Kraken’s Hunger

Kraken’s Hunger Slot Review

A slot that makes you pay for its biggest paylines is a rare thing, and Kraken’s Hunger is one of them. BGaming have built a horror game where the reel set grows, from a 5×3 grid with 5 paylines to 5×5 with 20, and every row you add raises the stake. Under the murky teal water, a kraken with glowing orange eyes curls its tentacles around the title and a treasure chest somebody didn’t get to enjoy.

The game runs at 97.2% RTP with mid volatility, and that combination is nearly as unusual as the growing reels, because a generous return usually comes attached to a nastier temperament. Sister titles include Fruit Million and Snoop Dogg Dollars, but neither has a sea monster holding the artwork together.

Reels, Rows and the Base Game

The reel size is the first decision you make, and it’s yours to change at any point in the main game. Tapping the screen adds a row, taking you from 5×3 and 5 paylines to 5×4 and 10, then 5×5 and 20. Removing rows works in reverse, via the arrow.

Every change adjusts the bet, so the bigger grid costs more per spin. That gives you three genuinely different versions of the same game. The middle setting is the sensible place to test the water.

Wins pay left to right on the active lines, and only the highest combination on each line counts. The wild is an octopus that appears only during Free Spins. It substitutes for everything except the Bonus and Prize symbols, and it carries the joint-top pays in the game.

Paytable

All values are multiples of the total bet.

• Wild (octopus): 2x for three, 6x for four, 100x for five
• Pirate Captain (ghost): 2x for three, 6x for four, 100x for five
• Treasure Chest: 1.6x for three, 4x for four, 60x for five
• Cannon: 1.2x for three, 2.4x for four, 20x for five
• Ship’s Wheel: 1x for three, 2x for four, 10x for five
• A / K: 0.6x for three, 1.6x for four, 6x for five
• Q / J / 10: 0.4x for three, 1x for four, 4x for five

Prize Symbols

Prize symbols are where the base game gets interesting. Each one lands with a random value drawn from three fixed tiers, measured against the base bet. That’s the bet you’d be making with the reels at 5×3.

• Tier one: 2x or 3x the base bet
• Tier two: 4x or 6x the base bet
• Tier three: 10x or 20x the base bet

In the main game, Prize symbols can land on any reel. If three or more of them line up on a payline, the game pays the sum of every value showing. They don’t need to match each other, only to share a line.

Free Spins and the Wild Collector

Three or more Bonus symbols anywhere in the main game start the Free Spins round, and the more of them you catch, the more spins you get. If the triggering spin also contains a winning line, the win is paid first and the round begins afterwards.

Inside the round, the job of the wild changes completely. Prize symbols now appear only on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5, and they pay only when a wild lands anywhere on the screen. When it does, the game pays the sum of every Prize symbol in view, regardless of where any of them sit.

The wild doesn’t need to touch a Prize symbol or share a line with it. It just needs to show up. Spin by spin, that gives the round a rhythm all its own: you’re watching for Prize values stacking onto the middle reels and an octopus arriving to sweep them all up in one payment.

Retriggers and Multipliers

Collecting wilds is also how the round grows. Every fourth wild retriggers the feature and adds 10 free spins, and this can happen three times in total. Each retrigger raises a multiplier that applies to the total win of every free spin for the rest of the round.

• First retrigger: 10 extra spins, x2 multiplier on every spin’s total win
• Second retrigger: 10 extra spins, x3 multiplier
• Third retrigger: 10 extra spins, x10 multiplier

That ladder is the whole engine of the game’s upside. A round that keeps feeding you wilds compounds quickly, because the multiplier isn’t applied once at the end but to each spin’s total as you go.

Bonus Buy and Chance x2

The round can also be bought outright, for 120x the total bet. That’s a serious outlay for a mid-volatility game, and the round’s value rides almost entirely on how many wilds arrive to collect the Prize symbols waiting on the middle reels.

Alongside it there’s a Chance x2 toggle, which adds 0.4x the total bet to your stake when switched on. The name signals the intent, but the exact mechanics of what changes aren’t spelled out anywhere we can verify, so we’ll leave it there.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.8/10

Playing Kraken’s Hunger is mostly a waiting game with one reward for the patience: a Free Spins round where every wild drags the whole sea floor’s loot in at once, and the longer the round runs, the more each grab is worth. The tentacle-wrapped gloom is a genuinely good setting for it too, moody where most pirate-adjacent slots go jaunty.

The retrigger ladder is the best thing here, because the multiplier applies spin by spin rather than at the end, so a round that hits its stride compounds in front of you. What lets it down is everything either side of that round. On the default reels the base game is thin, and the growing grid doesn’t fix it, it just charges more for the same scarcity.

This is one for players who like a single strong bonus carrying the weight, backed by a generous 97.2% RTP and mid volatility that won’t punish the wait too hard. If you need something happening on most spins, the water here runs too still. For the patient type, there’s real treasure under the murk.

Kraken’s Hunger FAQs

• How do you trigger Free Spins in Kraken’s Hunger?

  Catch three or more Bonus symbols anywhere in the main game. The count of Bonus symbols determines how many free spins you receive, and any win on the triggering spin is paid out before the round starts.
• How does the retrigger work in Kraken’s Hunger?

  Collect four wilds during Free Spins and you get 10 extra spins plus a multiplier boost. This can happen three times, moving from x2 to x3 and finally x10, and the multiplier applies to the total win of every free spin for the rest of the round.
• What do Prize symbols do in Kraken’s Hunger?

  Prize symbols carry random values from three tiers: 2x or 3x the base bet, 4x or 6x, and 10x or 20x. In the main game, three or more on a payline pay the sum of their values. During Free Spins they pay only when a wild lands, and then every Prize symbol in view pays out.
• What is the RTP of Kraken’s Hunger?

  The RTP is 97.2%, comfortably above the industry average and unusually generous for a mid-volatility release.
• Is Kraken’s Hunger high volatility?

  No. The volatility is mid, so the game sits between frequent small wins and long dry spells, with the Free Spins round carrying most of the upside.
• How many paylines does Kraken’s Hunger have?

  It depends on the reel size you choose. The 5×3 grid has 5 paylines, the 5×4 grid has 10, and the 5×5 grid has 20. Changing the reel size also changes the bet.
• Can you buy the bonus on Kraken’s Hunger?

  Yes, the feature can be bought outright for 120x the total bet. A Chance x2 toggle can also be switched on for an additional 0.4x the total bet.
• Who makes Kraken’s Hunger?

  Kraken’s Hunger is made by BGaming. The game’s release date is 22 August 2024.