Lightning Link Slot Games at Sweepstakes Casinos

Developed by Aristocrat Gaming, these slots offer bonuses like free spins, as well as a hold & spin bonus — the latter of which is attached to the Lightning Link Jackpots.

Unfortunately though, these slots are unavailable at online sweepstakes casinos. But don’t worry. Because while Lightning Link may not be available at sweepstakes casinos, these sites do have some lucrative and arguably superior alternatives.

And in this guide, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about Lightning Link slots — including what the best alternatives are at sweepstakes casinos.

Understanding Lightning Link Slot Machines

Lightning Links slots refer to a type of slot attached to the Lightning Link jackpots. This jackpot system is composed of two fixed jackpots with the mini and minor jackpots — as well as two progressive jackpots with the major and grand jackpots. Similar to the Fire Link and Dragon Link jackpots, to score the Lightning Link jackpots you’ll need to first enter the hold & win bonus feature by collecting at least six coins.

During this bonus, you’re awarded three respins on a special set of reels where only coin symbols can land — locking in place whenever they do, with every new coin symbol resetting your respins counter back to three. Collected coin symbols can show a random number — or a mini, minor, or major jackpot. Though to score the grand jackpot, you’ll instead need to fill up all 15 spaces of the reels with coin symbols.

The fixed jackpots change based on how much you’re betting. However, the big-money progressive jackpots stay the same regardless of your stake — although they award more often the higher your bet.

When looking for Lightning Link slots, you may come across Lightning Cash slots. While similar and typically available on the same slots, the main difference between the two is that while Lightning Link slots share a grand jackpot between all Lightning Link labeled games, Lightning Cash slots have jackpots that are only attached to one machine. The end result is that Lightning Link jackpots are usually bigger than their Lightning Cash counterpart.

But this jackpot system isn’t the only exciting feature with Lightning Link slots. And outside of the hold & win feature, these slots also offer the chance to score free spins by landing special symbols.

Best 5 Lightning Link Casino Slot Games

Despite all being attached to the Lightning Link jackpot, Lightning Link slots all have their own unique bonuses and themes. And below, we’ll be looking at the five most popular titles.

Tiki Fire

Head into any casino that offers Lightning Link slots and chances are that you’ll find Tiki Fire. Offering exciting gameplay that features x2 multiplier wilds during the free spins bonus rounds, this slot has garnered a reputation for being one of the most exciting land-based slots.

Just make sure to stick with the Lightning Link variant of this game if you want the biggest potential wins.

High Stakes

High Stakes is exactly what it sounds like. A Lightning Link slot that may not pay out frequently, but tends to award big wins whenever it does. And while the biggest of wins are of course tied to the Lightning Link jackpots, you can also look forward to giant symbols that can help you line up wins on multiple paylines during free spins.

Collect three special symbols and watch as the middle three reels merge together — showing a giant symbol for each of your free spins.

Magic Pearl

Taking place under water with a mermaid theme, Magic Pearl definitely stands out as having one of the most unique styles at first glance.

But don’t worry. Essentially serving as a reskin of the previously covered High Stakes, this slot brings all the familiar features that you would expect of a Lightning Link game — including free spins, and of course the hold & spin bonus.

Eyes of Fortune

Eyes of Fortune tends to be one of the rarest Lightning Link slots to find. And to be honest, I don’t know why. With expanding wilds and the Lightning Link grand jackpot up for grabs, Eyes of Fortune definitely has all the prerequisites to be just as lucrative as any of the other Lightning Link games.

And so if you do live near a casino that offers this one, I recommend you give it a shot.

Moon Race

Last but certainly not least is Moon Race. While this slot may not have eye-catching features like giant symbols or multiplier wilds, it does have its own unique twist — and in my opinion, one that is extremely underrated. And that is that when you collect three special symbols during the base game, you’ll get free spins on a special set of reels where all low-paying symbols have been removed.

Add in a couple of stacked wilds, and you won’t need the hold & win feature to walk away a big winner.

Alternatives for Lightning Link Slots at Sweepstakes Casinos

If you’re heading to the casino, Lightning Link slots are a great choice of game. However, with RTPs hovering around and below 90%, the truth is that they can’t hold a candle to the slots that you’ll find at US online casinos.

And if you thought that Lightning Link was the only system to award jackpot wins, think again. Sweepstakes casinos are chock full of slot games that allow players to chase similarly sized jackpots — and below, we’ll be covering just a few of these that leave Lightning Link in the dust.

Hold & Win

The idea of jackpots being attached to hold & win bonuses isn’t exclusive to Lightning Link slots. In fact, jackpots and hold & win slots tend to go hand-in-hand. And the good news is hold & win slots are in no short supply at sweepstakes casinos — with many sites like WOW Vegas and Pulsz having dedicated sections for these types of slots. Below, we’ll be covering a couple of the most popular hold & win slots.

• Thunder Coins Hold and Win — Developed by Playson, Thunder Coins Hold and Win is an exciting 3×3 slot that is built around its hold & win feature.
  
  This game features a unique twist on the classic hold & win feature. As only the thunder coin that lands in reel two actually sticks — with these symbols collecting the value of all other coins symbols that land.
• Elvis Frog Trueways — With a 96.70% RTP, Elvis Frog Trueways has long been a favorite hold & win slot of knowledgeable players. Combining megaways mechanics (or Trueways as developer BGaming likes to call it in this game) with a variety of bonus features including bonus buy options and hold & win bonuses, this is one of the most exciting games available at sweepstakes casinos.
• Money Train 3 — You could make an argument to highlight any of the slots from the Money Train series as they all feature a hold & win feature. However, for my money, the third installment takes the cake. And with a max win of x100,000 your stake up for grabs, this a game that is sure to get your heart racing.
• Amazing Money Machine — A personal favorite of mine, Amazing Money Machine is unique as while jackpots can be won through their hold & win feature, it’s also possible to score an instant jackpot at any point during the base game. When triggered, uncover matching symbols to find out whether you’ll be walking away with the mini, maxi, major, or grand jackpot.
• Voodoo People — Channel the power of Voodoo to score huge wins in Voodoo People. With this game, you can actually skip the base game entirely and jump straight into the hold & win bonus directly with the bonus buy feature for the chance to win the grand jackpot of x1,000 your stake.

But these games are just the tip of the iceberg. And for a comprehensive look at this type of game, check out our guide on the best Hold and Win slots at sweepstakes casinos.

Site-Wide Progressive Jackpots

Jackpots don’t need to be tied to hold & win bonuses. In fact, many sweepstakes casinos have their own progressive jackpot systems that are tied to their library of games — awarding lucky players jackpots at random. The McJackpot offered by McLuck is probably one of the most famous, with their Sweeps Coins grand jackpot awarding out a minimum of $100,000 whenever it triggers.

However, McLuck isn’t the only site offering progressive site-wide jackpots. And sweepstakes casinos like Fortune Coins, Jackpota, and Mega Bonanza have also gotten in on the act. For me, Mega Bonanza stands out specifically as in addition to their mega jackpot awarding wins that easily trump those offered by Lightning Link slots, they also have special jackpots that are guaranteed to trigger hourly and daily.

It’s important to note that while some sites allow all games to trigger their jackpots, others have the jackpots tied to specific games. As such, it’s always worth reading the terms & conditions to know what you have to do to be eligible.