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About Feed the Kraken
Feed the Kraken puts the whole group on one ship, secretly split between loyal sailors, pirates and a small cult. Each round a captain appoints officers, who together choose the course card by card, and every faction wants to end up somewhere different. Mutinies, floggings and players being fed to the Kraken keep the table loud. It takes longer and asks more of players than lighter social deduction games, but its strong BGG rating shows how many groups think the extra weight is worth it.
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Is Feed the Kraken Right for You?
Best for
Feed the Kraken is for an experienced group of seven to eleven who want a meatier social deduction game. It is best around eight to ten, where all three factions are in play and the ship is full of suspects. The three-way split creates alliances and betrayals that two-sided games cannot.
Maybe skip it if…
It is longer and fiddlier than most party games, so groups that want something quick should look at Avalon instead. Players can be thrown overboard, and a few may sit out the end of the game.
How to Play Feed the Kraken
Setup
Deal secret loyalty cards for your player count. Place the ship at the start of the map and give the first captain the captain's hat.
On Your Turn
- The captain picks a lieutenant and a navigator. The rest of the crew may vote to mutiny and replace the captain.
- The captain and lieutenant each draw navigation cards and secretly pass one to the navigator.
- The navigator plays one card face up, moving the ship, and may trigger an action on the space reached.
- The captain role moves on for the next round.
How to Win
Each faction has its own destination. The game ends when the ship reaches one of them, and the matching faction wins.
💡 Strategy Tips
Watch who keeps getting chosen as navigator. The cards they reveal tell you more than anything people say.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating it as two teams. The cult changes everything, and sometimes sailors and pirates need to work together against it.
- Ignoring the navigation cards. The cards a navigator plays are hard evidence, unlike what people say.
- Mutinying every round. Guns are limited, and an empty-handed crew cannot stop a bad captain later.
- Changing the faction mix without reason. The rulebook's setup for each player count is what keeps the three sides balanced.
Advanced Strategy
- As a sailor, keep a mental record of which captains and lieutenants passed which cards. Patterns emerge over a few rounds.
- As a pirate, play a sailor card now and then to build trust, then strike when the ship is close to your cove.
- As the cult, stay quiet and let sailors and pirates suspect each other.
- Use flogging and similar actions on the player whose story has changed the most, not the loudest.
Variants & House Rules
Editions
The game was released in a Deluxe Edition and a cheaper edition, sold in some regions as the Essential Edition. The rules are the same, but components differ.
Bonus Character Cards
A small Funtails add-on with extra character cards to vary the game.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
Feed the Kraken has a high BGG rating, and it earns it with a three-way struggle and clear, evidence-based play. It asks for more time and rules than lighter games. For a regular group of eight to ten, we recommend it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players is it best with?
Eight to ten. It plays from five, but the three-way tension is strongest at higher counts.
How long does it take?
Forty-five minutes to an hour and a half, depending on group size and how much people argue.
Is it hard to learn?
It has more rules than Avalon or Werewolf, but one teach is usually enough, and the course map makes goals clear.