Play Release the Kraken in New Zealand

Release the Kraken is driven by a roaming wild that stays on the reels and lifts a multiplier every time it lands, which is where most of the pokie’s potential sits. Pragmatic Play released the title in January 2020 across five reels and four rows with 20 fixed paylines, doubling that count to 40 once the free spins round opens. Three random wild features handle the base game, and the listed maximum is 10,000x the stake.

Release the Kraken Game Overview

Release the Kraken uses a straightforward five-by-four reel set as the platform for a busier feature list. Twenty paylines are read from the leftmost reel, and a bubble symbol acts as the wild that completes combinations along them. The reel layout never shifts, so the movement in the game comes from the wild routines that interrupt it rather than from a changing grid.

Release the Kraken splits its bonus content between a pick round and a spins round, both reached from bonus symbols on reels 1 and 3. The symbol that lands on reel 5 decides which of the two follows. One resolves through opening treasure chests, the other through free spins carrying a multiplier that builds as the round progresses.

Release the Kraken Key Game Details

Release the Kraken has the following principal specifications:

• Developer: Pragmatic Play

• Release date: January 2020

• Game category: Video slot

• Theme: Deep sea

• Playing area: 5 reels, 4 rows

• Winning system: Fixed paylines

• Paylines: 20 in the base game, 40 during free spins

• Random wild features: Kraken Lockin Wilds, Colossal Kraken Wilds, Infectious Kraken Wilds

• Colossal wild size: 3x4 positions

• Bonus rounds: Sunken Treasure Bonus, Roaming Kraken Free Spins

• Free spins multiplier: Starts at x1 and rises by +1 for each roaming wild

• Maximum win: 10,000x stake

• RTP: 94.50%

• Volatility: High

• Bet range: $0.20 to $100.00 per spin

• Supported formats: Desktop and mobile

Release the Kraken is listed by Wildz with an RTP of 94.50%, high volatility and a maximum win of 10,000 times the stake. The mathematical configuration a licensed casino presents can vary, so the in-game information panel is the accurate source for the RTP and stake range attached to the version being played.

How Does Release the Kraken Work?

Release the Kraken evaluates every paid spin across 20 permanently active lines running from the leftmost reel. The fixed line count means the full set is covered by the wager on each spin, with no facility to switch lines off in order to lower the cost of a round. Wild bubbles substitute for the standard ocean symbols and turn incomplete lines into paying ones.

Release the Kraken adds its random wild routines on top of this before the outcome is settled. A triggered feature alters the arrangement of symbols, and the 20 paylines are then read against the modified board. Nothing in the stake or the sequence of previous rounds affects whether a routine fires on any given spin.

Release the Kraken Kraken Wild Features

Release the Kraken gives its base game three distinct wild features, none of which requires a symbol combination to start. Each changes the reels along different lines, so a trigger does not point to a predictable result. Their effects are applied ahead of the payline calculation, which means the wilds they introduce count towards the spin in progress.

Release the Kraken governs every one of these triggers through its random system. Selecting a feature is not possible, raising the stake does not make one more likely, and a stretch of ordinary pokies spins says nothing about when the next routine will appear.

Release the Kraken Lockin, Colossal and Infectious Wilds

Release the Kraken presents Kraken Lockin Wilds as a chest sequence, where a reveal delivers additional wilds, all wins doubled together with a collect, or a collect that closes the sequence. Colossal Kraken Wilds takes a simpler route and places one oversized wild spanning 3x4 positions. Infectious Kraken Wilds introduces at least one wild that converts the symbols directly around it into wilds as well.

Release the Kraken sets the outcome of each routine within its own programmed feature set. The chests hold predetermined contents regardless of the order they are opened in, and a wider spread of wilds still leaves the completion of a payline to the game’s random result.

Release the Kraken Sunken Treasure Bonus

Release the Kraken triggers the Sunken Treasure Bonus when bonus symbols appear on reels 1 and 3 alongside the chest bonus symbol on reel 5. Chests are opened one after another, each holding a prize value, and the round continues until one reveals Collect. The accumulated amount is then paid and the round closes.

Release the Kraken determines what every chest contains before the picking starts, so choosing a different chest first would not produce a different total. With no spins and no multiplier involved, the round stands as a separate award rather than as a continuation of base-game play.

Release the Kraken Free Spins

Release the Kraken launches the Roaming Kraken Free Spins round when bonus symbols on reels 1 and 3 are joined by the free spins symbol on reel 5. The length of the round is set first through a pick stage, where each chest adds +1, +2 or +3 free spins until a Collect reveal fixes the total. The grid then expands to 40 paylines for the duration.

Release the Kraken deploys a roaming wild through the round, which persists across spins instead of clearing after one, and adds +1 to the multiplier each time it lands. Beginning at x1, that multiplier applies to combinations formed while the round runs. Where the wild lands is decided by the game rather than by the player, so the height the multiplier reaches cannot be influenced by the qualifying stake.

