Hey players, are you in the mood for a ‘Release’ history class? If so, then let’s rewind the clock to 2020, when developer Pragmatic Play caused Release the Kraken to bubble up from the depths, then later dropped a sequel, Release the Kraken 2, a couple of years later.

This brings us to early 2024, and Pragmatic Play has loosed an animal of an entirely different kind. The slot is Release the Bison Slot, and the creature switch brings a few technical changes along with it. Release the Bison is a solid addition to the animal-themed slot niche, praised for its quality and engaging gameplay.
Of the two earlier Release games, Release the Bison most closely resembles Release the Kraken 2, but with a glorious outdoor setting replacing the ocean depths. Players are treated to a rather magnificent location filled with mountains, meadows, rugged terrain, and trees. The visuals feature a lush outdoor setting with high-quality animations and sounds, offering a vibrant and lively environment.
This stands in contrast to the barren wilderness often seen in animal-themed slots, making Release the Bison’s landscape feel especially immersive. It really is a rather nice scene, though the serenity is interrupted by a number of oddly expressioned animal symbols on the reels. With an RTP of 96.54% , high volatility, and a vast betting range from $0.20 to $240, this wildlife adventure offers the chance to claim rewards worth up to 3,000x your bet.
| Software | Pragmatic Play |
| Game Type | Video Slots |
| Paylines | 20 |
| Reels | 5 |
| Rows | 3 |
| RTP | 96.54% |
| Volatility | High |
| Minimum Bet | $0.20 |
| Maximum Bet | $240 |
| Maximum Win | 3,000x your bet |
Release the Bison is a 5-reel, 3-row video slot from industry leader bison pragmatic play that transports you to a breathtaking natural paradise. The action unfolds across a standard 5x3 matrix with 20 fixed paylines for assessing winning combinations, offering a familiar framework for both new and experienced players. Wins are awarded for landing 3 to 5 matching symbols on any of the 20 paylines, starting from the leftmost reel.
For an added 50% to the stake, players can activate the ante bet feature, which grants a higher chance of winning free spins, a strategic option worth considering when conditions feel right. The game’s high volatility means players may experience dry spells between wins, but the win potential is significant—when wins do arrive, they carry the potential for genuinely substantial payouts.
Before you venture onto the plains with real funds, you can master the game’s unique mechanics through demo play. This allows you to understand how roaming wilds move between spins, how the Wild Respins feature triggers, and how the free spins multiplier builds as you collect wild symbols.
Release the Bison treats players to a rather glorious outdoor location that immediately captures the imagination. Towering mountains frame the background, their peaks dusted with snow, while lush green meadows stretch toward dense forests. It really is a rather nice scene, peaceful, expansive, and inviting.
The game’s adventure theme gives players the sense of embarking on a treasure hunt, exploring the rugged frontier landscape in search of hidden rewards. The frontier boasts features such as respins, free spins, and multipliers, enhancing the excitement as players journey through this wild setting.

Release the Bison offers a solid Return to Player rate of 96.54% , which is nothing to complain about. This percentage sits comfortably above the industry average and provides a fair mathematical foundation for your wildlife adventures.
The game carries a high volatility rating. If highly volatile slots are your preference, you'll feel right at home here. This means wins may not land with every spin, but when they do arrive, especially during the Wild Respins and Free Spins features, they possess the potential to be genuinely substantial. This high-risk, high-reward structure suits players who appreciate the thrill of chasing significant wins and can maintain patience through quieter periods while waiting for the bison to stampede.
You can begin your wildlife expedition with wagers as low as $0.20 per spin, perfect for extended play sessions while you learn the game's mechanics and wait for those roaming wilds to appear. If you're a high roller seeking maximum treasure hauls, the betting range extends up to an impressive $240 per spin. This vast range should cover the majority of gambling appetites, from cautious explorers to adrenaline-seeking veterans.
The ultimate treasure waiting on the plains is a payout of 3,000x your total bet. While this is lower than the 5,000x offered in Kraken 2 or the 10,000x in the original Release the Kraken, it still represents a substantial reward for those who master the game's mechanics and trigger the right combination of features.
Release the Bison’s action unfolds on a 5-reel, 3-row matrix with 20 paylines for assessing winning combinations. The familiar structure makes it easy to jump right in, while the innovative roaming wild mechanic adds depth for those who take time to understand it. Bonus symbols are key triggers for special features in the game, activating rounds like free spins and respins. Wild symbols can substitute for regular pay symbols and pay up to 12.5 times the stake for five of a kind.
The game features 20 fixed paylines that give you numerous opportunities to form winning combinations across the reels. Wins count from left to right, starting with the first reel, and only the highest win on each individual payline counts toward your total. This focused approach ensures that every winning combination you land contributes meaningfully to your balance.
The pay symbols have nature covered, with classic playing card ranks serving as the lower-value options and four animal characters representing the higher-paying lot.

