Red Tiger is very fond of electrical discharges. The throbbing substance has been seen in their games with the likes of Zeus, Totems, Thor, and others. Now they’ve teamed together with shadow studio R7 to use it in their fruit-themed slot machine, The Wisecracker Lightning. The lightning in the title refers to the many bolts that appear once symbols on adjacent reels are multiplied. The “Wisecracker” element alludes to the enigmatic harlequin figure who appears in several of these games. Together, its full-reel symbol-merging feature and respectable multiplier can trigger unexpectedly high payouts.
The appearance of The Wisecracker Lightning, however, does not provide much in the way of surprises. The initial playing field consists of 5 reels and 3 rows, and it features 10 fixed paylines. The rest of the view consists of a patterned backdrop in burgundy and some gold frame. The Wisecracker Lightning has the standard minimalist visuals and a generic funky low-key soundtrack for games of this genre.
Bets range from 10 pence up to £/€10 every spin, so players may bring the lightning on any gadget. All that fruit and harlequins comes with a highly unpredictable mathematical model, but The Wisecracker Lightning has a potential return of 95.75 percent by default. There was no hit rate displayed in the game data when this was written, but the team’s consistent success kept the action moving along pleasantly. Although it lacks a dedicated bonus round, the frequency with which its other elements activate makes up for it.
Lines of winning symbols consist of three or more identical icons from the first reel down. There are a total of seven symbols on the grid, however there are no special icons like wilds or bonus tiles. These include lemons, cherries, grapes, stars, bells, sevens, and a woman dressed as a joker on top. Payline wins aren’t particularly noteworthy in The Wisecracker Lightning without the help of the game-changing multipliers. That means you can win anywhere from half to ten times your bet for a winning combination of five symbols.
Slot Functions of the Wisecracker Thunder
While it may not be obvious at first appearance, The Wisecracker Lightning is capable of racking up some rather impressive statistics. The most profitable features—Super Symbols, Locking Super Symbols, Nudges, and Lightning Strikes—must all line up in order to win the jackpot.
A 1×3 Super Symbol is formed whenever a full stack of symbols lands. When another Super Symbol lands on a reel next to it, the two symbols will combine into one. Super Symbols hold their shape for the following spin, which is neither a free spin nor a respin but a standard paid spin. As long as further matching Super Symbols emerge on the reels, these symbols will remain locked for the next spin. Over the course of several spins, you may use this strategy to construct full-grid Super Symbols.
To aid you in your endeavor, when a stack of 2 matching symbols lands, it has a possibility of being shoved up or down, covering the reel completely with all 3 symbols, making a Super Symbol.
The last bonus feature is triggered by lightning strikes on the reels. The Lightning Strike bonus destroys Super Symbols and adds a random multiplier to the remaining symbols. It is possible for the Lightning Strike to strike the same Super Symbol on successive spins, with the multiplier increasing by one with each hit, up to a maximum of x100.
The Lightning Strike of the Wise
The Wisecracker Lightning doesn’t seem to have much action at first sight. It looks like a generic fruit or joker and doesn’t do much to pique my interest. The Wisecracker Lightning doesn’t really have much going for it, even among gamers that enjoy this genre. The features seem somewhat promising, but they won’t really excite anyone until they show off their true potential.
If we’re being fair, though, we have to give The Wisecracker Lightning credit for occasionally making us scratch our heads. Lightning Strikes are the primary source of excitement since, without them, even wins on non-modified lines consisting of several Symbol Stacks aren’t worth much. No biggie if you get a whole grid of harlequins; it only pays 100 times your wager, right?
Add in the possibility of lightning strikes, and things take an abrupt turn. The game’s ultimate payout is a whopping 10,000 times the wager, which may come as a surprise to some players. You’ll need a 5×3 Super Symbol with a 100x multiplier to hit the maximum prize, which is based on the fact that there are 10 paylines and the highest paying harlequin symbol is worth 10x for a line of five. Naturally, this isn’t likely to happen very frequently, but it is mathematically possible when you run the figures, which may inspire some.
The fruit machine with a twist has struck again. The Wisecracker Lightning isn’t the best option out there, but if you’re a fan of harlequins or traditional slot machine artwork, you won’t be disappointed.