Slot reviews
[Slot review] Thunderstruck Wild Lightning — Microgaming
The only series title whose format is unpublished. RTP and volatility match the original and the bet range is listed, but the reel and line layout sits behind a plain 'Video slot' label. This review separates the filled fields from the empty ones.
Overview
Thunderstruck Wild Lightning is the third series title, released by Microgaming on 5 August 2021. The published RTP is 96.10%, volatility is High, and the bet range is 0.2 to 16. It reopened a series that had been quiet for more than seven years after Thunderstruck II (5 November 2013), and came a little over a year before Stormchaser (23 November 2022).
The format field says only 'Video slot'. Unlike the original's 5 reels and 9 lines, Thunderstruck II's 243 ways or Stormchaser's 1024 ways, the label does not reveal a layout, so when you trace the series' format changes this is the one entry that stays blank.
Layout and rules
Reel count, row count and whether it pays on lines or ways are all unpublished. The hub's feature field is empty, and the paytable and feature structure are not in the published specification either. The 'Wild Lightning' title calls a wild-symbol mechanic to mind, but this review does not infer rules from a name.
That leaves the demo's rules screen as the only source for this game's layout. Leaving the format unfilled is not an omission: it is a refusal to borrow an unpublished value from other series titles. The entries before and after it being ways games is no reason to assume this one is.
Free demo
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The official demo published by Microgaming. It runs on play money only; no real funds are involved.
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Comparing on the filled fields only
The 96.10% RTP and High volatility are identical to the original and Stormchaser. Three of the four series titles share that pairing, so these two values cannot tell Wild Lightning apart.
The bet range can. The 16 maximum is far below the original's 90 and Thunderstruck II's 60, and it is the lowest ceiling among the series titles that publish one (Stormchaser's bet range is unpublished). The 0.2 minimum is higher than the original's 0.09. Bet limits are closer to a supply condition than to a game's maths, so this review does not infer volatility or a cap from them.
Max win is blank in the hub for this title too. All four series entries share an unpublished cap.
Presentation
The cover has the figure facing forward inside a ring of lightning, hammer lowered. Setting the hammer down rather than swinging it separates this entry from the other series covers, and lets the storm carry the frame instead of the figure.
The demo is embedded on this page. For this game the demo is the spec sheet: check the reel and row layout and pay type on the rules screen first, and you can fill in the fields this review left blank.
Strengths
- RTP, volatility and bet range are published
- It reopened the series after a gap of more than seven years, bridging the family's timeline
- The demo is embedded, so the unpublished layout can be checked directly
Weak points
- The reel, row and lines/ways layout is unpublished — the only series title where that is so
- Max win and the feature list are unpublished
- RTP and volatility match two other entries, leaving few published points of difference
Verdict
Wild Lightning is the only title with an empty format field in the series comparison. Its filled fields match the original, and its empty ones can only be filled from the demo — that is everything its specification says.