Thunderstruck

Ever since Vikings was released (The TV show, not the awesome NetEnt slot), Norse mythology took off! You could argue even earlier, with the popularity of Marvel movies and how frequently Thor appeared in those.

But what put Thor on the map for many players was his well-deserved central role in this game.

Thunderstruck Slot Review

Thunderstruck is played on a five reel board, where each reel is three symbols tall. There are a total of 9 fixed paylines, which cannot be turned on or off at will. To win, simply collect three or more identical icons in consecutive positions, starting with the leftmost reel. All winning combinations must follow one of the active paylines, or else the cash prize won’t be awarded.

Available special features are incredibly basic compared to bonuses offered by modern releases. Gamblers get a free spins round where all wins are tripled, and a Wild that doubles all prizes. You can combine these two, and the prizes you’ll get from it are absolutely fantastic. But there’s no getting around the fact Thunderstruck’s special features are as simple as they come.

Theme & Symbols

Not only is Thor the center of attention, but literally all the available symbols revolve around him. And while the background image is quite rudimentary, it gets the job done. Like many other slots from this time period, it’s greatest enemy is time. Today, phones and tablets are more powerful than desktop PCs this game was originally played on. And the inevitable march of technological improvements left it in the dust.

A dark, cloudy sky serves as a background image for this Microgaming release. The perfect weather for thunder strikes! Great for your cash balance, not so much for your hairstyle or general health if you’re the one getting hit. We were hoping to at least see some minor cloud movement, but no dice on that front.

Icons are split into two categories. The less valuable playing card royals, and the higher paying unique symbols. The letters and numbers actually look fantastic! They’re bathed in a bright golden color, which seeps into the cracks of the stony reel beneath. Other icons include the hunting horn, lightning, a fortress, a hand gripping a handle, and Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Unfortunately, they’re not nearly as cool as playing card royals. Never thought we’d ever write that sentence in a review!

How to Play Thunderstruck

Thunderstruck is played on a 5×3 board with 9 fixed paylines. With such a small number of paylines, we honestly expected boring gameplay that relies on its special features. But only half of that prediction came true. Scoring big wins outside of free spins and Wilds is going to be tough. But the slot isn’t nearly as grindy as we expected it to be. The wonders of medium variance and a decent hit rate!

Whether or not you’ll enjoy the special features solely depends on what you want from them. If you want a substantial change to how you play your game, you won’t find that here. But if all you care about are big wins and the fastest way to get them? Then this Microgaming release is absolutely perfect for you.

Players can change their total bet by adjusting their coin size and the number of coins per payline. A somewhat outdated way to change things? Sure. But it does give plenty of flexibility. The minimum stake starts off at €0.18 per spin, and goes up to a maximum of €90 on each spin. It’s mostly a great betting spread. Our only complaint is that it charges €0.18 for 9 paylines as a minimum. The jackpot is worth over 1000x your bet.

Bonus Features

Microgaming really took the idea of ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ to heart when designing Thunderstruck. Both special features are so common that we probably don’t even have to explain the mechanics. But if we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be good reviewers, now would we?

• Wild Multiplier

When Thor appears as a Wild, he automatically doubles your win when substituting for an existing symbol. Furthermore, Thor can replace any icon except for Scatters.

• Free Spins

Collect three, four or five Scatters to win 15 free spins with tripled wins. How many Scatters you use to trigger free spins only impacts the initial cash prize you get. And yes, it is possible to combine the 3x multiplier from free spins with the 2x multiplier from Wilds.

Thunderstruck Payouts

This slot has a medium variance, and a maximum win worth 1111,1x your total stake. The game’s RTP is 96.10%, which is above the current industry average. And light years ahead of the average in the online gambling world in 2004 when it came out.