Release the Kraken Free Play in Demo Mode by Pragmatic Play

Release the Kraken review

Theme and Storyline

Release the Kraken takes its title from a line in the 1981 Ray Harryhausen movie: Clash Of The Titans. The slot appears to have little to no interest in the movie beyond the borrowed line. Nor does it seem like the makers knew exactly what a kraken is.

Instead, what you get is a by the numbers undersea treasure hunt slot. With some vibes from Finding Nemo and a few from Pirates of the Caribbean. Not a kraken in sight.

It remains a fun little setting though, with some cute characters and fun design features.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

The graphics are good, digimation styled fish with that large eyed Pixar style look.

The soundtrack has a lovely ambient underwater quality, with some gentle music and soft win and spin sounds the whole experience is rather relaxing.

The animations are similarly gentle, just enough movement to keep one from falling asleep. But small and efficient.

Gameplay

Release the Kraken is a five reel, four row slot with 20 win lines. The number of win lines doubles during the Free Spin bonus (details below).

It has a range of randomised features to keep players on their toes, and a couple of bonus games that make for a variety of outcomes. This is nice as the high volatility of the game means there is a lot of spinning without winning to be done (with bigger wins making up for the wait when they arrive).

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the three Bonus symbols.

There are a few random features that can be triggered during a base game spin. These trigger one of three randomised Wilds. Respins with walking Wilds, a 3x4 Wild added to the reels, or a Wild that lands at random and transforms adjacent symbols into Wilds.

The Bonus system works a little unusually in Release the Kraken. In order to trigger a bonus, the player must hit three of any kind of Bonus symbol, one on each of reels one, three, and five. Reels one and three sport the Bonus symbol.

However, reel five has two different symbols that determine the kind of Bonus that is triggered. The two possible symbols on reel five are the Treasure Bonus symbol and Kraken Bonus symbol.

If the third symbol is the Treasure Bonus symbol, then the player gets awarded the Sunken Treasure Bonus. In this mini-game the player picks one of three chests that award a cash prize.

If the third symbol is the Kraken Bonus symbol, the player then picks chests to determine the amount of Free Spins (maximum of 12) with a running multiplier that increases by one for each Wild symbol that lands, up to maximum of x10. Landed Wilds remain on the screen for the remaining free spins, changing their positions randomly in each spin. The Free Spins cannot be retriggered.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

The return to player of this game is 96.50%, well over our yardstick for average of roughly 96%.

The range of bets on the site we tested ran from a minimum bet per spin of $/£/€0.20 up to a maximum of $/£/€100.00 per spin.

The volatility of this game is high, which makes it a great match for our preferred slot machine strategies. Our slot strategies target the highest possible volatility.

Conclusion

The main selling point for us is the high volatility coupled with a 96.50% RTP. This makes it a great match for our preferred strategies.

That Release the Kraken is also a fun, well designed game, which is just a bonus.

The varied bonus and randomised features make sure there is plenty to look forward to in the gameplay, and the music and visuals make for an excellent time for the player.