Release the Kraken (Pragmatic Play) RTP review: 96.50% (configurable)
Wilds with tentacles
Release the Kraken (2020) stakes everything on wild variety. The 5×4, 40-line seabed hosts a bestiary of them: colossal Kraken wilds that lock across multiple positions, infectious wilds that spread to neighbours, and random base-game deployments where the beast intervenes without warning. The free spins deal in roaming wilds that move between spins, keeping bonus geometry unsettled to the last. The cap is 10,000x — earned through wild stacking rather than multipliers, which is increasingly rare — and volatility sits at high (4/5), a notch below Pragmatic's cascade extremes because the wild interventions pepper the base game generously.
The fine print, precisely
Certification: 96.50% / 95.50% / 94.50%, info-screen adjudicated. On access, precision matters: this original 2020 game has an Ante Bet raising free-spins trigger odds — not a true feature buy, which some references misreport. And note the identity trap: a separate 2024 Release the Kraken Megaways exists; this review covers the original only. Stakes 0.20–100.
Reef position
The Kraken belongs to Pragmatic's wild-mechanics school alongside Hot Fiesta (roaming multipliers) and Wild West Gold (sticky multipliers) — but it's the volume player of the trio: more wild events, more base-game interventions, less multiplier arithmetic. That makes it friendlier session company than its 10,000x cap implies, though the biggest results still require the bonus's roaming pack to herd improbably well.
Depth soundings
Surfaced
- Colossal, infectious and roaming wilds — the fullest wild toolkit around
- Base-game Kraken interventions keep waits lively
- 10,000x cap without multiplier dependence
Sunk
- Ante only — no true buy, despite some references claiming one
- Wild-stacking tops require rare alignments
- 94.50% build circulates
Other waters
Comparable games at provider defaults.
| Slot | Provider | RTP | Volatility | Max win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release the Kraken (this slot) | Pragmatic Play | 96.50% | High | 10,000x |
| Sweet Bonanza | Pragmatic Play | 96.51% | Med-High | 21,100x |
| Gates of Olympus | Pragmatic Play | 96.50% | High | 5,000x |
| Big Bass Bonanza | Pragmatic Play | 96.71% | High | 2,100x |
| Sugar Rush | Pragmatic Play | 96.50% | High | 5,000x |
From the depths: verdict
Skip if: you want multiplier mathematics — this beast stacks bodies, not numbers
Release the Kraken is the most generous of Pragmatic's wild-school games in the only currency base-game players care about: things actually happen between bonuses. The colossal-and-infectious toolkit produces real variety, and a 10,000x cap built on pure wild coverage is a refreshing change from multiplier arms races. Know exactly what you're playing — the 2020 original with an ante (not a buy), not the 2024 Megaways — confirm the 96.50% build, and let the tentacles do their occasional wonderful worst.