Release the Kraken Slot Review
In the old Norse accounts the kraken was big enough to be mistaken for an island, right up until the island moved.
Release the Kraken drags that story into cartoon shallows: bright coral blues, an ambient ocean score, and sea creatures drawn with more charm than menace.
The build comes from Pragmatic Play, and the frame around it is standard: five reels, four rows, 20 fixed paylines. RTP is 96.50% with high volatility.
The ceiling is 10,000x your stake, and it’s the free spins that get you there rather than anything the base game manages on its own.
Pragmatic’s seafaring shelf is well stocked, though this one sits at the mythological end of it rather than beside the fishing rods of Big Bass Bonanza.
A Megaways version followed later, and Pirate Gold Deluxe covers the treasure-hunting angle. So: worth releasing, or better left on the seabed?
Base Game & Features
Five reels, four rows, 20 fixed paylines. The symbol set stacks sea life above the card ranks, with the Release the Kraken anchor chest at the top and A, K, Q and J filling out the bottom.
Three, four and five of a kind pay the following multiples of your total stake:
- Kraken anchor chest and Wild: 2.5x, 10x, 25x
- Shark: 2x, 5x, 12.5x
- Turtle: 2x, 4x, 10x
- Blue fish: 1x, 3x, 7.5x
- Green striped fish: 1x, 3x, 5x
- A and K: 0.5x, 1x, 4x
- Q and J: 0.25x, 0.5x, 2x
The Wild substitutes for everything except the Bonus, Free Spins and Chest Bonus symbols, and pays as well as the top symbol in its own right. It’s also the hinge for all three base game modifiers.
The Three Kraken Wilds
One of three tentacles is chosen at random during base play, and each one changes what the Wild does:
- Kraken Locking Wilds: the reels keep spinning while consecutive picks are taken from one of three chests. Picks award More Wilds, Continue Spinning, All Wins x2 and Collect, More Wilds and Collect, or Collect. Every winning combination is paid when the feature ends.
- Colossal Kraken Wilds: once the reels stop, a randomly placed colossal 3×4 Wild is guaranteed to land.
- Infectious Kraken Wilds: at least one Wild is guaranteed in view, and it infects the symbols next to it, turning those wild too.
Release the Kraken Free Spins
Both bonus rounds start the same way, with a Bonus symbol on reels 1 and 3. What lands on reel 5 alongside them decides which one you get.
Sunken Treasure Bonus
The Chest Bonus symbol on reel 5 opens the Sunken Treasure Bonus. You pick one of three chests for a random money prize, then keep picking for as long as money prizes keep coming. Finding COLLECT ends the feature.
Roaming Kraken Free Spins
Swap that chest for the Free Spins symbol and you get the main event instead. Chests are picked for +1, +2 or +3 spins until COLLECT turns up, to a maximum of 12.
Inside the round, 40 paylines are in play across special reels. The win multiplier starts at 1x and rises by 1x for every Wild that lands, up to a maximum of 10x, holding for the remaining spins.
Wilds stay on screen once they arrive and shuffle to a new position each spin, which is where the roaming in the name comes from. The feature can’t be retriggered.
Bonus Buy
The round can be bought outright, skipping the wait for the trigger symbols to line up:
- Buy Free Spins: 100x total bet, triggering Roaming Kraken Free Spins instantly
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.3/10
Twenty lines across four rows isn’t much of a canvas, and between tentacles this base game goes quiet for long stretches.
The three Kraken wilds are what stop that being fatal, and they’re properly distinct: a locking respin round, a colossal block and a spreading infection do different jobs off the same random trigger.
Free spins are where it earns its keep. A sticky wild that moves position every spin while the multiplier ratchets up is a good idea well executed, and 40 lines make the round feel like a different machine.
There’s no retrigger, though, and 12 spins is the ceiling, which leaves that multiplier very little room to climb. Presentation runs ahead of returns more often than not.
The 10,000x top prize wants the multiplier maxed and the wilds landing kindly inside a round that short, so treat it as decoration rather than a target.
High volatility chasers with patience will find plenty here. Anyone after steady base game action won’t.
You can release the kraken readily enough; it sinks back before it’s done much damage.
Release the Kraken FAQs
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What is the RTP of Release the Kraken?
Release the Kraken has an RTP of 96.50%, which is a solid return for a high volatility slot. That’s a theoretical long-term average, so individual sessions can land well either side of it. -
What is the maximum win in Release the Kraken?
The maximum win is 10,000x your stake. It’s reached inside the Roaming Kraken Free Spins, where the win multiplier climbs by 1x for every Wild that lands and tops out at 10x, so the top prize needs a long round and a wild-heavy one. -
What are the free spins in Release the Kraken?
Roaming Kraken Free Spins trigger when a Bonus symbol lands on reels 1 and 3 alongside the Free Spins symbol on reel 5. Chests are then picked for +1, +2 or +3 spins until COLLECT appears, up to a maximum of 12. The round plays across 40 paylines. -
How many paylines does Release the Kraken have?
There are 20 fixed paylines in the base game. That doubles to 40 during Roaming Kraken Free Spins, which also runs on special reels, so the same grid pays across twice as many lines once the bonus starts. -
What is the volatility of Release the Kraken?
It’s a high volatility slot, and the game’s own volatility meter says as much. Wins land less often than on a low variance title but pay more when they do, which is the trade behind a 10,000x ceiling. -
What is the bet range for Release the Kraken?
Stakes run from 0.20 up to 100 per spin, set through coin value and bet level across the 20 paylines. -
Does Release the Kraken have a bonus buy?
Yes. Buy Free Spins costs 100x your current total bet and triggers Roaming Kraken Free Spins immediately, so there’s no waiting for the Bonus and Free Spins symbols to line up. It’s the only feature purchase in the game. -
What are the wild symbols in Release the Kraken?
Three wild modifiers fire at random in the base game: Kraken Locking Wilds, Colossal Kraken Wilds and Infectious Kraken Wilds. All three act on the standard Wild symbol, which substitutes for every symbol except Bonus, Free Spins and Chest Bonus.
