Evolution · Riga, Latvia · 1,000x top multiplier
Format
Multiplier dice
RTP
96.21
Top multiplier
1,000x
Wheel segments
n/a
Betting window
15s
Table min
n/a
Table max
n/a
Loading live stats
Lightning Dice is a live casino dice game from Evolution, released in June 2019 as one of the early additions to its now extensive Lightning series. The concept is wonderfully uncomplicated: three physical dice are dropped through a transparent tower filled with obstacles and players bet on what their combined total will be when they eventually reach the bottom.
The possible totals run from 3 to 18, while the current version also includes bets such as Low, High, Any Double and Any Triple. Before the dice are released, between two and four betting positions are randomly struck by Lightning and given enhanced multipliers that can reach 1,000x.
It's essentially a very simple dice game with a much more dramatic delivery system. Evolution could have put three dice in a cup and shaken them on a table, but apparently somebody decided gravity, a giant transparent tower and several simulated lightning strikes would make things more interesting.
They were right.
The physical Lightning Tower is what gives the game most of its personality. The presenter releases the dice from the top before close-up cameras follow them bouncing through three maze-like sections until they finally settle at the bottom. There's no complicated bonus round waiting afterwards and no second game hidden behind the first; practically all of the entertainment comes from watching those three dice fall and seeing whether one of the Lightning-enhanced bets has landed.
Visually, Lightning Dice also uses the black-and-gold Art Deco styling associated with Evolution's wider Lightning family. It still looks polished several years after release, although compared with the enormous studios and elaborate bonus games Evolution produces today, this is a noticeably simpler affair.
Every round begins with players placing bets on the possible outcome of the three dice. Once betting closes, the Lightning phase takes place before the presenter releases the dice into the transparent tower.
The dice tumble separately through a series of obstacles before collecting at the bottom, where their three values are added together to produce the final result. If you've correctly backed that total or another qualifying bet covering the result, you're paid according to the relevant payout.
The beauty of the tower is that the result develops in front of you. You don't simply watch a presenter shake a cup before revealing three dice that have already stopped; they bounce around the structure for several seconds, giving the round a natural bit of anticipation before the final values become clear.
It's still completely random, of course. Staring intensely at a six as it bounces through the tower unfortunately doesn't make it any more inclined to remain a six.
The main betting choices are the individual totals from 3 through 18, with the rarer totals naturally carrying larger standard payouts than results clustered around the middle of the range.
Evolution's current version also offers Low, High, Any Double and Any Triple, providing alternatives to predicting one exact total. Players can bet on as many available outcomes as they like, although every additional selection naturally represents another stake rather than free coverage.
I like having the broader bets available because exact totals alone don't provide much variety. Low and High give you a much wider section of possible outcomes, while Double and Triple bets let you concentrate on the relationship between the individual dice rather than simply their combined value.
There's still very little strategy involved. The probabilities are fixed and no amount of studying the tower is going to reveal that the dice have developed a preference for 14, but at least the current betting grid gives you several different ways to approach each drop.
Lightning Multipliers are the feature everything else revolves around.
Once betting closes, two to four betting positions are randomly selected and struck by Lightning, with each receiving an enhanced payout multiplier that can reach 1,000x. If the eventual dice result corresponds with one of those electrified positions and you've backed it, the enhanced multiplier is used for the payout.
It's a very simple feature, but revealing the multipliers before the dice are released is important. If one of your selections suddenly receives a particularly large multiplier, the entire drop immediately becomes more interesting because you know exactly what result you're hoping to see at the bottom.
That creates two separate moments of anticipation within an otherwise straightforward round. First you're waiting to see which bets receive the Lightning treatment, then you're watching the dice work their way through the tower to find out whether any of those enhanced positions actually matter.
Most rounds obviously won't end with a 1,000x Lightning result, and seeing a huge multiplier attached to a number you haven't backed can be slightly painful. Watching that exact number subsequently appear is considerably worse.
Evolution apparently found a way of making losing twice without actually placing two bets.
The Lightning Tower isn't technically a bonus feature, but it's important enough to the experience that it deserves more than a passing mention.
Three standard dice are released into the top of the transparent structure before tumbling through three separate maze sections filled with obstacles. Close-up camera angles follow their descent until all three eventually come to rest at the bottom.
Mechanically, the tower doesn't change the probabilities of the dice. Its job is presentation, but that's an important job in a game this simple. Without it, Lightning Dice would essentially be a presenter rolling three dice and an RNG occasionally attaching multipliers to the betting grid.
The tower turns the random result into something you can actually watch develop, and I think that's a major reason the game remains entertaining despite having such a limited feature set.
Sometimes presentation really can make the game.
Lightning Dice gets a surprising amount of entertainment from one of the simplest gambling mechanics imaginable.
Predicting the total of three dice is immediately understandable, while the additional Low, High, Double and Triple bets give the current version more variety than the original total-focused format. You can arrive without knowing anything about the game and understand what you're doing before the first dice have reached the bottom of the tower.
The physical drop is also much more entertaining than a conventional dice roll. Watching three dice bounce independently through the obstacles means the result develops gradually, particularly when two have already settled and you're waiting for the final one to determine whether your total has landed.
