Competitive Research and Data Insights for Slots Designers
SLOTS DESIGN REPORT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NEW INNOVATIONS
3
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-Style Bonuses
Mirror Me if You Can in Slotomania
Multi-Reel Stepper Machines
Santa’s Party in Lotsa Slots
SLOTS TRENDS
10
Wheels
Jackpots
Themes
MARKET WATCH
14
Notable Releases I, II, & III
NEW L&G CAPABILITIES
18
Feature Database Tool: Notifications
Feature Database: Data Tool
Slack Shared Channels
APPENDIX
22
Liquid and Grit Slots Personas
Premium Partnerships
JANUARY
2020
3
NEW INNOVATIONS
3
4
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE-STYLE BONUSES
Mirror Me if You Can in Slotomania
CASINO > CONTENT > SOCIAL
5
MECHANIC TEARDOWN
Wilds randomly trigger a trivia mini-game inspired by Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire. During the mini-game, players
answer multiple-choice questions to climb a jackpot ladder.
Train the Mirror Bonus
•
Wild symbols can randomly trigger a trivia mini-game.
•
Players answer multiple-choice questions about the machine to move up a jackpot ladder (video).
•
Players are randomly given one of three types of help for each question:
•
Dwarves vote on the answer (1).
•
Two incorrect answers are removed (2).
•
A prince guesses the answer.
•
Players can walk away with their current prize at any time.
•
If players answer incorrectly, they receive the previous jackpot on the ladder (3).
•
Correctly answering all eight questions awards the grand jackpot.
Free Spins
•
Landing eight or more apples awards twelve free spins (4, 5, and video).
•
One additional row is added every three spins—for a total of three additional rows (6).
•
During free spins, landing eight or more apples awards three extra free spins (7).
•
Extra free spins are played with all three additional rows.
Mirroring Wilds
•
Wilds appear on reels 2, 3, and 4.
•
Wilds can expand up or down a random number of positions (8).
Additional Information
•
See more images and videos in the Mirror Me if You Can Library.
2
4
6
8
1
3
5
7
6
1
EXPERT INSIGHTS
Target specific player types with skill-based bonus games. To increase engagement, ensure gameplay
accurately reflects marketing.
Engagement
•
Appeal to specific player personas with skill-oriented bonuses. Mirror Me if You Can’s
innovative Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-style bonus attracts Daydreamer Denise and
Sensation Serena players who favor challenge features and have the strongest beliefs in
their ability to control outcomes.
1
•
Align gameplay with machine marketing. The loading screen seems to imply that Mirror
Me if You Can’s bonus game rewards players for their knowledge and decisions (1).
However, the questions are not based on clear sources of in-app or real-world
information, producing a chance-based bonus game.
Retention
•
Let players earn marquee bonuses by filling meters or completing collection goals.
Unlike random triggers, goal-oriented tasks provide players with feedback as they
progress. A study found that players who receive positive feedback feel more
autonomous and competent, resulting in higher intrinsic motivation and an increased
likelihood of both immediate and future play.
2
•
Match bonus durations to the time it takes to trigger the bonus. Activating the Train the
Mirror Bonus can take hours of play (it took our team ~2,000 spins) but can end in as little
as 30 seconds. Numerous workplace studies have found that this type of effort-reward
imbalance leads to higher rates of burnout, which could deter players from returning in
the long term.
3
1
L&G Slots Personas Report, p. 17–21, 28–34
2
How feedback boosts motivation and play in a brain-training game, p. 97–98, 101
3
Reviewing the effort–reward imbalance model: drawing up the balance of 45 empirical studies, p. 1121–1124
7
MULTI-REEL STEPPER MACHINES
Santa’s Party in Lotsa Slots
CASINO > CONTENT > SOCIAL
8
MECHANIC TEARDOWN
During a respins bonus, players fill positions with stars and gifts
to earn jackpots. Gifts trigger free spins at the end of respins—
with one additional reel set unlocked per gift.
