Captain Kraken Megaways Demo
Captain Kraken Megaways Slot Review
Hop on board Captain Kraken Megaways‘ ship and set sail toward an island of hidden rewards, courtesy of Pragmatic Play!
It seems we’ve been embracing the Pirate life for quite some time now, with a new Pirate-themed slot release coming in every week. More recently, Slotmill and Just For The Win have had us scrubbing the decks of their latest instalments, Dead Man’s Drop and Dark Waters 2 Power Combo.
Taking to the waters of Pragmatic Play’s latest swashbucklin’ adventure, Captain Kraken Megaways, under licence from Big Time Gaming, this game explores the myth of the legendary Kraken.
After tangling with Pragmatic Play’s Release the Kraken series, we feel we’re more than qualified to take on this beast once more, but will we be successful in our endeavours?
There was a time when almost every release was under the clutches of Big Time Gaming’s Megaways mechanic, but now we’re lucky to get one a month, it seems. The Megaways mechanic has, and always will be, a popular mechanic within the iGaming market, due to its impressive ways to win potential, with every spin being different from the one before.
With a fixed RTP of 96.55% and a high volatility score, Captain Kraken Megaways includes an average max win potential of 5,000x your bet (by Pragmatic Play standards, anyway). Without further ado, let’s find out if the Kraken is a myth or something more….
Base Game & Features
Captain Kraken Megaways is the latest Megaways instalment from Pragmatic Play, featuring 6 reels, an extra Sliding Reel, and up to 220,704 ways to win. Wins are awarded when 2-6 matching symbols fall from left to right, starting from reel 1.
The highest-paying symbol is the Male Captain, followed by the Female Captain, Kraken, Anchor, and A, K, Q, J, 10, & 9 card suits. When a win is evaluated, varying payouts between 0.1x and 10x your bet are applied.
The game is also home to Wild symbols, which appear on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5 during gameplay. Wild symbols substitute for the highest-paying combination except Scatters. Due to the Megaways mechanic, each reel can reveal up to 8 symbols, while the extra Sliding Reel holds 4-6 symbols.
The Avalanche Feature causes winning combinations to be destroyed, creating room for new symbols to fall onto the reels. This guarantees multiple opportunities to create or enhance winning combinations in a single spin session. Winning symbols from atop the extra Sliding Reel are also removed through the Avalanche Feature; only new symbols will slide onto the reel from right to left.
Collect Feature
Throughout gameplay, special Money symbols with values between 1x and 25x your bet can appear on the reels, excluding the top Sliding Reel. In addition, up to 3 Jackpot Prizes can appear as Coin Icons on the reels:
- Minor: 40x your bet
- Major: 200x your bet
- Grand: 2,000x your bet
When a Collect symbol hits on reel 6, it will collect all Money and/or Jackpot Prizes within the same spin, applying them to your total win of the session.
Captain Kraken Megaways Bonus
The Respins Bonus is triggered when a Scatter symbol and at least 1 Money symbol hit on reel 6 in the base game, awarding 3 Respins.
In this mode, all paytable symbols, including Wilds & Scatters, are removed from the reels, revealing only Blanks, Money, & Special symbols in play. The feature begins with a certain number of Spots, equal to the spin that triggered the feature.
Each Money symbol that appears in view will remain fixed in its position until the end of the feature, causing the current Respins to reset to 3. Atop the extra Sliding Reel, only Modifier symbols can appear:
- Collect Reel: This symbol collects the values of all Money symbols available on the reel below it.
- Collect All: Collects all current Money values from the entire grid, regardless of their position.
- Multiplier Reel: Applies a Multiplier between 2x and 100x your bet to all Money values on the reel below it.
- Multiplier All: Applies a Multiplier between 2x and 100x your bet to all Money values on the grid, regardless of their position.
A round ends when there are no more Respins left. Once complete, the total value of all persistent Money symbols is added together and applied to form your total win of the session.
Ante Bet & Bonus Buy
Players may purchase one of the following Ante Bet & Bonus Buy options:
- Ante Bet: Each spin is 5 times more likely to trigger the Respins Bonus for 2x your bet (96.55%)
- Respins Bonus: Guarantees to trigger the Respins Bonus for 100x your bet (96.55%)
Captain Kraken Megaways has a maximum win potential of 5,000x your bet. If a single session exceeds this figure, the current mode ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Our Honest Verdict
Although the Pirate-themed slots category within the iGaming industry is literally bursting at the seams, Pragmatic Play has concluded that there’s room for at least one more. Coming in hot off the press is Captain Kraken Megaways – another of Pragmatic Play’s releases that dives deep for a glimpse of the legendary Kraken.
If software developers are going to continue expanding a certain genre, such as this one, they need to come up with something pretty spectacular if they’re to top the likes of Dead Man’s Gold or Pirots.
The game wins instant points for its use of the Megaways mechanic. While not as shiny and new as it once was, players and software developers still hold a flame for its increasing rows and 117,649 ways to win (or 200,704 ways to win in this case).
To our surprise, Pragmatic Play has introduced a Collection Feature, as well as an interesting way of triggering the Respins Bonus. In the majority of Megaways slots, we’ve encountered Mystery symbols as the ‘go-to’ for the base game feature.
It’s through this feature that the Respins Bonus is triggered, but it does not involve the Collect symbol as you’d imagine. Instead, a Scatter symbol needs to appear on reel 6, in addition to 1 or more Money symbols across the remaining reels.
If you were expecting a traditional, Pirate-themed, Megaways slot, you’ll be sorely mistaken and taken aback. In this mode, standard Free Spins have been traded for 3 Respins, which play out like a traditional Hold & Win feature.
With so many ‘3 Pots’ releases crawling out of the woodwork recently, we were both relieved and thrilled to participate in Captain Kraken Megaways. Even after all these years, the Megaways mechanic still holds a place in our hearts as one of the best slot mechanics, so you can imagine our delight when we caught wind of this release.
Unfortunately, Captain Kraken Megaways wasn’t our cup of tea, for multiple reasons, one being that it failed to escape the clutches of Pragmatic Play’s 5,000x max win safety net.
All in all, this game will appeal to players with an appreciation for soft features and Respins bonuses, but for players with a taste for something stronger, there are more worthy releases out there to choose from.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
