Kaiju

Kaiju Slot Review

Whether it’s King Kong scaling the heights of New York City or Godzilla tearing Tokyo a new skyline, the world love a good monster movie. In Japan, the genre of film is called kaiju, which translates to ‘strange beast’ and includes all manner of monster, from the hairy mega gorilla to the scaly lizard emerging from the harbour.

ELK Studios has chosen to go with reptile for this slot game, which transports the player to a futuristic city where the action takes place. Described in the opening sequence of the game as ‘humanity’s last refuge’, we are treated to the sight of many lasers, crystals and sci-fi inspired gear on these reels.

Game developer ELK Studios has made a name for itself as a studio that produces slots with interesting themes and engaging game mechanics, neither of which are in short supply in Kaiju. Settle in for a wild ride with protagonist and cyborg HA-42 striving to keep ancient monsters away from this last haven for humanity.

There are plenty of opportunities to win with Kaiju, released in early 2018, thanks to a solid repertoire of in-game features, which we will shine a light on here. Get ready for sizzling lasers lighting the way, a danger lurking in the deep and gems that will give you a generous boost when they appear on paylines.

• 5 reels, 3 rows, up to 7,776 ways to win
• Default bet levels 1-12
• Bet minimum of £0.20; maximum bet £100
• Maximum win of 130,440 coins
• Special features include Free Spins, Sticky Wilds, Expanding Reels
• Return to Player of 96.3%
• Volatility is high

Kaiju bonus features

You don’t need to know the storyline behind Kaiju to appreciate its design but it does add another layer of intrigue to the gameplay. Cyborg HA-42, in her futuristic outfit and edgy haircut, is trying to keep the last humans on earth safe. The threat? An ancient race of reptiles that could wipe out the species with a flick of their giant tails.

But HA-42 has a trick up her sleeve. The giant beasts have a weakness – the gems embedded in their skin protect them from harm. Removing those gems leaves them vulnerable to attack and that’s exactly what our hero plans to do, with the help of the player spinning the reels.

On the reels, gems, credit cards and HA-42 all appear. The red gem is the luckiest as it will reward the player with x15 their stake when five symbols appear on a payline.

Let’s take a look at how this game plays out and how players stand to win with the various game features built in.

Wilds

When spinning the Kaiju reels and a winning combination is landed from left to right, players will see a vertical laser shooting upwards. This will reveal a wild on the row above, improving the chances of striking a winning combination.

The Wild symbols in Kaiju are sticky, which means that, once they appear, they will stay in their positions on the expanded reels for the duration of the feature.

Kaiju Free Spins

When a player lands 3 symbols showing HA-42 on reels 2, 3, and 4 simultaneously, 7 free spins are awarded. One of three Kaiju will be randomly selected – green, red or blue, depending on the colour of the crystals on its body.

Each monster has its own pattern of hot spots. These must be activated with the 3 Vertical Lasers, located above the reel set. The lasers reveal Wilds, which trigger an upward expansion of the reels. A hot spot will limit how far the reels can expand but expanded reels remain throughout the feature’s duration. Each expansion equals 1 extra free spin, with up to 5 extra free spins up for grabs.

If the lasers activate all of a Kaiju’s hot spots, the final one will transform all symbols within the combination into sticky wilds, which stay on throughout the free spins feature and significantly boost players’ chances of striking winning combinations. Wins of up to 1,305x the original stake are possible thanks to this feature.

Kaiju Betting Strategies

A number of innovations have come out of ELK Studios’ games, one of which is the Betting Strategies feature which can be seen in Kaiju.

This feature allows players to set their slot betting strategies within the game itself, without having to manually keep an eye on wins and losses. Choose from Optimiser, Leveler, Booster or Jumper strategies and let the game software do the hard work for you.

These different options will adjust your bet level according to preset conditions, raising or lowering your wager as the game progresses. Players can adjust the strategies’ parameters within the game itself, while play is ongoing.

Kaiju jackpot

ELK Studios does not offer a progressive jackpot on Kaiju, which may disappoint players hoping to win bragging rights as well as a chunk of change. The expanding reels make room for plenty of opportunities and the 7,776 ways to win will certainly appeal.

RTP

Kaiju offers a Return to Player value of 96.3%. This is on the larger end of the average range for a slot game but the real draw lies in its high volatility. Patient players could see their initial stake multiplied several times over and the max win of 130,440 coins will not disappoint.

Kaiju on Mobile

Elk Studios has always prided itself on being a mobile-first game developer and they are showing off these credentials with Kaiju. This game looks fantastic on a mobile screen, we daresay even better than on a desktop. Both versions enjoy intuitive functionality and immersive design.