Respins
•
Landing three or more stars triggers three respins (1 and video).
•
Only stars and gifts can land during respins.
•
Both stars and gifts reset the respins counter (2).
•
At the end of the respins, players earn a jackpot based on the number of positions filled (3).
•
Players must meet minimum bet requirements to earn bigger jackpots (4).
•
Filling all nine positions awards the grand jackpot (5).
Free Spins
•
Gifts only appear during respins.
•
Landing at least 1 gift awards 10 free spins at the end of the respins bonus.
•
Each gift unlocks one additional reel set for the free spins (6).
•
Respins can be triggered during free spins (7).
•
During respins, gifts unlock more reel sets and reset the free spins counter once respins end (8).
•
Players can unlock up to nine reel sets.
Additional Information
•
See more images and videos in the Santa’s Party Library.
2
4
6
8
1
3
5
7
9
Fine-tune user interface design and animations to improve player
satisfaction. Use clear, compelling bet-up screens to increase bet sizes.
Retention
•
Maintain visual separation between distinct machine elements. User interface design matters: A study of over
6,000 1- and 2-star reviews of 20 popular apps found that poor interface design was the 5
th
most commonly
cited issue.
4
Icons that float over game elements create clutter and usability issues (1). Design expandable
menus that cover up background visuals when in use and collapse out of sight afterward (2).
•
Increase player satisfaction by using kinetic animations for big boosts and wins. Santa’s Party reveals additional
reel sets using a fairly straightforward dissolve. Instead, create exciting moments by introducing new visual
elements with satisfying animations that accelerate at the start and decelerate at the end.
5
Engagement
•
Clearly illustrate bet-up benefits on loading screens and during play. Santa’s Party uses a meter above player
bets to show minimum bet requirements for different jackpot sizes (2). Caesars Slots’ newly released Kodiak
Mountain machine has players choose a bet tier from a launch menu that lays out the unique benefits of each
tier (3). Further incentivize large bets by adding unique perks beyond bigger jackpots, like Kodiak Mountain’s
guaranteed progressive free spins.
•
When offering a suite of benefits, be careful not to cause information overload. As the “The Gamer’s Brain”
GDC talk on Fortnite illustrates, players can only retain so much new information at one time. To avoid confusion,
consider contextualizing each tier with an example image, as in Fortnite’s weapon repair-to-crafting tutorial.
6
4
What Do Mobile App Users Complain About?, p. 5
5
Squeezing more juice out of your game design!
6
The Gamer’s Brain, Part 2: UX of Onboarding and Player Engagement (GDC16)
1
2
3
EXPERT INSIGHTS
10
NEW INNOVATIONS
SLOTS TRENDS
10
Tracked slots apps:
Big Fish Casino, Caesars Slots, Cash Frenzy, Cashman Casino, DoubleDown Casino,
DoubleU Casino, Heart of Vegas, Hit It Rich!, House of Fun, Huuuge Casino, Jackpot Magic
Slots, Jackpot Party, POP! Slots, and Slotomania
11
Wheels
Percentage of Releases
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
WHEELS
Wheels were trending through the middle of 2019 but have since declined in popularity. Only 10% of
machines released in November and December included wheels, down from a peak of 20% in August.
12
Progressive Jackpots
Percentage of Releases
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
JACKPOTS
Progressive jackpots spiked in December, appearing in 19% of machines released by tracked apps.
13
Themes
Number of Releases (December 2019)
2
4
6
8
10
12
IP
Asian
Other
Animal
Classic
Holiday
Cultural
Fairy Tale
Egyptian
Fantasy
Mythology
THEMES
IP content continues to be the top theme for new machines. Asian- and classic-themed machines shot
up in December by 50% and 133%, respectively, compared to November.
MARKET WATCH
14
15
App
Machine
Description
Cash Frenzy
Super Wicked
Blast
•
Bubble symbols containing coin values randomly appear on the screen (video).
