| Provider | NetEnt |
|---|---|
| RTP | 96.10% - Compare RTPs |
| Volatility | Medium |
| Reels | 5 |
| Paylines | 9 |
| Bet Range | £0.09 - £90.00 |
| Features | Wilds, Scatters |
Lights Slot Review
Lights is a 5-reel, 9-payline slot from NetEnt built around the tranquil beauty of Asian lantern festivals. Released in 2013, the game is set at dusk on a riverbank, with paper lanterns drifting across the reels and fireflies lighting up the night. It is one of the quieter, more atmospheric slots in the NetEnt catalogue - not a bombastic blockbuster, but a game that rewards patience with some genuinely satisfying wins.
Game Details and Layout
The layout is a standard 5x3 grid with 9 fixed paylines. Bets run from £0.09 per spin up to £90, giving you seven coin value options between £0.01 and £1. The return to player (RTP) is 96.1%, which sits comfortably above average for online slots. Volatility is low to medium, so you can expect fairly frequent smaller wins rather than long dry spells chasing a single jackpot.
Symbols on the reels fall into two groups. The theme symbols are coloured lanterns - red, green, purple, blue and white - with the red lantern being the highest-paying symbol at 1,000x your line bet for five on a payline. The lower-value symbols are the standard playing card ranks, Ten through Ace, dressed up with an Asian calligraphy style to keep the theme coherent.
Firefly Wilds
The standout mechanic in the base game is the firefly wild. As the reels spin, fireflies drift across the screen and randomly land on positions to create floating wilds. In the base game, two to four floating wilds can appear on any given spin. These wilds substitute for all symbols except the scatter, and because they are added on top of the reel result rather than baked into the spin outcome, they can turn near-misses into wins in a way that feels genuinely surprising.
The wild mechanic is the main reason Lights holds up so well despite its simple payline structure. Nine paylines is quite limited by modern standards, but the firefly wilds compensate by regularly creating win opportunities that the paylines alone would not generate.
Free Spins Bonus
The bonus game triggers when three or more yin-yang scatter symbols land on the reels at the same time. The number of free spins you receive depends on how many scatters triggered the round:
- 3 scatters - 10 free spins
- 4 scatters - 20 free spins
- 5 scatters - 30 free spins
During free spins the scene shifts from dusk to full night, which gives the whole game a different feel. More importantly, the firefly wilds become more active - instead of two to four floating wilds per spin, you can now get three to six. This meaningfully increases the chance of stacking multiple wilds on a single spin, which is where the larger wins in Lights tend to come from.
The free spins round also retriggers. If more scatter symbols appear during the bonus, you receive additional spins on top of whatever you have remaining. There is no multiplier involved - the boost comes purely from the extra wilds - but with five or six wilds covering a 5x3 grid on nine paylines, big win potential is real.
Autoplay and Controls
The control layout is clean and easy to navigate. Autoplay can be set for anywhere between 10 and 1,000 spins, and the advanced autoplay options let you set stop conditions - for example, pausing if your balance drops by a set amount or increases past a target. For players who like to run the game in the background while doing something else, Lights is well suited to that approach given its gentle pace.
Overall Verdict
Lights is not a game that tries to overwhelm you with features. What it does, it does very well. The firefly wild mechanic adds a layer of unpredictability to every spin without overcomplicating the game, the 96.1% RTP is solid, and the free spins round with its enhanced wilds gives you something meaningful to aim for. If you want a slot that is relaxing to play but still has enough going on to keep things interesting, Lights is a strong pick from the NetEnt library.
Where to Play Lights
These online casinos carry NetEnt games including Lights. Read our Donbet review or browse all casino reviews.
Lights RTP and Variance
Lights has an RTP of 96.10%, which is above average. See our highest RTP slots for the best returning games. Medium volatility offers a balanced mix of win frequency and payout size.
At the minimum bet of £0.09 per spin, a £10 deposit gives you 111 spins with a statistical expected return of £9.61. Read our slot betting strategy guide for tips on managing your bankroll.
More NetEnt Slots
If you enjoy Lights, try these other NetEnt games available at the same casinos.