The low-paying symbols are the familiar 10, J, Q, K, and A playing card ranks. These appear frequently, providing steady smaller wins that sustain your bankroll while you wait for the more valuable wildlife to appear.
Symbol | 3 OAK | 4 OAK | 5 OAK |
| 10, J, Q | 0.1x | 0.25x | 0.5x |
| K, A | 0.2x | 0.5x | 1.5x |
Note: Payout values shown are multipliers of your total bet. Actual payouts scale with your wager.
The high-paying symbols are 4 animal characters, each rendered with distinctive personality. These creatures appear less frequently but deliver substantially larger rewards when they form winning combinations.
Symbol | 3 OAK | 4 OAK | 5 OAK |
| Animal 1 | 0.5x | 1x | 2x |
| Animal 2 | 0.75x | 1.5x | 3x |
| Animal 3 | 1x | 2.5x | 5x |
| Animal 4 | 1.5x | 4x | 10x |
Note: Payout values shown are multipliers of your total bet. Actual payouts scale with your wager.
Bison appear on wild symbols, present on all reels. These majestic creatures serve as your most valuable allies on the plains. Wilds substitute for all regular pay symbols, helping you complete and expand winning combinations across the paylines.
During certain features, wild symbols are 'wild collected', meaning they are gathered as you play to contribute towards triggering additional free spins or multipliers.
Additionally, landing a line of 5 wild symbols is worth up to 12.5 times your stake, making them valuable in their own right even without substitution.
The features in Release the Bison introduce a thrilling game feature set that keeps gameplay exciting and rewarding. Players can look forward to the wild respin feature, where entering respin mode is triggered by landing wild symbols. During this mode, wilds roam and bison wild travels across the reels, and each new wild that lands awards an additional respin. In the bonus game, bonus game stays applies as wilds persist and continue to roam, increasing win potential.
The random guaranteed wins feature is also present, with transform spins and randomly transforming non-winning spins into wins, as fortune randomly awards these outcomes to enhance the experience. Collecting wilds is key, reaching the fifth wild milestone triggers further free spins and progressive multipliers, with increasing multipliers boosting your potential rewards.
Players can also access the bison release bonus buy option for instant entry into bonus rounds. Overall, Release the Bison offers a dynamic mix of features, including wild respin feature, respin mode, wilds roam, bison wild travels, random guaranteed wins, transform spins, and increasing multipliers.
Review release: Release the Bison delivers engaging gameplay with its thrilling game feature set, roaming wilds, progressive multipliers, and random bonus triggers, making it a standout slot experience.
Landing 3 or more scatter symbols triggers the free spins bonus game. Additionally, there's a random chance that if 2 scatters hit in the base game, a respin may be triggered on the reels that do not contain a scatter. If a third scatter appears during that respin, free spins are granted immediately.

Before the bonus round starts, a wheel with two sides appears to award both a multiplier and a number of free spins. The exact rewards are governed by how many triggering scatters you landed:
| Triggering Scatters | Free Spins Range | Multiplier Range |
| 3 scatters | 8 to 18 free spins | x1 to x5 |
| 4 scatters | 8 to 18 free spins | x2 to x5 |
| 5 scatters | 10 to 18 free spins | x3 to x5 |
During the free spins round, the roaming wild mechanic becomes even more powerful:
A maximum of 10 wild symbols can be collected in this way, meaning the potential for extended play and growing multipliers is substantial. The combination of roaming wilds, increasing multiplier, and additional free spins creates a compound growth effect that can lead to spectacular payouts as the round progresses.
For players who prefer immediate access to the action, the free spins feature can be purchased directly from the base game through the Feature Buy menu. Three options are available:
| Purchase Cost | Scatters Triggered | RTP |
| 80x your bet | 3 scatters | 96.55% |
| 150x your bet | 4 scatters | 96.57% |
| 300x your bet | 5 scatters | 96.51% |
Each option guarantees a free spins round with the specified number of triggering scatters, allowing you to bypass the base game entirely and dive straight into the roaming wild action. The 80x option offers the best value for players seeking a cost-effective entry to free spins, while the 300x option provides the highest starting multiplier range for those chasing the maximum 3,000x prize.
Maximising your treasure haul on the plains requires more than just luck; it demands thoughtful preparation and strategic decision-making before you venture out with real funds. By trying the bison demo version or engaging in free play, you can test different strategies and features without risking your bankroll. This approach allows you to identify which features and betting patterns can lead to solid wins, as many players find that certain strategies consistently yield substantial payouts. Remember, the demo version uses virtual credits, so while you can't win real cash, it's an excellent way to practice and refine your approach before playing for real money.
The Feature Buy options at 80x, 150x, and 300x your bet represent significant investments. These options work best for:
The 300x option for 5 scatters is particularly attractive if your bankroll allows, as starting with a x3 to x5 multiplier range gives you a significant head start toward substantial payouts.
If the wildlife theme and roaming wild mechanics of Release the Bison have captured your imagination, you’ll find these similar slots equally exciting:
Just as bison aren't as terrifying as mythological sea monsters, so is Release the Bison a more measured, approachable game than the titles that inspired it. Pragmatic has trimmed away at the feature set of its predecessors — the Shifting Stack Wild symbols have been cut out, the guaranteed win feature has been scaled back, and the maximum starting multiplier values have been reeled in a notch. Take some here, give some there, and what have you got? Well, Release the Bison, really.

The changes have produced a gentler, more approachable game, partly because the win cap now engages at 3,000x, lower than the 5,000x and 10,000x figures seen in earlier Pragmatic Play releases. The number of paylines remains the same when transitioning from the base game to the free spins round, instead of doubling as they did previously, and the box-picking bonus mechanic has gone entirely.
Release the Bison features a default RTP of 96.54%, placing it comfortably above the industry average and providing a fair mathematical foundation for your wildlife adventures.
The game carries a high volatility rating. This means wins may be less frequent but can be substantial when they occur, especially during the Wild Respins and Free Spins features.
The maximum win in Release the Bison is 3,000x your total bet, achievable through the Free Spins round with roaming wilds and increasing multiplier.
The betting range accommodates all players, with a minimum bet of $0.20 and a maximum bet of $240 per spin.
The Wild Respins feature triggers when 4 or more wild symbols land. All wilds become roaming wilds, moving randomly between respins. Each new wild awards another respin and increases the win multiplier by +1. Scatters collected during this feature can trigger free spins.
Free Spins trigger by landing 3 or more scatter symbols. Before the round starts, a wheel awards 8-18 free spins with a multiplier of x1 to x5 (or higher with more scatters). During free spins, roaming wilds persist and collected wilds award additional spins and multiplier increases.