•
Bubbles rise each spin.
•
Landing a star symbol under a bubble pops the bubble and awards the bubble’s value (1).
Golden 70s
•
Players choose to build a new shop or hire employees for existing shops (2).
•
To complete each task, players must collect symbols within a specified number of spins.
•
If players run out of spins, a robber steals their progress.
•
Players can use police to remove robbers and activate free spins.
•
Employees can sell items to trigger a bonus.
Caesars Slots
Kodiak
Mountain
•
Three tiers of bets activate different rewards for a wheel spin bonus (3).
•
The lowest tier offers 10–20 free spins with 1x–5x multipliers.
•
The middle tier offers a progressive number of free spins with 2x–5x multipliers.
•
The highest tier guarantees a progressive number of free spins with 2x–5x multipliers and
contains a grand jackpot.
•
Landing three or more wheel symbols triggers the bonus.
NOTABLE RELEASES I
1
2
3
NOTABLE RELEASES II
16
App
Machine
Description
Cashman
Casino
Forbidden
Gaze
•
Paid spins occur on a 10-spin counter.
•
Scatter symbols leave behind sticky frames (1).
•
Landing a scatter symbol on a sticky frame increases that frame’s level.
•
All sticky frames become wilds every 10
th
spin (video).
•
Wilds are multiplied by frames’ levels.
•
Reels reset after the 10
th
spin.
•
Collecting scatter symbols fills a meter.
•
Filling the meter awards free spins in the reel configuration shown on the meter.
•
Sticky frames and wilds do not appear during free spins.
DoubleU
Casino
Pawsome
Puppies
•
Landing three or more scatter symbols triggers free spins.
•
During free spins, players collect bones to turn scatter symbols into wilds (2).
•
Turning all scatter symbols into wilds triggers respins.
•
Each spin, wilds move left one reel.
•
Respins continue as long as any wilds remain on the reels.
Gold Fish
Casino
Up Up and
Away
Monopoly
•
Landing three bonus symbols awards one shot in a cannon mini-game.
•
Players can earn up to 30 shots in a single spin.
•
During the mini-game, players tap the screen to fire the cannon (3).
•
Shots move along a path of prizes and award the prize they land on (video).
•
Prizes include coins, six kinds of bonuses, and a free shot with a 2x multiplier.
Jewel of the
Dragon
•
During play, randomly shaped wild “jewels” fall from the top of the reels (video).
•
Jewels that land on reels convert symbols to wilds in the shape of the jewels.
•
Landing three diamonds triggers a pick’em bonus.
•
During the pick’em bonus, players pick one of three jewels to drop onto the reels (4).
1
2
3
4
NOTABLE RELEASES III
17
App
Machine
Description
Heart of
Vegas
Emeralds of
Egypt
•
Landing identical god symbols on reels 1 and 2 awards all cash value symbols on reels 3,
4, and 5 (1 and video).
House of Fun
The Legend of
Z
•
Landing a hero symbol on eight or more positions of reel 1 triggers three respins (video).
•
Only hero and coin symbols appear during respins.
•
Spins that land at least one symbol award one additional respin.
•
Coin symbols turn into one of four power-ups after landing.
•
Power-ups can fill adjacent positions, award jackpot wheel spins, add extra rows of hero
symbols, or increase the value of hero symbols (2).
•
All non-jackpot power-ups become hero symbols at the end of the respins.
Lightning Link
Casino
Cash Spark
•
Spiked ball symbols can land on reels 2, 3, and 4.
•
Landing a spiked ball “activates” all adjacent cells for the next three spins (3).
•
During these three spins, landing another spiked ball activates additional cells and resets
the spin counter.
•
Cells activated during free spins remain active for the duration of the free spins.
•
Players are rewarded for any gems that land on active cells.
•
Cells that have been activated by multiple spiked balls add multipliers to gem rewards.
