Lightning Storm in South Africa: A 39-Segment DigiWheel and Five Bonus Games
Lightning Storm is the live game show Evolution launched in 2024. A host spins a 39-segment DigiWheel: 19 Leaf segments pay even money, and every one of the 20 numbered segments gets a bonus symbol during the spin, so a winning number always leads into one of five bonus games.
Figures from provider data, September 2026. The RTP depends on the bet you pick or when you cash out, so check the ranking and the game's own info screen before you deposit.
On this page
What Lightning Storm looks like
Images: Evolution, official game page (games.evolution.com); Our still from Evolution's official promo video (games.evolution.com).
The DigiWheel and the Lightning Round
The wheel stands upright and has 39 segments: the numbers 1 to 20 and 19 Leaf segments. While betting is open you back the Leaf, any of the numbers, or one of two automatic bets, Storm Chaser and X Chaser. The All Odd and All Even spots cover the ten odd or the ten even numbers.
When betting closes, the host spins the wheel and the Lightning Round starts. Evolution's help says 20 bonus symbols are generated and assigned to all numbered segments, one for each number. Each symbol stands for one of the five bonus games. Some of those segments also get a random multiplier, up to 50x by the help (2x to 50x on the game page), and at least one is assigned at every spin. A segment's multiplier multiplies what its bonus game pays.
When the wheel stops, the flapper picks the segment. On a Leaf, a Leaf bet is paid 1:1. On a number, players with a bet on that number go into the bonus game its symbol names; everyone else watches but cannot win from it.
Lightning Storm bets: what they pay and the RTP of each 📊
Payouts and RTP from Evolution's help for the game. The second RTP column is Evolution's figure for players betting the maximum, when the table's payout cap trims the biggest wins; the help gives it for the numbers and the Chasers only.
| Bet | Payout | RTP of the bet | RTP at the maximum bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaf (19 segments) | 1:1 | 97.44% | - |
| A number, 1 to 20 | Up to the table's payout limit | 95.13% | 93.65% |
| Storm Chaser | Up to the table's payout limit | 95.12% | 93.03% |
| X Chaser | Up to the table's payout limit | 95.13% | 93.06% |
Storm Chaser and X Chaser: bets placed for you
Storm Chaser puts a chip on every number that received the Lightning Storm symbol during the spin, so you are in that bonus game if the wheel stops on one of them. If you already had a bet on such a number, the two bets are added together.
X Chaser does the same for every number that received a multiplier. Since at least one multiplier is assigned at each spin, an X Chaser bet always covers at least one number.
The help prices each Chaser as a multiple of your bet amount, which your balance must cover: check that figure on the table you join.
The five bonus games behind the numbers 🎁
Rules and caps from Evolution's help; in every one of them, a multiplier from the Lightning Round is applied before the bonus game starts.
- Hot Spot, up to 10,000x. A giant wall, 9 by 12 tiles on the game page, with the multipliers grouped by value so the highest stand together. They are hidden and shuffled, you pick a tile, then a 3x3 double area travels around the wall and doubles every value in the area where it stops. No pick in time means a random tile is picked for you.
- Monster Mash, capped at 10,000x. Three horizontal reels for head, torso and legs. Blue parts carry Regular multipliers from 1 to 50, which are added; golden parts carry Global ones from x4 to x6, which multiply. The help's examples: 10 legs, x6 torso and x5 head make 300x; 10, 10 and 5 make 25x. The Lightning Round multiplier raises the Regular values only.
- Battery Charger, up to 10,000x. Ten batteries on a conveyor belt: nine with Regular multipliers, one with a Global that doubles every battery still on the belt. For each battery a mini wheel stops on red, and it explodes, or on green, and you win its value. If only the last battery is left, its value is yours.
- Fireball, capped at 10,000x. A ball is launched into an enclosure with 149 pockets. A Regular pocket is your multiplier; a Double pocket doubles every Regular value and the ball goes again.
- Lightning Storm, capped at 20,000x. A billboard of eight Regular multipliers, which add, and three Global ones, which multiply. Lightning strikes three times; at the start you pick which strike is yours, or one is picked at random. Each strike stops on one or several values, and your strike's total is your multiplier.
