Thunderkick slots

Thunderkick: the studio behind the slots

Thunderkick is a Swedish slot developer founded in 2012 and based in Stockholm. It is independent rather than part of a large group, and it works through two licensed companies, Thunderkick AB and Thunderkick Malta Ltd. Reference listings put its catalogue at about 110 games, and none of them is built on a film, TV or music licence. Every theme is original, which is unusual at a time when many studios lean on branded tie-ins.

The studio also has a link to Relax Gaming: it is listed as a Powered By partner, meaning Relax’s platform helps distribute Thunderkick games to casinos. You can read about that company on our Relax Gaming slots page. For the wider picture of who makes UK slots, start at our slot providers hub.

Thunderkick slots compared: RTP, volatility and max win

These are the Thunderkick slots we review, with only the figures we have verified. If a cell says not verified, check the game’s help screen at your casino before you play. Other well-known titles, such as 1429 Uncharted Seas, are not yet in our verified data, so we don’t quote figures for them.

The RTP column is almost flat: the gap between the lowest and highest figure is 0.13 percentage points. The volatility and max win columns are not flat at all. That makes Thunderkick a good studio for seeing why RTP alone doesn’t tell you how a slot plays.

Same RTP, different ride: Esqueleto Explosivo against Pink Elephants 2

Esqueleto Explosivo has a 96.0% RTP, low volatility and a 700x cap. Pink Elephants 2 has a 96.13% RTP, high volatility and a 10,000x cap. Over a very large number of spins, both return close to 96p for every £1 staked. Over a short session they behave nothing alike.

The average losses differ by only about 6p per 100 spins. What changes is the spread of results around that average. On the low-volatility game, most sessions land fairly close to the expected cost. On the high-volatility game, a large share of sessions end with a bigger loss than average, balanced by a small share of sessions with a large win. Our slot volatility guide and the page on variance and standard deviation go into the maths.

The Esqueleto Explosivo series

Esqueleto Explosivo, Spanish for exploding skeleton, is Thunderkick’s signature game: a Day of the Dead-style skeleton theme on a 5-reel grid with 17 paylines. It is the gentlest game in our table, rated low volatility with a 700x top prize. At a 20p stake that cap is £140, which shows how the game is built for steady play rather than long-shot payouts.

The sequel, Esqueleto Explosivo 2, changes the balance. It switches to 99 pay ways, lifts the volatility to medium and raises the cap to 5,000x stake. The RTP rises slightly to 96.13%. If you liked the original but wanted more chance of a sizeable hit, the sequel moves in that direction, at the cost of more uneven sessions.

If you want to know how symbols that clear and drop new ones in affect results, our cascading reels page explains the idea, though you should check each game’s rules for exactly how it works there. The original is a good example of a slot from our low volatility slots list.

Other Thunderkick slots worth knowing

Pink Elephants 2

A 6x4 grid with 4,096 ways to win, high volatility and a 10,000x cap. It is the studio’s highest ceiling in our data, so expect the most uneven results.

Birds on a Wire

A 5-reel game rated medium volatility with a 96.1% RTP and a 9,000x cap. That is a high ceiling for a medium-rated game, so read the paytable to see how the top prize is reached.

Midas Golden Touch

Released in 2019 on a 5x3 grid with 15 paylines and a 96.1% RTP. Its main feature is a set of sticky respins: winning symbols lock in place while the other reels spin again. We haven’t verified its volatility or max win, so check the help screen.

What £20 buys on Thunderkick slots online

With a £20 budget, your stake decides how many spins you get before wins are added back. The expected cost below uses the house edge for each game, so it is the average over many sessions, not a forecast for yours.

The average loss on £20 staked is the same at every stake, because it depends only on the total staked. Real sessions differ because wins are re-staked: the more spins you play, the more you stake in total. At 10p you will play longer and stake more in total than at £1, so time is the real cost driver. A UK slot spin takes at least 2.5 seconds, so 200 spins take at least about eight minutes. Our guides to cost per hour and expected value show how to work this out for any game.

Are Thunderkick slots licensed and fair?

Thunderkick holds Gambling Commission accounts 40165 and 41752, which you can look up on the Commission’s business register (opens in a new tab). A Great Britain licence means its games must meet the Commission’s technical standards, including random outcomes that can’t be adjusted to reach a target return. Our page on how casino games are tested explains the testing process.

Fair doesn’t mean favourable. Every Thunderkick slot is designed to return less than you stake over time, and the Wizard of Odds slot machine guide (opens in a new tab) makes the same point about slots in general: the RTP is set by the game’s maths, and no pattern of play changes it. Read our slot myths page if you have heard that slots run hot or cold.

UK rules for Thunderkick slots

• Stake limits: £5 per game cycle for players aged 25 and over, and £2 for players aged 18 to 24, as set out in the Commission’s online slots stake limit guidance (opens in a new tab).
• Design rules from 31 October 2021 under RTS 14 (opens in a new tab): no autoplay, a minimum of 2.5 seconds per spin, no turbo or slam-stop, and no celebrating a return lower than the stake.
• Since a Gambling Commission warning in January 2020, feature buy-ins are not offered to British players.
• Since 17 January 2025, you can’t play several games at once, and your net spend and time played must be shown during the session.
• Age and identity must be verified before you can deposit, and that applies to free demo play as well.

Our stake limits page and the autoplay ban explainer cover the rules in detail.

How to play a Thunderkick slot sensibly

1. Set a deposit limit in your casino account before you start; UK casinos must prompt you to set one before your first deposit.
2. Open the Thunderkick game and tap the information icon to read the RTP, paytable and rules.
3. Match the volatility to your budget: low or medium for long, steady sessions, high only if you accept losing the budget quickly.
4. Choose a stake you could comfortably repeat for the whole session.
5. Use the reality check or session timer to keep track of time.
6. Stop when you reach your limit, win or lose, and don’t raise the stake to win back losses.

If gambling stops feeling like entertainment, free and confidential help is available from GamCare (opens in a new tab) and the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. Our deposit limits guide explains how to set one.

Who Thunderkick slots suit

Thunderkick suits players who want a choice of pace without hunting for RTP differences. If you are deciding between games, our guide on how to choose a slot sets out the questions to ask.

Where to play Thunderkick slots in the UK

The partner offers below are slot offers, but their spins are set on games each casino selects, and we can’t confirm which casinos list Thunderkick games, so check the casino’s game lobby first. All three are for new customers aged 18+ and terms apply.

• PlayOJO: 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza when you make a first deposit of at least £10, worth 10p each, with no wagering and winnings paid as cash. New UK customers only, not available in Northern Ireland.
• Coral: bet £10 or more on slots after depositing to get 100 free spins on selected games at 10p each, accepted within 48 hours and used within 7 days, with no wagering on winnings. PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Paysafe, prepaid cards and certain debit cards don’t qualify.
• Ladbrokes: spend £10 or more on slots after depositing to get 50 free spins a day for your first 10 days, up to 500 in total, 10p each on selected games, claimed by 23:59 each day and valid for 7 days, no wagering. PayPal, Paysafe, Neteller, Skrill and prepaid card deposits don’t qualify.

Coral and Ladbrokes share an operator, LC International Limited, so holding new accounts at both may not be possible. Only spend what you can afford to lose.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.