In the third episode of our SlotBeats Spotlight insight into slot design, we cast our eye into the future and quizzed our experts on how developers can look to use player preference to evolve design in future titles.
SlotBeats: How much of an impact is player preference having on slot design, and how can developers use this to innovate future titles?
Kenny Dahlsjö, Lady Luck Games: We’re certainly seeing slot designers giving players more choice within games. In some cases gameplay can be adjusted to suit personal tastes around volatility, particularly in bonus games.
I think this fits the pattern of life in general, where people want to have a unique experience that suits their wants and desires. This is probably the natural progression from a wide portfolio of different games, having variation within a single game.
I suppose it could be summarised as your game your way. We have implemented a great example of that in our upcoming game Rooftop Fight, where players get to select which feature they want to enable in the game.
Rob Procter, SG Digital: We’re seeing a greater number of titles implement features where players can control their own destiny. For instance, choosing the volatility of their bonus game, which is something they really appreciate because the gameplay is adjusted to their own individual preference.
That’s likely to remain the case in the future as there’s an ever-growing demand for the personalised experience. It also helps to differentiate games and make them appealing to a wider audience. Instead of offering just one highly volatile bonus, providing several options means you’re catering to different tastes within a single game.
Arcangelo Lonoce, Habanero: Collecting data and analysing the behaviour of your core audience is essential to every step of the product design, this doesn’t of course just apply to slots. From game maths, UI, characterisation, features, gameplay and beyond, a designer needs to be aware of what makes their audience excited.
Player preference has shaped the design of any digital product we have come to know and use these days, slots make no exception. Think of why we started developing with mobile portrait mode at the core of our design as early as 2015, for example, and you would have a topical example of how important player preference is.
Marcus Honney, AvatarUX: We are a studio that is committed to making games that players want to play. For us, player preference is the core of slot design. We are very present in player communities, game forums, stream forums and more, and we are always taking note of what players are commenting on and suggesting.
We are taking constructive feedback on our own games seriously from such communities and strive to constantly improve our product.
Ivan Kravchuk, Evoplay: In short, the impact is colossal! With any type of slot, the wrapper in which the game is packaged is more or less its business card.
From the game’s logo and gameplay screenshots, to the game’s overall design, everything matters and can’t be underestimated, because it’s those exact finer details that new players base their decisions from.
Therefore, player and user experience should always be kept in mind, as they determine the success of a game. Applying this to strategy, one must identify the design of the slot at one of the key stages of game development, which naturally requires time and resources. Aesthetics really do matter, especially in igaming where our main goal is to entertain the user.