Reading Evolution's figures for Lightning Storm
Evolution bases its optimal RTP, 97.44%, on the Leaf. Our arithmetic gives the same number from the wheel itself: 19 winning segments out of 39, each paying back twice the stake, is 2 x 19 / 39 = 97.44%, if the segments are equally likely. Evolution does not say they are; the match is our reading.
A number, Storm Chaser and X Chaser sit at 95.12% to 95.13% before the cap and win only through the bonus games: with equally likely segments, one number wins about one spin in 39, by our arithmetic. Evolution does not publish how often each bonus symbol or multiplier lands.
The table caps what one player wins in a round (its Bet Limits). At the maximum bet the help gives 93.03% - 93.65% for numbers and Chasers, and names no such figure for the Leaf. Every figure is under 100%: no mix of bets or staking pattern beats the house edge.
Where Lightning Storm fits
Evolution's timeline lists "Lightning Storm debuts" among its 2024 events, and the game page sets it in a dark, mad-scientist laboratory with multipliers "up to 20,000x", the cap of its Lightning Storm bonus game. Funky Time uses a DigiWheel too, with other segments and other bonus games.
It shares no rules with Lightning Roulette or Lightning Dice.
Lightning Storm RTP and volatility
Evolution gives Lightning Storm's return to player as 95.12% - 97.44% depending on the bet.
Paying for Lightning Storm in rand
Lightning Storm is in the lobby at 10 operators we list: all of them take cards; 9 take Ozow; 7 take Capitec Pay; 9 take cash vouchers.
The smallest first deposit for Lightning Storm among them is R1, at Luckyfish.
Lightning Storm winnings are paid by EFT to an account in your own name, after FICA.
Get FICA done first · How to deposit in rand · Every payment method
Is Lightning Storm legal in South Africa? 📜
Lightning Storm is a live dealer game. In South Africa you find it at licensed bookmakers, next to their sports markets.
All 10 operators we list for Lightning Storm hold a South African provincial licence.
Before you play with real money ⚠️
Set your Lightning Storm budget and a deposit limit before the first round, not after a losing one. If it stops being fun, the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation helpline is free on 0800 006 008.
Pros, cons and verdict ⚖️
- The Leaf returns 97.44%, by Evolution's help
- Every number leads into a bonus game, never a plain number win
- Five bonus games that work in five different ways
- Numbers and Chasers return about 95.1%, and less at the maximum bet
- The help gives no odds for the bonus symbols or the multipliers
- A Leaf win only doubles the stake, with nothing on top
Lightning Storm splits into two games: an even-money Leaf bet with Evolution's highest figure, 97.44%, and number and Chaser bets that pay only through five bonus games, at about 95.1%. The big multipliers sit in those bonus games, along with the table's cap and the lower return.
Lightning Storm FAQ ❓
What is the RTP of Lightning Storm?
It depends on the bet. Evolution's help gives 97.44% on the Leaf, the optimal return, 95.13% on a number and on X Chaser, and 95.12% on Storm Chaser. For players betting the maximum, the round cap lowers the last three to 93.65%, 93.06% and 93.03%.
What does the Leaf bet in Lightning Storm pay?
Even money, 1:1. The Leaf covers 19 of the wheel's 39 segments, and a win returns your stake plus the same amount again: R10 back and R10 won. It never leads into a bonus game.
What is Storm Chaser in Lightning Storm?
An automatic bet. During the spin it puts a chip on every number that received the Lightning Storm bonus symbol, so you take part in that bonus game if the wheel stops there. Its cost is a multiple of your bet, shown in the game's help.
What is the biggest multiplier in Lightning Storm?
The Lightning Storm bonus game is capped at 20,000x; Hot Spot, Monster Mash, Battery Charger and Fireball at 10,000x. What you can win in one round is also limited by the table's maximum payout, shown in its Bet Limits.
Is Lightning Storm the same as Lightning Roulette?
No. Lightning Roulette is roulette with multipliers struck on numbers. Lightning Storm is a game show on a 39-segment wheel, where a number leads into one of five bonus games and the Leaf pays even money.
Where to play Lightning Storm in South Africa
Licensed South African operators we have found carrying Lightning Storm, each with its licence and our score, and the date where we saw the game in the lobby ourselves. Ordered by that score. How we score Offers checked September 2026.
Also carrying Lightning Storm. Bonus, payment and payout terms for each are on its review.
