Thunderstruck II Pokies
The legends of the Norse gods have been popular fodder for films, comics, and games throughout the world, so when Microgaming released the original Thunderstruck poker machine in 2003, it was no surprise that the game became a hit. But the online casino industry is always evolving, and after a few years, it seemed as though many other pokies were leaving Thunderstruck behind.
But Microgaming wasn’t done with the franchise just yet. In 2010, they launched Thunderstruck II, a sequel that took the basic theme of Thunderstruck and brought the gameplay to a whole new level. Even several years later, this game is still one of the most popular online pokies in the world, combining great gameplay features and a killer theme to attract players to this day.
Thunderstruck II Basics
Thunderstruck II is another of the growing number of 243 ways poker machines that have been released by Microgaming. This means that you will pay one fee in order to gain access to all of the possible winning combinations on the reels, ensuring that any matching symbols running from left to right across the screen will count in your favour. At most casinos, you can bet between $0.01 and $0.25 per coin, with a common maximum bet being $15 per spin.
While this machine is known for its many special features and bonus rounds, all of that flavour exists on top of a standard poker machine structure. The main goal is to match at least three of the same symbol consecutively from left to right, with more than a dozen different symbols being available for you to score wins with. These start with the standard poker rank symbols, in this case ranging from the lowly nine to the mighty ace.
Higher value symbols feature dragon boats, Valkyries, and some of the gods of the Norse pantheon. Mighty Thor himself offers the largest prizes of any of the standard symbols: hit five in a row, and you’ll earn 500 coins on that payline.
Thunderstruck II
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Special Features on Thunderstruck II
As we mentioned earlier, Thunderstruck II features a wide variety of special features and bonuses, each of which offers you a different way to earn big wins on this machine. As with most pokies, there is a wild symbol included in the mix. In this case, that would be the Thunderstruck II logo, which can substitute for any standard symbol, doubling your normal winnings in the process. The wild can also make its own wins, earning 1,000 coins if you can find five in a row.
Thor’s hammer serves as the scatter symbol for this machine, earning players cash if you can find two or more of them on the same spin. Finding three or more will earn you entrance into the Great Hall of Spins, an entertaining feature that we’ll talk about more below.
Then there is Wildstorm, a randomly occurring feature that can potentially make you very rich, very quickly. When the storm strikes, it will turn some number of reels completely wild, making it much easier to score big wins. It is even possible to turn all five reels wild at once, a situation that will result in massive prizes.
There’s also one other feature that we’d like to talk about, even if it won’t actually make you any extra money. Thunderstruck II utilizes paytable achievements that alert you as you manage to win all potential payouts for a given symbol. This allows you to track what prizes you’ve won over time, and can give you something a little different to shoot for while playing. It’s a nice touch if you enjoy playing video games, a medium that many pokies are trying hard to emulate a little more in their gameplay.
The Great Hall of Spins
The Great Hall of Spins is the centrepiece of Thunderstruck II, as it allows you to earn increasingly lucrative rewards the longer you play on the machine. As we mentioned earlier, this is a free spins game that you’ll trigger each time you find three or more scatter symbols on the same spin.
But what makes this unique is the fact that you will unlock more options for the free spins round the more you play. At first, you’ll only have one option (the Valkyrie game) available to you, but others will unlock based on the number of times you reach this feature. The four games, and the number of times you have to play to unlock them, are as follows:
- Valkyrie (Available Immediately): In this bonus, you will earn 10 free spins, each of which comes with a 5x multiplier on all of your winnings.
- Loki (Available After 5 Feature Plays): This version awards you 15 free spins, and has a wild magic symbol on the third reel that can randomly turn other symbols into wilds as well. Hitting two or more scatter symbols will also retrigger additional free spins.
- Odin (Available After 10 Feature Plays): In this game, you will earn 20 free spins. In addition, Odin’s ravens will fly around the reels, offering up 2x and 3x multipliers wherever they land.
- Thor (Available After 15 Feature Plays): Thor will grant you 25 free spins with the “rolling reels” feature, in which winning symbols leave the reels after paying to make way for even more symbols. Each time this happens, a multiplier will be added, starting at 2x and potentially reaching as high as 5x.
Thunderstruck II Summary
Thunderstruck II may now be five years old at the time of this writing, but it remains one of the most popular and feature-rich pokies on the market today. The theme is obviously a winner, and the gameplay matches up with the presentation quite well, making this game a joy to play. If you’re ready to join Thor, Odin, and the rest of the Norse gods for the chance to win some amazing prizes, join a Microgaming casino today and give Thunderstruck II a try!
You should definitely give this game a go if you are looking for a big name game that delivers on the goods. You won’t be let down.