Release the Kraken RTP

Release the Kraken carries a theoretical RTP of 94.50% in the configuration Wildz lists. The percentage models a long-run return across an extremely large number of spins rather than forecasting a single session, and it sits beneath the 96% figure common to many modern pokies.

Release the Kraken is issued in more than one permitted mathematical setting, so a different operator or market may show another percentage. The game information menu, opened before wagering, gives the value that genuinely applies to the version on screen.

Release the Kraken Volatility

Release the Kraken is listed with high volatility. Much of the modelled return is concentrated in the free spins round, so base-game play can run through long low-value passages between the less frequent larger results. The random wild features punctuate those passages without altering the underlying shape.

Release the Kraken volatility describes the spread of outcomes rather than their sequence. A run without meaningful returns does not raise the chance that a large result is due, and adjusting the stake does not change how the payouts are distributed.

Release the Kraken Maximum Win

Release the Kraken offers a maximum win of 10,000x the total stake in its listed configuration. A qualifying $1 spin corresponds to a theoretical upper limit of $10,000, before any payout limits an individual operator applies.

Release the Kraken arrives at that ceiling only through a free spins round long enough for the roaming wild multiplier to accumulate while high-value symbols land across the expanded 40 paylines. The number marks the outer boundary of the game’s mathematics and not an outcome that regular pokies action should expect.

How to Play Release the Kraken in New Zealand

Release the Kraken can be played in New Zealand at an online casino carrying the Pragmatic Play catalogue, once a player has registered and completed the operator’s age and identity checks. The game is then opened, the paytable and rules reviewed, a stake selected between $0.20 and $100.00, and the first spin started.

Release the Kraken players in New Zealand should confirm the version-specific details before moving to real money. The RTP shown in the information panel, the stake limits applied by the operator and the rules of the two bonus rounds are all worth checking, since the configuration can vary between markets.

Can You Play Release the Kraken on Mobile?

Yes, Release the Kraken can be played on compatible smartphones and tablets. Pragmatic Play builds the pokie for mobile as well as desktop, so the five-by-four grid, the three random wild routines and the roaming wild free spins round all work on smaller displays with nothing stripped out.

Release the Kraken generally runs directly through a supported mobile browser without a separate download. Performance can still depend on the device, the browser version and the technical requirements set by the casino.

Can You Play Release the Kraken for Free?

Yes, Release the Kraken can be played for free in demo mode at Wildz New Zealand. Demo play runs on virtual funds and reproduces the same 20-payline base game and bonus structure, which makes it a useful way to see the Kraken wild features in operation before staking deposited money.

Release the Kraken demo results have no cash value because real funds are never placed. The mode suits players who want to understand how the pick round and the free spins multiplier behave before deciding whether to move into real-money play.

Release the Kraken in New Zealand

Release the Kraken is carried at Wildz New Zealand, where eligible players can open the pokie in demo or real-money mode subject to the casino’s account conditions. The title is the original Pragmatic Play release rather than the later sequel or Megaways versions, which run their own separate mathematics.

Release the Kraken sits in a New Zealand market that is moving into a new regulated framework. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 came into force on 1 May 2026, and the Department of Internal Affairs expects the full licensing regime to become operational in 2027. Operators already serving people in New Zealand before 1 May 2026 may continue under transitional rules until 1 December 2026, subject to the requirements of the new legislation.

New Zealand Rules for Release the Kraken

Release the Kraken real-money play in New Zealand is covered by the country’s new online casino regulatory framework. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 sets out licensing, player-protection and operator obligations, with implementation staged over a transitional period rather than switching to the final licensed market at once.

Release the Kraken players must be at least 18 years old under that legislation. Operators are required to take reasonable steps to verify that a customer has reached the legal age before allowing participation in online casino gambling, and the Department of Internal Affairs oversees those obligations.

Release the Kraken players should keep in mind that the transitional period is not the finished regime. Licensing conditions, operator obligations and player-protection requirements are expected to change as the Department of Internal Affairs moves the market towards full licensing in 2027.

FAQs

How does Release the Kraken work?

Release the Kraken evaluates every paid spin across 20 always-active lines on a five-by-four grid, read from the leftmost reel. Wild bubbles stand in for ocean symbols, and three random wild routines can alter the board beforehand. The free spins round lifts the grid to 40 paylines.

What is the RTP of Release the Kraken?

Release the Kraken is listed by Wildz at a theoretical RTP of 94.50% with high volatility. That models long-run return over an extremely large number of spins, not a single session, and it sits beneath the 96% common to many pokies. Check the in-game information menu.

Can you play Release the Kraken on mobile?

Yes. Release the Kraken works on compatible smartphones and tablets, because Pragmatic Play builds the pokie for mobile as well as desktop. The grid, the three random wild routines and the roaming wild free spins round all run on smaller displays with nothing stripped out.

Can you play Release the Kraken for free?

Yes. Demo mode at Wildz New Zealand runs Release the Kraken on virtual funds, reproducing the same 20-payline base game and bonus structure. Demo results have no cash value since real money is never staked, making the mode useful for learning the multiplier mechanic first.