The Best Lightning Box Games Features Revealed

Thank God for OJO and this article or you might never have played Lightning Box games like Astro Pug or Chicken Fox, eh! These Lighting Box slots are the unsung heroes of the online gaming world and you’re about to find out why.

Who are Lightning Box?

Lightning Box was started in 2004 by Peter Causley and David Little, industry veterans with over 20 years of experience. During their time at IGT and Aristocrat, the pair were responsible for the clever stuff inside many of their most popular casino games.

Based in Sydney, Australia, Lightning Box is a private company that supplies games to land-based casinos and online casinos on 4 continents. Like many established game developers, they cut their teeth on land-based slots but moved into the interactive game in 2010, when they launched their first online slot.

Since then online has accounted for 70% of their business, though they continue to make products for land-based operators and social games for the online market. They may have a modestly sized selection of Lightning Box slot games but thanks to partnerships with platform providers like Scientific Games and Games Global, their games have made it to PlayOJO and millions of slots fans across the planet.

As well as math whizz founders who know how to make a killer slot, the Lightning Box team has producers, illustrators, animators, musicians and presumably magicians too.

The firm is no stranger to industry recognition with games like Silver Lion picking up a nomination for Best Slot at the Global Gaming Awards

Lightning Box games at PlayOJO

You’ll find about 25 Lightning Box games at OJO’s and they’re all video slots, which saves us digging out the Idiot’s Guide to Baccarat to explain how it works. Within the Lightning Box slot catalogue, we get a variety of themes, a whole bunch of bonus games and a nifty jackpot mechanism they call Stellar Jackpots. More on that in due course.

Lightning Box online slots are recognisable by their mix of clever maths, fun themes, slick graphics and, according to their team, a touch of magic. Having played all of their games, we think they’ve left out the most important element – killer features!

As usual we’ll kick off our Lightning Box software review with slot design. The team clearly has a passion for furry friends large and small, as 18 of the 25 Lightning Box games on offer at PlayOJO involve animals (if you can call a dragon an animal).

We’ve got cats, dogs, foxes and the more exotic stuff like rhinos, leopards, lions and kangaroos. Just so they don’t seem totally obsessed and get themselves on the RSPCA watchlist, they’ve included a sprinkling of pirates, cowboys, pixies, hot rock stars and a Mexican chilli seller who actually belongs in our Extra Chilli slot. Get him a cameo, Big Time Gaming!

Lightning Box obviously hit on a good thing with slots like Silver Lion and Astro Cat as they’ve made a whole series for each.

They’re a relatively small but active game studio with new slot releases every couple of months. New titles that hit the shelves in 2019 include the delightfully named Chicken Fox, Piñata Bucks and Temple Cash Frogs ‘n Flies.

Most Popular Lightning Box Games

The important stuff

Most of OJO’s Lightning Box slot games are 5-reel slots with between 20 and 40 paylines. In fact only Mild Rockers has more, and in a weird diamond formation too. They’ve experimented with more paylines with Lightning slots like Dragon Palace (243 lines), the Silver Lion series (1024 lines) and the AstroCat series (1296 lines).

You can generally bet anything from around 40p to £60 per spin, and payouts come extra-large with maximum payouts per spin of over £600,000 not uncommon.

Lightning Box might not win any awards for design but it’s with features that the game developer really excels. Play a random smattering of Lightning Box games on OJO’s place and you’ll encounter a heady concoction of Free Spins, Respins and Mega Spins, a Stacked/Locked/Expanding Wilds, Gamble and a Flippin’ Retrigger where symbols are flipped to reveal prizes and jackpots.

Lightning Symbols are a common theme across virtually all of their slots, awarding free spins, respins and Flippin’ Retriggers. But our favourite Lightning Box invention is the patent pending Reelfecta. You’ll see this mad square slap-bang-in-the-middle of slots like Pinata Bucks and Astro Cat and like us, probably wonder what the hell’s goin’ on.

Reel 3 is replaced with a 4x4 grid which turbocharges your chances of making winning combinations. Each symbol can be used once to make winning combinations, giving you 16 chances to win. It’s a bit more complicated than that but hey, go play a game and figure it out!

Lightning Box slots RTPs are all between 95-96% which is standard these days. If you’re determined to get the biggest bang for your buck, fire up their Stellar Jackpots with Chilli Gold 2 slot which pays out 96.32%. Bargain! Don’t forget your money back on every spin with OJOplus. Every little helps.

