Raven’s Eye (Thunderkick): Review

Thunderkick’s release cadence can be pretty uneven. At times, months go by without a peep, and then suddenly a couple of titles arrive close together. It’s only been a month since we posted our review of Dragon Horn, and it seems Thunderkick is keeping us in fantasy territory. This time, though, we’re not chasing dragons—we’re travelling north to uncover the otherworldly abilities of a secretive druid and her enchanted raven.

This 5-reel, 30-payline slot is playable on all devices with stakes from 10 cents to 100€ per spin. Along the way you’ll encounter Raven Mystery Symbols, where these symbols change into other symbols to improve your chances of forming stronger winning combinations. In the Bonus Game, gathering Raven Orbs upgrades lower-value symbols into Mystery Symbols as you advance through the levels, opening the door to potentially larger wins.

Taking place in a bewitched woodland with the reels framed by an ancient crypt, the soundscape features chirping birds and a soothing yet charged soundtrack. The background is mostly decorative, but it does include a few animated touches, like fireflies drifting calmly and vines moving lightly in the wind. It all fits the theme well, although it isn’t as bright and colourful as Thunderkick slots often are—despite a noticeable lift in the bonus visuals, where you experience the scene through the ultraviolet sensitivity of a bird’s vision.

Raven’s Eye includes 10 standard symbols. You’ll find the familiar A, K, Q, J and 10 royals, plus depictions of the 4 natural elements: air, earth, fire and water. The biggest payer is the druid woman, awarding 12.5 times your stake for 5 of a kind. There’s also a wild symbol that substitutes for every symbol except the scatter. The wild pays the same as the druid woman.

Raven’s Eye (Thunderkick): Features

In the base game, the spotlight is firmly on the Raven Mystery Symbols mechanic. When the raven symbol, which can appear stacked, lands on the reels, it converts into a random symbol, wild included. As a medium variance slot, wins of roughly 1-7 times your stake show up fairly often, but you’ll need the bonus round for anything more meaningful. The feature triggers when Raven Mystery symbols land on 3 or more reels.

The amount of free spins awarded in the Bonus Game depends on how many Raven Mystery symbols you have at the moment it triggers, with 9 spins as the minimum. Your goal is to collect Raven Orbs to fill the symbol meters. Each time you complete a meter, lower-paying symbols are gradually turned into mystery symbols, and you also receive 3 extra spins whenever the meter is filled. If you succeed in unlocking every level, you’ll use your remaining spins with only high-paying symbols and mystery symbols on the reels. In theory, this greatly boosts your chances of hitting the maximum payout of 375 times your stake on a single spin.

Raven’s Eye (Thunderkick): Verdict

Overall, we tend to have a soft spot for Thunderkick. In terms of visuals, creativity, and maths, the studio usually delivers a strong standard, producing punchy and enjoyable slots. Raven’s Eye, though, comes across as a hurried release that doesn’t really highlight what Thunderkick’s creative team can do. It feels simplistic in both presentation and play, and the payouts are, to be blunt, very poor.

On top of that, the game gives the impression it’s been assembled from familiar Thunderkick parts. Even with a slight spin on the mystery symbol concept in Raven’s Eye, it’s a mechanic we’ve already seen executed more effectively in other Thunderkick titles like Flame Busters and, more recently, Dragon Horn. You can also spot traces of Pink Elephants in how the level-up bonus round is structured. That’s not automatically a deal-breaker, but seasoned players may find it a little repetitive.

If you’re chasing the excitement of a win that could realistically pay for a luxury Bahamas getaway for two, this isn’t the slot to pick. If, instead, you simply want something relaxing that can keep you occupied for a while, Raven’s Eye could do the job.