Online slots have been around for quite a while now. In fact some slot games have been released more than 10 years ago. What is even more surprising is that some of these games are still popular today. Online casinos have become more than a viable substitute for traditional, brick-and-mortar casinos. For most players online gaming is the norm nowadays. With the introduction of mobile casinos it became even simpler. There are dozens and even hundreds of casinos that now offer you a chance to enjoy playing your favourite slots and other casino games online. You can check some of the best mobile casinos as casinoappkings.com.

Yes, people now take mobile gaming for granted. In fact a lot of people from the younger generation of online gamers don’t remember that only about a decade ago it wasn’t possible to play casino games on your iPhone. This article is a tribute to the first online slot that became available on iPhones – Thunderstruck.

Developed by Microgaming

Thunderstruck was developed by Microgaming and it was released in 2004. Microgaming was the company that created the first authentic online casino way back in 1994. Based on the Isle of Man, this company started as an online casino operator, but their primary focus soon shifted to developing online casino games and selling them to other operators. In 1997, Microgaming become one of the founders of IGC – Interactive Gaming Council and the company launched the first ever online slot that featured a progressive jackpot. This was really ground-breaking and since then progressive jackpots went on to become the most popular sub-category of slots and online games in general. With the beginning of the new millennium came the awards. In 2001 the company was named Bets Software Supplier and in 2002 they were awarded several awards by Gambling Express and Gambling Online Magazine. Changes to Microgaming software were introduced in 2003 and Thunderstruck was developed the following year.

Features of Thunderstruck

Thunderstruck is a 5-reel, 3-row, 9 pay-line slot game. The 9 pay-lines are presented on the screen and marked with different colours. The game has both a flash and a download version and can be found at virtually every casino that uses Microgaming’s software. The RTP is 96%, which is pretty solid. The theme is Nordic mythology and a lot of the symbols are related to Thor, the Norse god of thunder and lighting. What players like the most about this game is the Free Spins Bonus, during which all winning amounts are tripled, and they may even be multiplied by six if a Thor symbol, which is a wild symbol in this game, appears on the reels. The game it is a medium variance slot, so you can expect to win Free Spins in a reasonable amount of spins. You should be able to get about 30 times your stake from the Free Spins Bonus, but it may go up to 100 times or even more.

If you lucky enough to get 5 scatter symbols, then you may win an amount 500 times your stake. If 3 or more scatter symbols appear during the 15 Free Spins round, then additional 15 free spins will be triggered. Regular pay-outs are also quite high as 5 Ice Hammer symbols pay 750 coins and if you manage to get five Thor symbols in a combination, you will win an amazing amount of 10,000 coins. Even though this is not very frequent, it is worth hoping for. You can play with as much as five coins per line and you can also choose the value of the coins per spin, starting at 1p and up to half a pound.

This slog game became truly iconic and is still loved and played by thousands of players. It is hardly surprising that Thunderstruck was the first slot game available for iPhones. The introduction of this game paved the road for many other slot games that were later optimised for mobile phones. Nowadays all popular games are realised for iPhones and other mobile devices, usually very soon after the PC version has been released.

Thunderstruck II

Due to the extreme popularity of Thunderstruck, Microgaming decided to develop a sequel called Thunderstruck II. This game was introduced at the London ICE show in 2010. This game features a lot more pay-lines – 243 and has a very high RTP percentage – 96.95%. It features somewhat different symbols and players can win 25 Free Spins if they activate the Thor Bonus.


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Last Updated: May 16, 2016

About The Author

James, a lifelong gamer, is a freelance writer who occasionally contributes to Ten Ton Hammer.

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