. Spain’s love affair with its controversial national sport is explored in this 5-reel slot, or at least as far as any complex subject can be explored via the medium of video slots.

Raging Bull

The backdrop for the game is a classical Spanish street, the sort where the running of the bulls might take place. Bally Wulff’s slots tend to favour a traditional approach, not just thematically, but when it comes to paylines and line bets too. In other words, if you’re looking for a 100-payline slot where you can wager 1,000 with every spin, go find another developer.

Books & Bulls has just 5 paylines and a line bet that can be set to offer a total minimum 0.10 bet and maximum of 20.00. There’s a max bet button and an autoplay option; you can also enable turbo spin via the option concealed in the top left of the screen behind the cog icon. If you’ve played any of Bally Wulff’s other slots you’ll instantly recognise the game’s playing cards symbols, which are recycled from other games with zero customisation.

Latin Passion

Books & Bulls might be a derivative game, stylistically at least, but judged on its own merits alone it’s got a few things in its favour. The audio doesn’t rank among these positives however; the procession of bleeps this slot utters aren’t remotely in keeping with its Latin theme. Where’s the Spanish guitar? While the playing card symbols are unexceptional, other symbols look much better.

There’s a red flamenco dress and a pair of castanets, each of which is worth 450 for five. Then there’s a woman wearing said dress, worth 600 for five. The remaining symbols are all special in some shape or form, led by the matador, a dashing gentleman clutching his sword menacingly. He’s the game’s wild symbol, substituting for regular symbols and also worth 1,500 for five.

The Running of the Reels

There are two scatters in the game, an ancient book and a fierce looking bull. Each of these is capable of generating 10 free spins for three symbols anywhere in view. When free spins kick in, the bull symbol will become a sticky wild, remaining locked in place and helping to generate additional wins. In the base game, three symbols on a payline are enough for a win normally, but there is one exception – you can win with just two symbols in the case of the flamenco dancer.

Load of Bull

The closest game to Books & Bulls is Book of Romeo & Julia by the same developer, and not just on account of their names. The wilds and scatters function in exactly the same way and the same graphical style is deployed in each instance. There really is very little between the two slots.

For an alternative take on bullfighting, try Cayetano’s Bullfight. It’s a 10 payline slot with an RTP of 94% and similar symbols to Books & Bulls. Surprisingly, there doesn’t appear to have been many matador themes slots released. Presumably developers are too busy churning out Cleopatra and pirate slots to bother themselves with bullfighting.

Bully for You

There are a few nice touches to Books & Bulls including the design of the game’s primary symbols. In many other respects however this slot comes up wanting. The audio is poor, many of the playing symbols are generic and there’s no feature game to liven up proceedings. There’s something quaint about Bally Wulff’s slots, but this isn’t a synonym for good. If you’re looking for the sort of games whose visuals, animations and features surpass all expectations, you’d be advised to pick a different developer.