Split Happens

Split Happens Review

Thunderkick invites you to lace up your bowling shoes and hit the lanes with Split Happens, slot a game set against the blurred-out backdrop of a bowling alley. The 5x3 grid offers 10 paylines that pay both ways, meaning winning combinations can form from either the leftmost or rightmost reel. This increases your chances to strike it lucky with each spin. You can adjust your bet level from a cautious €0.1 up to €100, making this game suitable for both casual players and high rollers.

The symbols on the reels are a mix of bowling-themed icons and classic slot staples. Keep an eye out for the male bowler, the highest-paying symbol, followed by nachos and beer, which are sure to fuel your gameplay. Adding to the mix are the usual lower-paying royals, which in this game run from 8 through Ace. The symbols pay between 0.5 to 7.5x across the board, and to score a win, you'll need to land 3 to 5 matching symbols across a payline.

Split Happens Slot - Reels Screen

As expected from Thunderkick, Split Happens game offers a couple of other interesting twists to spice up your experience. For impatient players, there are two Bet+ ante bet options that increase your chances of triggering the main attraction. If you're eager to get straight to the action, you can check the bonus buy feature. However, these features are not available in all jurisdictions, and not in the UK for sure.

The star of the show in Split Happens casino slot is undoubtedly the walking wilds feature. These special wilds, shaped like bowling pins, can fill entire reels which trigger respins. Each time a walking wild lands fully in view, it moves one position to the left or right with each respin, continuing until it walks off the grid. Wilds landing on the middle reel split in two, and the respins continue as long as there are walking wilds in view.

During the bonus round, the walking wilds not only increase the global win multiplier per respin, but each new wild that lands also resets the free spins counter. The multiplier never resets, giving you a shot at hitting the respectable 3000x max win. The top-tier 94.16 % RTP is a bit less respectable, however, since the industry average hovers around 95-96 %. As is typical for Thunderkick slots, the volatility is high, so brace yourself for some ups and downs in this bowling arena.

Split Happens Features

The walking stacked wild respins feature is the core mechanic of Split Happens slot, with splits happening when these wilds appear on the middle reel. A progressive multiplier comes into play during the bonus round, and we’ll cover all the details below.

Bet+ (not UK)

The Bet+ ante bet feature increases your bonus round chances by paying extra per spin, and there are 2 options to choose from. You can pay 1.4x your stake to double your bonus round chances (94.18 % RTP), or 2.5x your stake to increase the bonus round hit rate by 5 times (94.22 % RTP).

Walking Stacked Wilds Respins

Landing a bowling pin Wild symbol fully stacked on reels 2 to 4 triggers the Walking Stacked Wilds feature, awarding indefinite respins as long as there are full-reel Wilds present. The stacked bowling pin Wilds move to the left on reels 1-2 and to the right on reels 4-5. Stacked Wilds landing on reel 3 triggers the Split Happens feature, splitting the wild and placing them on reels 2 and 4.

Split Happens Free Spins

You need to collect 3 scatters in the bonus meter to trigger the Bonus Round in Split Happens slot, awarding 5 free spins for starters. The Walking Stacked Wilds Respin feature triggers like in the base game, but now a global win multiplier increases by +1 per respin. The win multiplier boosts all wins involving a stacked bowling pin wild, and each new stacked wild that lands resets the free spins counter to 5 each time. The multiplier never resets and respins do not reduce your number of free spins.

Split Happens Slot - Free Spins

Split Happens Bonus Buy (not UK)

Eligible players can take advantage of the bonus buy option to trigger the bonus round, and the price per feature trigger is 100x your stake. The bonus buy RTP is 94.23 %.

Pros and Cons of Split Happens

Our Verdict

With the upcoming US election, there is certainly a split happening across that country and the world at large. However, Split Happens Thunderkick is hardly about politics. It’s about a recreational activity that’s extremely popular in the US and many other countries, and was made even more popular by the legendary The Big Lebowski. Sadly, this game is nowhere near that movie in terms of quirky charm and charisma. Our bowler protagonist is a bit bland, and the blurred background feels a bit lazy.

Where's the satisfying crash of pins and the rumble of the ball? Thunderkick clearly opted for the easy route here. I was hoping for a bonus game that let me channel my inner Dude and knock down some pins, but alas, no such luck. Instead, you get the familiar walking wilds feature. To be fair, the walking wilds do trigger respins, which elevates the experience. However, I found them surprisingly ineffective at racking up wins most of the time. Often, they just kind of wandered off without much fanfare.

One thing I do appreciate is the ante bet feature. Thunderkick games are notorious for making you wait for the bonus round, so having 2 options to increase your chances of triggering it is a welcome addition. While we're at it, a bit more transparency from Thunderkick on the bonus round and max win would be a good idea. They release pretty much everything else, so why not these crucial stats as well?

The bonus round is where this game truly shines, though. Watching that multiplier climb with each walking wild respin definitely gets the adrenaline pumping, especially with a potential 3000x win on the line. But it can be a bit frustrating when those wilds decide to play hooky, leaving you with a measly 5 free spins that often disappear faster than a gutter ball.

Split Happens is hardly Thunderkick's best work to date, but it has its moments. While the bowling theme has potential, the execution left some pins standing. Thunderkick could have knocked it out of the park with more creative features and engaging animations. That said, it's still a decent enough game that both bowling enthusiasts and casual players might enjoy. The volatility can be brutal at times though, and the 94.16 % RTP is bordering on deal-breaker territory.