Release the Kraken (Pragmatic Play): Overview
Release the Kraken is a maritime-themed
slot from developer Pragmatic Play. For those who don't 🍋 know, the Kraken is an infamous
cephalopod made popular by Moby Dick and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Both books 🍋 were
released in the 19th century, but the legend of the Kraken far predates them. It
originally appeared in the 🍋 Norse Sagas which described a squid-like beast that
terrorised the hearts and minds of sailors for centuries. Pragmatic Play continues 🍋 the
tradition with a slot that is capable of big rewards, but equally proficient in
haunting dreams after a particularly 🍋 savage session.
Being one of the better looking
games to roll out of the Pragmatic production line in quite some time, 🍋 the game is set
at the bottom of the deep blue sea. Its semi-transparent 5-reel, 4-row setup lies
before an 🍋 old galleon, ominously wrecked on the sea bed. The UI allows players to
choose 1-10 coins per line, with coin 🍋 values of 0.01 -0.50. This means total bets from
10 p/c per spin up toR$/€100. During the base game, players 🍋 match up symbols of three
or more on the 20 paylines for a payout. At 4/5 lightning bolts, it's not 🍋 Pragmatic
Plays most volatile setting, but don't let that have you fooled as it is certainly up
there all the 🍋 same. Release the Kraken ships (get it, ships? Sorry), with a respectable
default RTP of 96.5%.
As often is the case, 🍋 the paytable is split between low and high
pay symbols. Low pays are card royals of J – A with 🍋 nothing particularly nautical or
interesting about them. High pays are more imaginative with four creatures of the sea –
a 🍋 green fish, blue fish, a turtle, and a shark. They all have a friendly Finding Nemo
look about them. The 🍋 game’s logo is the most valuable regular symbol with five of a
kind paying out 25 times the stake. The 🍋 standard wild is worth the same amount and can
substitute for any symbol except the Bonus, Free Spins, or Chest 🍋 Bonus symbols. There
are a few other wilds, but we will look at them in the features section where they 🍋 are
triggered. After a few initial spins, there is little to differentiate this game (not
counting theme) from several others 🍋 in the Pragmatic catalogue.
Release the Kraken
(Pragmatic Play): Features
The game comes to life when features drop and the beast
appears 🍋 which they do at random, or by being triggered. Let's start with the Random
Spin features. At any moment, three 🍋 tentacles appear over the reels waving a 'Pick Me'
sign. Players choose one to unlock one of these spin modifiers:
Kraken 🍋 Lockin Wilds :
This feature introduces a new wild into the game. Three chests appear on the reels and
players 🍋 open them one by one. Get 'More Wilds' and the game adds more Kraken Wilds to
the reels. 'Continue Spinning' 🍋 does nothing, 'All Wins x2 and Collect' applies a
multiplier to any win value and ends the feature. 'Collect' ends 🍋 the feature and wins
are paid out.
: This feature introduces a new wild into the game. Three chests appear
on 🍋 the reels and players open them one by one. Get 'More Wilds' and the game adds more
Kraken Wilds to 🍋 the reels. 'Continue Spinning' does nothing, 'All Wins x2 and Collect'
applies a multiplier to any win value and ends 🍋 the feature. 'Collect' ends the feature
and wins are paid out. Colossal Kraken Wilds : this adds a giant 3x4 🍋 wild which is
guaranteed to land on the reels. It might not cover a full 12 positions though. It can,
🍋 but it could cover just the top or bottom 3 positions. Or anything in between.
: this
adds a giant 3x4 🍋 wild which is guaranteed to land on the reels. It might not cover a
full 12 positions though. It can, 🍋 but it could cover just the top or bottom 3
positions. Or anything in between. Infectious Kraken Wilds: this feature 🍋 adds at least
one Infectious Kraken Wild to the reels. These wilds turn adjacent symbols into wilds
as well.
Special wilds 🍋 during the Random Spin feature substitute for any symbol except
the Bonus, Free Spins, or Chest Bonus symbols.
It's time to 🍋 look at what those symbols
do. When there are bonus symbols on reels 1 and 3, and a Chest Bonus 🍋 on reel 5, they
trigger the Sunken Treasure Bonus - 3 chests appear on the screen which players open
one 🍋 at a time to reveal cash prizes. There is no set limit to the number of picks.
Players keep on 🍋 opening chests until one of them reveals 'Collect' and the feature is
over.
Finally, we have the highlight of the game 🍋 which is the Roaming Kraken Free
Spins. It is triggered with Bonus Symbols on reels 1 and 3, along with 🍋 the Free Spins
symbol on reel 5. There isn't a set number of spins for this feature. Instead, players
are 🍋 presented with a screen of chests which reveal +1, +2, or +3 spins although 99
times out of 100 you 🍋 will probably be rewarded the standard 10 spins (at least that was
the case during our test run). Players keep 🍋 picking until that pesky 'Collect' message
shows up again. Roaming Kraken Free Spins benefits from 40 paylines instead of the 🍋 20
you get in the base game as well as a win multiplier that starts at x1. Every time a
🍋 wild lands, it remains on the reels and roams, and increases the multiplier by
+1.
Release the Kraken (Pragmatic Play): Verdict
If 🍋 players like opening chests, they
are going to love Release the Kraken. It's all about uncovering the treasures contained
within. 🍋 Interestingly, every time we had the chance to open them, four was the amount
we got. Every single time, no 🍋 matter what feature it was associated with. Of course
this could be complete coincidence, but it was strange. Its predictability 🍋 started to
get amusing after a while. Four was the magic number. The fifth was always, always the
‘Collect’ result. 🍋 Whether that was with Kraken Free Spins or the Sunken Treasure
feature.
We also started to noticed other patterns as well 🍋 while playing the free spins
feature (we probably played 30+ features). For example, if no wild landed in the first
🍋 spin it would almost always land on the second spin of the bonus. Again, it could have
been a coincidence, 🍋 but it got a bit ridiculous after a while and the predictability
sort of ruined the excitement.
Release the Kraken appears 🍋 to use a similar math model
to other recent Pragmatic Play slots. In fact, it shares a lot with Hercules 🍋 & Pegasus.
First, features are triggered in similar ways, secondly in the way sessions play out -
volatile and whimsical. 🍋 There is good potential of up to 10,000 times the stake, but
games can easily go either way. That means 🍋 winning big, or constantly paddling against
a powerful current sweeping you in the wrong direction.
Like Hercules & Pegasus or
Aladdin 🍋 & the Sorcerer, without high doses of luck it can be tough going. Sure, every
session is different, and everyone 🍋 has different results. There are epic wins of
course, or Kraken Wins as the game calls them, here. Just be 🍋 wary. As Captain Nemo
found out, the Kraken can take what it wants in its monstrous tentacles and crush
dreams 🍋 as easily as paper cups.
