Theoretical return to player
96.12%
Smallest bet
0.10
Slot format
Video Slots
Volatility
High
Reel count
5
Progressive prize
No
Popularity
Largest bet
100
Slot developer
Thunderkick Gaming
Special features
Yes
Active paylines
9
Central theme
Kraken
Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair slot review
Thunderkick’s Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair is a video slot built around a dual wild-and-scatter emblem. It can substitute for symbols, launch the bonus round and support expanding wins, while the listed maximum prize is 7,777x the spin bet.
Setting and Story
The game sends players into the Kraken’s domain, where matching symbols across the reels represents a raid beneath the creature’s watch. Its imagery includes a giant squid, treasure chests, forgotten jewellery from a sunken wreck, a trident and a distinctive emblem. Aligning these items can produce combinations and, in the game’s story, a share of the Kraken’s treasure.
Visuals, Audio and Motion
Thunderkick gives this 3D slot a detailed underwater setting, though the review describes no animations. Reels and features still have moving elements, most noticeably when ‘Expanding Win’ is active. The scenery evokes a forgotten world of bare rocks and shipwrecks, while colourful reel symbols draw on objects from the Kraken’s lair. The review also describes the audio as effective: drums, violins and gentle horns combine in a musical theme shaped around exploration.
Top Casinos to Play Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair:
How the Reels Play
Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair uses a 5x3 reel layout, with 9 pay lines and 10 regular symbols. The pink Kraken is the highest-paying of those 10 symbols: landing 5 on a pay line awards 500x the spin bet. 500x the spin bet is described as a very high return for a regular-symbol combination in an online slot. A line of 4, 3 or 2 matching symbols pays 50x, 10x or 1.5x the spin bet, respectively.
The golden squid ranks second among the slot’s paying symbols, but its listed prizes are well below the Kraken’s. A line of 5, 4, 3 or 2 pays 50x, 17.5x, 3x or 0.5x the bet per spin, in that order.
Other illustrated symbols include sunken treasure, a necklace and a trident. Matching 5, 4, 3 or 2 of these across one of the 9 paylines returns amounts ranging from 40x to 0.5x the spin bet. The remaining regular symbols are A, K, Q, J and 10; combinations of 5, 4 or 3 can pay.
The dual scatter/wild emblem offers another route to a 5-symbol combination. A payline with 5 of these symbols is listed to award 500x the spin bet, matching the pink Kraken’s payout.
Bonus Rounds and Free Spins
Kraken Emblem: The emblem combines wild and scatter functions. It can complete paylines by standing in for any regular symbol, and it can also pay a spin-bet multiplier when it appears anywhere on the reels without completing a line. Landing 5, 4 or 3 anywhere in view awards 200x, 20x or 2x the total spin bet.
Free spins: Landing 3 ‘Kraken Emblem’ symbols starts 10 free spins. One Kraken Emblem Symbol is randomly placed on the reels at the beginning of each free spin. A further 3 scatters during the free spins round retriggers another 10 spins.
Expanding Win: This base-game feature can contribute a substantial share of wins. When a payline win includes the Kraken emblem as a wildcard, some symbols expand; that change may form additional winning combinations.
Bet Range, RTP and Variance
The listed min-max bet is 0.10-100.00, adjusted with the ‘number 1’ casino chip on the control panel. Every paytable prize is calculated as a multiple of the spin bet: combinations range from 500x down to 0.5x. The review says the free spins round offers the game’s largest potential wins, while the ‘Kraken Emblem’ can produce medium-sized base-game awards through ‘Expanding Win’. It characterizes the slot as medium variance and gives its theoretical RTP as 96.12%.
Review Summary
Beat the Beast: Kraken’s Lair opened Thunderkick’s Beat the Beast slot collection. When the original review was written, a second entry, Beat the Beast: Mightly Sphinx, had also appeared, with additional games expected to follow at that time.
Here, the Kraken is the featured beast, and the game lists a top prize of 7,777x the spin bet. Its central feature is the ‘Kraken Emblem’: it substitutes for other symbols, helps trigger expanding symbols and starts the free spins round, which the review identifies as the source of the slot’s largest wins.
With 12+ years of experience in the iGaming industry, Evan specializes in reviewing online casinos, analyzing slot games, and evaluating player safety. Their expertise covers casino licensing, RTP, volatility, bonus conditions, and withdrawal policies. Through hands-on testing and independent research, Evan delivers transparent, fact-based reviews to help players better understand gambling platforms, their features, and potential risks.
