Beat the Beast Krakens Lair

Kraken's Lair Review

Kraken’s Lair is the first of a series of games to hit the casinos, and the theme for the whole series is back-to-basic video slots centering around different mythological beasts. This time it’s all about beating the legendary sea monster from Norse mythology, and you can best do this by triggering the games free spins bonus round.

It all plays out on 5 reels, 3 rows and 9 ways to win, and you can place bets between 10p and £100 per spin across all platforms and devices. The game comes with a pretty standard RTP of 96.12 %, and the volatility is high. As we understand, this will be the case for the whole series, and with a max win of 7,777x, you’re surely in for a thrilling ride here.

The feature that defines this game is the expanding wins, which simply means that any regular symbol involved in a win with the wild symbol will expand. The main attraction is the free spins feature, and here you get a guaranteed wild/scatter symbol on all spins. Visually, the game looks good, and we are excited to see how this whole series will play out.

What symbols are there?

The most valuable regular symbol is the big daddy Kraken, closely followed by what we assume must be his offspring. The scatter symbol will give you both scatter wins, and a big win matching the big Kraken if you land 5 on a payline. The lower value royals are also in place here, and you need 2 to 5 matching symbols on a payline to win. Here is the what the paytable looks like for Kraken's Lair slot:

• Big purple Kraken - Pays 500x for 5 on a payline
• Kraken emblem wild - Pays 500x for 5 on a payline
• Kraken emblem scatter - Pays 200x for 5 anywhere
• Yellow baby kraken - Pays 50x for 5 on a payline
• Treasure chest - Pays 40x for 5 on a payline
• Medallion - Pays 30x for 5 on a payline
• Trident - Pays 25x for 5 on a payline
• Royal symbols - Pay between 15x and 10x for 5 on a payline

What are the bonus features?

An unusual twist is that you need only 2 higher value symbols on a payline to win here, while you still need at least 3 for the lower value royals. Of great help is the golden Kraken emblem, which serves as both wild and scatter symbol on this game. As a wild, this symbol will step inn for all regular symbols in such a way that you winnings are maximized. You can also land a 500x your stake win when you get 5 on a payline.

The only other bonus feature in the base game is called the Expanding Win feature. Whenever you land a winning combo involving a Kraken wild/scatter emblem, the regular winning symbol (or symbols) involved will expand to fill the entire reel. A new win is then calculated, and this can help keep you afloat while waiting to trigger the game’s all-important bonus round.

Free spins in Kraken's Lair

You need to land at least 3 scatter emblem kraken symbols to trigger the free spins bonus round on this game, and 3, 4 or 5 scatters will also give you a scatter win of 2, 20 or 200 times your stake up front. You start out with 10 spins no matter what, and you will benefit from a single kraken emblem wild/scatter randomly placed on a reel position per spin.

Naturally, this will tip the odds in your favor for getting expanding symbol wins, which you can expect a lot more of during the free spins feature than in the base game. It’s also possible to retrigger the bonus round, but only one time. All you need to do is land at least 3 scatters during the feature, and you will get 10 new spins (which amounts to 20 free spins all in all).

What is the jackpot (max win)?

There is no progressive or fixed jackpot to be won on Kraken's Lair slot, but you can still bring home high-value treasures from the depth of sea here. The game comes with a max win of 7,777 times your stake, which is pretty solid even for a highly volatile game like this is. If you play with the highest possible stake of £100, you can pocket up to £777,700 on a single spin here.

Where can I play Kraken's Lair?

You can play Kraken's Lair for real money at one of the listed casinos.

Don’t want to play for real money? No problem, you can easily play the demo for free here.

You can certainly also play Kraken's Lair on your mobile and tablet. This gives you the freedom to chase the big wins on the go, and all you need to get started right away is your Android, iPhone or iPad.

Verdict

Kraken's Lair is a good start on what has been announced will be a series of games. The bonus features are simple, yet effective, and the max win potential is more than solid enough for this kind of volatility. It might not be the most innovative game, but with more to go they’re only wise not to expend all ammo on the first release.