1
2
3
Quickly review all features and machines
•
Filter the Library Tool by month and year to see all new releases.
18
NEW L&G CAPABILITIES
18
FEATURE DATABASE TOOL: NOTIFICATIONS
Stay on top of the latest apps, features, events, and more using our new email notifications tool in the
Feature Database. Log in to your Liquid and Grit account to get started.
How to Use Notifications
1. Go to the Feature Database and create a search.
2. Click on the “Add Filter Notification” button.
3. Create a name for your notification.
4. Choose when and how often you want to receive notification emails.
5. Click “Save”.
6. Click “My Notifications” to view, edit, or delete notifications.
Suggested Notifications
•
All slots machines (tracked apps only)
•
Playtika apps Slotomania, House of Fun, and Caesars Slots
•
Big Fish Games apps Big Fish Casino and Jackpot Magic Slots
•
Playstudios apps POP! Slots, myVegas Slots, and my KONAMI Slots
Note: If you have access to Liquid and Grit through a company-wide subscription, email
suppor[email protected] to set up an account.
19
FEATURE DATABASE: DATA TOOL
Identify design trends in top-grossing casino apps using the Data Tool in the Feature Database.
How to Use the Data Tool
1. Log in to your Liquid and Grit account.
2. Go to the Feature Database.
3. Click on the “Data” tab.
4. Filter by “Casino” and “Content”.
5. Click the blue “Download CSV” button.
6. In Excel, use the “Text to Columns” option on the “Categories” column.
•
This data export will be adjusted soon.
7. Use a pivot table to analyze the information.
Suggested Data Exports
•
Slots features, events, and content (tracked apps only)
•
Slots machines (tracked apps only)
•
Casino events (tracked apps only)
•
Casino features (tracked apps only)
•
New machine releases from Slotomania, House of Fun, and Caesars Slots
•
New machine releases from Big Fish Casino and Jackpot Magic Slots
Note: If you have access to Liquid and Grit through a company-wide subscription, email
suppor[email protected] to set up an account.
20
SLACK SHARED CHANNELS
Get answers fast with a shared Liquid and Grit Slack channel. Ask us questions directly, download resources,
start a discussion, and receive our monthly reports—all from your company’s existing Slack accounts.
How to Set Up a Channel (Estimated Time: 15 Minutes)
1. Discuss the shared channel with a Slack admin.
2. Email us to receive a shared channel link.
3. Have the Slack admin accept the invitation.
4. Add members to the channel.
Potential Applications
•
Request RTP spreadsheets.
•
Get advice on Feature Database searches.
•
Add users to your account.
•
Discuss recent reports.
•
Receive hilarious GIFs.
Note: If you have access to Liquid and Grit through a company-wide subscription, email
suppor[email protected] to set up an account.
21
APPENDIX
22
23
LIQUID AND GRIT SLOTS PERSONAS
Participants from the U.K. and U.S. (N=1,299) were surveyed about their mobile gaming use. The data
produced five personas with distinct patterns of slots preferences and playing habits.
Demographics
Fame Frank
Money Mike
Daydreamer Denise
Gambler Gail
Sensation Serena
Size
21%
22%
27%
19%
11%
Women
50%
51%
66%
60%
55%
Age
32 mean / 30 median
34 mean / 32 median
35 mean / 34 median
35 mean / 33 median
35 mean / 32 median
Education
3.5
3.3
3.5
3.2
3.3
Money Spent
4.2
4.9
3.5
5.4
5.8
Play Time
5.0
4.5
5.0
4.9
6.5
* The education, money spent, and play time numbers represent the relative value of each category compared to other player personas.
24
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reports with the most relevant and detailed gaming user personas, data, and statistics available.
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Quadrant Strategies
Kinrate Analytics
Sensor Tower
Market Research
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Player Personas
Kinrate Analytics
Mobile App Store Intelligence
Sensor Tower
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