Last month, Thunderkick released its final title in its Beat the Beast slot series with Griffin’s Gold. The remainder of the series consists of Kraken’s Lair, Mighty Sphinx, Cerberus Inferno, and Quetzalcoatl’s Trial.
SlotBeats spoke to Thunderkick’s communication manager, Maria Bolinder to take a deeper look into the series and delve into why it was developed, how the titles have been perceived and if we are likely to see more of the same from the firm in the near future.
On the original intention for the series, Bolinder noted the company wanted to ‘create a series of harder high volatile games with high paytable values and high potential’ and claimed each theme of the titles within the series had to ‘reflect the tough gameplay characteristics.
She added: “Like a battle with a powerful creature where the goal in the end was to ‘Beat the Beast’. By choosing the route of mythical beasts from around the world we were able to create a common thread for the entire series, yet find enough room for diversifying the settings, mood and audio.
“Although sharing similar visual characteristics, for recognisability, each game ended up having its own flavour. The deep abysses of the ominous Kraken. The hot desert of the majestic Sphinx. The heavy metal hell of Cerberus. The dense jungle kingdom of Quetzalcoatl. The ancient golden haven of the Griffin.
“Listen to the soundtracks of each game and you´ll find that they all are variations of the same musical theme. Having one dedicated team for all five games made it possible to, right from the start of design, take the entire scope into consideration. And to keep the quality consistent all the way through. An interesting challenge indeed.”
Bolinder expressed that due to the high volatility of the titles within the Beat the Beast series, the slots appeal to a ‘different part’ of the Thunderkick community compared to its more ‘leisure-entertainment games’.
“The Beat the Beast fan base is a more matured player (perhaps) but with no lack of either patience or an appetite for greater winnings.” Bolinder explained.
“We have seen a bigger interest in Griffin’s Gold so far we would say. Likely because of the fact that It’s the final game of the series and perhaps a good summary of some of the key features one might come to recall from the series.”
On the decision to create a series of titles, Bolinder explained that the main reasoning was to make variants of one exciting idea for a game. She continued: “Small differences in the game mechanic and overall production makes the experience very different and so we can explore various ideas and mechanics by making a series around a similar fundamental concept.
“This has been common in the land based world for a long time and very successful different players resonate with different titles within the series. In a way we see it as a single album where you various remixes and the audience find their own one of few favorite remixes.”
