Kraken’s Lair

Principle of Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair

Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair is the latest offering from the development team at Thunderkick. The Swedish slot provider has divulged that it intends to release five classic slots that will provide innovative game play along with a highly volatile and truly thrilling journey. It has also confirmed that each of the five titles will include a terrifying beast. These slots have been advertised as being “made for the brave.”

The first beast in the series is the mythical Kraken which is an octopus styled guardian of the deep. Already this year two other developers have used this character, so it is not that much of a surprise. This aside, this slot provides a solid game with pay outs to match as well as a modern twist which Thunderkick have promoted as the way that this slot will be set apart from its competitors.

Set your reels spinning

Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair is a classic slot that is played over a conventional 5-reel, 3-row with 9-pay lines and although the lost appears basic it is also aesthetically pleasing. The atmosphere is created with the use of sunken ships in the underwater background that have no doubt had their crew plucked from by the beast, and this is all pulled together by the superb high definition symbols.

Bets and Symbols

When you are ready to get your reels spinning you will need to place your bet which starts from 10p per spin up to a maximum of £100 per spin and with this bet range this is a slot that will appeal to all. The slot is easy to understand and has four low paying symbols and five high payers.

The low paying symbols come from the playing card symbols 10 through to Ace whilst the high paying symbols are the chest, pendant, trident and two Kraken symbols. The gold Kraken could be described as the baby version of the symbol which will pay 50x your stake for landing five, and the purple Daddy Kraken which is the one to land as this provides 500x your stake for five. Finally, the wild in this game is also doubles up as the scatter.
The return to player is solid at 96.12% and the slot is highly volatile so be prepared to play through some dry spells in your base game, but its not all doom and gloom as the features can appear in the base game which keeps it flowing and you interested.

Feisty Features

Whilst there are some good high paying symbols the most profitable comes in the form of the Kraken Emblem which is both the wild and the scatter. When acting as the wild it can substitute for any other symbol in the base and bonus game to create winning combinations and when it does the Expanding Win feature is launched. In the Expanding Win feature the regular symbols that helped to create the win and trigger the feature will expand and cover the full reel to create even more wins.

If you land three or more of the Kraken Emblems the bonus game comes into play with you being awarded 10 free spins. As well as this 3, 4 or 5 Emblems will also reward you with 2x, 20x and 200x your stake respectively and the Kraken Emblem will be randomly placed on your reels at the start of each free spin. Land three or more scatters in the bonus round and you will also be awarded with 10 additional free spins, the best thing is that the free spins are unlimited.

Is this slot more of a Growl rather than a Roar

Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair is an excellent introduction to Thunderkick’s new series, and I feel that the developers have achieved what they set out to do and whilst not completely original it is a solid slot to play. The change that has been added to the expanding symbols thanks to the Kraken Emblem gives the potential to win 7,777x your stake which is a good pay out and what you would expect from a Thunderkick slot.

Whilst this slot is not totally new or novel the game is thrilling and fast paced offering good win potential. As the first in the series I think that there are more good things to come from the other slots that are set to follow.