Want to play Lightning Box slot games for free? A few come with demo versions so if you’re looking for a bit of no-risk fun, log into your PlayOJO account and fire up Silver Lion, Jackaroo Jack or Respin Rhino and hit the Play For Free button. Once you’re ready to play for real, you’ve got options galore when it comes to choosing a fast, safe and secure payment method. We’re the best PayPal casino around though we recommend major debit and credit cards as well as a host of local options for players in your country.

All Lightning Box online slots come with OJO’s fairness and responsible gaming guarantee. The aussies are licenced to make UK online slots and we’re licenced by the UK Gambling Commission and all sorts of other respected regulators to operate them for you.

That means games are truly random, they pay out what they’re meant to and the people behind them are respectable types who do things right! We’re also committed to responsible gaming, so we’ve provided a bunch of tools in your account’s Safeguard section to help you manage your gaming. And finally, the OJO crew is trained to help you enjoy gaming in a safe and sensible way.

Lightning Box Mobile Slots

Stellar Jackpot slots

Lightning Box’s Stellar Jackpots bonus mechanic is only found on their games and brings something different to the slot party. Instead of a progressive jackpot, they’ve created a randomly triggered arcade-style bonus game where you play for 3 fixed jackpot prizes.

In this space-themed mini game, the goal is to shoot your way through 6 challenge levels and reach the final jackpot round where you could walk away with Mini, Minor or Major jackpot prizes.

To play a Stellar Jackpot slot, choose one from the OJO lobby and check the game rules to ensure you stake the minimum bet required to quality for the jackpot game. You can trigger the Stellar Jackpot mini game but spinning 3 spaceship symbols during the base game.

One you’re in, fire your laser space beam thingy at an asteroid to reveal symbols that advance you to the next level, award a prize & advance, or give you the big red X to lose a life. Make it to the jackpot level and you’ll get to play 1 final picking game.

Match 3 symbols and you’ll win a jackpot! Lose 3 lives along the way though and you’ll return to the base game empty handed.

Lightning Box jackpot slots include Dolphin Gold, Silver Lion, Serengeti Lions and More Monkeys, though we’re sure they are working on more as we speak, time zones permitting.

OJO’s favourite Lightning Box slots

1. Astro Cat Deluxe

With that mad Japanese cat vibe, a mesmerising 3rd reel and some pretty heavy bonus games, this online slot is the cat’s pajamas! Astro Cat Deluxe slot features a Reelfecta reel, 4 fixed jackpots and a bonus wheel that awards bonuses, multipliers or jackpots. Land 12 Respins with Locked Wilds and you’ll know why OJO picked this one.

2. Stellar Jackpots with Silver Lion

Silver Lion was one of Lightning Box’s biggest hits and their Stellar Jackpots version doubles down on the action. Don’t know if it’s the 20 Free Games, the 27x multiplier, the 1024 paylines or the Stellar Jackpot feature or the strange juxtaposition of African and cosmic themes, but this slot is a keeper.

3. Lightning Horseman

One of the most popular Lightning slot machines. Lightning symbols play a big part here with 6 of them triggering Respins and 15 of the beauties good for a Flippin’ Respin. Don’t know what the spooky period drama theme is all about but with 4 fixed jackpots, oodles of paylines and a bamboozling mix of graphics and audio, we’re sold!

Reasons to play Lightning Box casino slots

1. Jackpots: Sure, we love a beefy progressive like Mega Moolah but the use of randomly awarded fixed jackpots is inspired. Stellar Jackpots, you’re welcome round ours for tea any time!

2. Style: Look at the 25 Lightning slot games online games from afar and your keen design eye will spy a lot of cheeky themes, retro and comic references, a good sense of humour and a good strain of land-based gaming heritage. It’s online gaming, amigo, but it ain’t forgotten its rootz!

3. Features: With a smaller catalogue than rivals like NetEnt, they better bring some fierce game to the table and with features like Reelfecta and Mega Spin, they’ve put themselves on the map.

OJO says…

Lightning Box slot games have a classic casino feel and some surprising retro design influences, but they’re all powered by ultra-modern game engines that deliver mind-blowing, balance-bulging features. What a combo.

That’s enough reading. It’s playtime, chief!