Inside Asian Gaming

The Listening Game Slot suppliers need to trust the intelligence and good sense of their players, says Weike’s Andrew Masen I f you thought casino slot game design was only about the maths, think again. The best design teams need to think like a player and see and feel what the player experiences. Only then can the technicians produce a game with the necessary ‘stickiness’ to keep going for several generations; thereby earning back many times over the money and resources invested. Andrew Masen, (Vice President) Slot Gaming, the head of Weike Gaming Technology’s game design department, gives Inside Asian Gaming some insight into how it can be achieved. IAG : Is there such a thing as a ‘typical’ background for a slot game designer? Well I was a [mathematics] tutor at a university in Australia. But after a while I saw the need to get out there into an industry where I could apply my skills. I joined Stargames as a game designer back in 2002 in Sydney. In the next few years I learned a lot about the Australian gaming industry. Every state and territory of Australia has different standards and regulations and Stargames was looking to grow in each of those markets. Its product line up included not only slot machines but also multi-terminal games. What took you intogamingas opposed to other industries? I was looking for a specific challenge I think—something that was exciting and a little bit different. I often tell people that I wasn’t looking forward to sitting in front of a computer and just pushing about numbers; which I’m sure I was well qualified to do. I had always enjoyed watching people gamble—whether that was at horse races, in a casino or in small slot halls. So the opportunity came along, and I grabbed it. Designing games for casinos seemed very appealing. I wondered why it was that some games were more appealing than others, and why was it that certain features were exciting over and over again. I wanted to understand this more. And I’m still learning now with Weike; which is most satisfying. “Even if you tried to copy many components of someone else’s successful game, you will never do it as well. You might come close, but you certainly won’t do better.” Has your experience as a tutor shaped your work as a game designer? Yes. Once I became part of a team and that team expanded and junior people came on board, then having that little bit of teaching experience was helpful. I was able to explain clearly and precisely gaming concepts to those junior team members. Is game design top down—you telling the team what you want—or bottom up; them coming up with ideas? It’s a bit of both. I think it’s very important that the junior engineers and mathematicians are free to be creative— with their own individual approach—to the games. But there comes a point where a certain review is made. If the idea is not quite ready for the market it may be put on hold. The other side of it is that the idea might best be incorporated into another product.