Lightning Multipliers give every round another point of interest before the drop begins. A normal selection suddenly becomes considerably more attractive when it's struck by Lightning, and a large multiplier gives you an obvious result to follow as the dice descend.
The problem is longevity. There isn't another layer waiting to appear once you've played several rounds; you've essentially seen everything Lightning Dice has to offer. The broader betting options help, but this remains a deliberately simple game built around repeating the same physical event.
It's easy to play and nicely paced, but mechanically there's only so much electricity you can run through three dice.
Score 7.8/10
Lightning Dice has one genuinely important feature, and Evolution makes good use of it.
The Lightning Multipliers work because they interact directly with the bets you're already making rather than sending the game off into an unrelated bonus. Having two to four positions enhanced before each drop means there's always something additional happening between the betting phase and the final result.
The potential 1,000x multiplier also gives the game a substantial top end compared with the standard payouts, while revealing the enhanced positions before the dice fall creates much more anticipation than secretly applying a multiplier after the result.
The weakness is obvious: that's pretty much the feature package.
There's no bonus game, progression mechanic, retrigger or additional stage waiting behind a particular dice combination. Compared with newer Evolution games such as Lightning Storm, the original Lightning Dice now feels mechanically sparse.
I wouldn't want Evolution to bolt three unrelated bonus games onto it simply to make the feature list longer, because simplicity is part of the appeal. Even so, when we're specifically rating Bonuses & Features, there's no getting around the fact that Lightning Dice doesn't have many.
Score 7.4/10
The Lightning Tower does a huge amount of heavy lifting here, and thankfully it's very good at it.
The transparent three-section structure turns an ordinary dice result into a miniature event. Seeing the presenter release the dice before the cameras follow them bouncing through the maze gives each round movement and anticipation that you'd never get from simply shaking them under a cup.
Evolution surrounds that with the familiar black-and-gold Art Deco presentation used throughout its Lightning range, with dramatic flashes and sound effects accompanying the random multipliers. It was a distinctive visual style when Lightning Dice launched in 2019 and remains immediately recognisable today.
The live presenter format works naturally because there's a physical action to perform each round rather than the host simply standing beside an automated result. Individual presenters rotate and aren't something I'd factor into the permanent score, but having somebody physically load and release the dice reinforces the live element.
It doesn't have the spectacular environments of Evolution's newer game shows, and there's no elaborate bonus transition to show off the production technology. Instead, practically everything is concentrated around one beautifully presented piece of equipment.
For three bits of plastic falling down a tube, it's remarkably watchable.
Score 8.6/10
Lightning Dice deserves more originality credit when judged in the context of its 2019 release than its simple rules might initially suggest.
Betting on dice totals is ancient, so Evolution certainly doesn't get points for discovering that three cubes can produce numbers. The interesting part was combining a physical dice game with the random multiplier system that had helped make Lightning Roulette successful the previous year.
Evolution itself positioned Lightning Dice as the next member of the Lightning family following Lightning Roulette, using the same basic idea of randomly enhancing selected bets with much larger potential payouts.
The transparent tower was the more distinctive addition. Rather than hiding the dice inside a shaker, Evolution made their entire journey part of the entertainment and created a physical centrepiece that remains instantly associated with the game.
The concept has inevitably become less unusual as the Lightning range has expanded into numerous other casino games, but Lightning Dice was only the second title in that family and helped establish the formula.
It didn't reinvent dice.
It just discovered they look considerably more exciting when dropped from a great height during a thunderstorm.
Score 8.1/10
Overall Rating
7.9/10
Lightning Dice is proof that a live casino game doesn't necessarily need half a dozen bonus rounds to be entertaining, although its simplicity is both its biggest strength and its most obvious limitation.
The underlying game couldn't be much easier to understand. Three physical dice tumble through the transparent Lightning Tower and you bet on the result, with totals from 3 to 18 joined in the current version by broader options including Low, High, Any Double and Any Triple. The additional bets provide some welcome variety without making the betting grid unnecessarily complicated.
Lightning Multipliers are what transform that straightforward dice game into something more distinctive. Between two and four betting positions are randomly enhanced after betting closes, with multipliers potentially reaching 1,000x. Revealing those values before the dice are released gives you an obvious result to follow and can make an otherwise routine drop considerably more interesting.
The Lightning Tower is just as important. Watching the dice bounce through three transparent maze sections creates a natural build-up to the result, particularly when one or two dice settle before the final value becomes clear. Evolution could have achieved exactly the same random outcome with a conventional dice shaker, but the game would lose most of its personality in the process.
Where Lightning Dice struggles against newer game shows is depth. There are no separate bonus games or progression mechanics, and after several rounds you've seen practically everything it can do. That's reflected in the lower Bonuses & Features score rather than pretending a single multiplier mechanic somehow constitutes an enormous feature package.
It has also aged rather well considering it was released in 2019. Evolution's game shows have become dramatically more elaborate since then, but the physical tower, quick rounds and straightforward Lightning mechanic still give this one a recognisable identity.
Lightning Dice doesn't have many tricks, but dropping three dice through a giant electrified tower turns out to be a pretty good one.
Overall Rating: 8.0/10.
