Las Vegas-based gaming manufacturer Light & Wonder partnered with Netflix to create a slot machine based on the streaming giant’s hit show, the South Korea-set thriller Squid Game.
Vegas Inc sat down with Yanis Tsombanidis, vice president of game design at Light & Wonder and lead creator behind the Squid Game slot machine, to learn more about the new game, the inspiration behind it and how slot machines overall can be valuable vessels for storytelling.
How did the Squid Game slot machine come to be?
I’m always on the hunt for a good story to tell on the slot machine. You’re always looking out for something that will resonate with people and the player (that’s) timeless. And so the second I saw Squid Game, that was something that I loved straight away. The show was great and had a lot of depth to it but was very simple on the surface.
And I love the story. The story, to me, is something everyone can understand, which is a redemption story. These people may be not where they want to be, and then they’re given an opportunity to, basically, be back on top again.
And that can translate—whether they’re trying to get their souls back, trying to get their humanity back—so many ways.
And on top of it all, what I love, it’s also just a very simple treasure hunt, which I think is something that in our industry connects with players.
Can you talk a little bit about the machine itself, the game and what it looks like?
We tried to keep it in line with the show. It’s basically a big pig full of money above, and then below it’s just players looking at it, wanting to get to it. And so that’s where we start.
And, like the show, once you trigger a feature, you play a game to then try to get closer to the pig. And so in the game, the pig has money on it. It’s got cash written on it. And all the jackpots are in pigs. And so everything is connected to pigs.
So, basically, I’m telling the player, “The money is in the pigs, and that’s what you’re trying to get.” And that connects with the show too. And, like the show, the way you get closer to the money, the way you win that money, is by eliminating people. So the more people you eliminate, the more pigs you get on screen.
As the Squid Game machine rolls out, what should people be excited about?
You don’t see these kinds of brands in the casino. This is really a fresh brand—very contemporary. But what I love about the game is, the mechanic is great—very simple—but the art is beautiful. It’s just very cinematic, and just something you don’t normally see on a slot machine.
And also the sound. Storytelling is fundamental, but a huge part of storytelling is sound—(it’s) music. It just builds a picture in your head that is hard to compete with when you try to do the art. So we’ve always tried to focus on the sound, the music, and try to make that a huge part of it, because that gets into you even when you’re not trying to listen.
How are slot machines a natural medium for telling this kind of story?
Storytelling is fundamental to every other form of entertainment. Storytelling is always a powerful way to communicate.
We’ve also found that when you’re on the device for a long time, the player just wants to be taken on an adventure.
When I go to the casino, I will look at a theme on a cabinet, and I want to be taken to that world. And so when I sit down, I’m always hoping for more. What’s the next part of this thing? If you equate it to a treasure hunt, also—which I think all slot machines are—you want to see that next thing. You want those extra little carrots here and there to keep you moving forward. That is fundamental to making a slot machine, so why not add a story to it that now brings the player in and takes him to somewhere else?
Any good story, any good book, any good movie—you lose track of time. Before you know it, three hours have passed, and you’re like, “I was having so much fun, I was just drawn into it.”
Have you heard any feedback from people who have played the Squid Game machine?
I’ve been watching videos. I watch the bloggers—the YouTubers—play Squid Game. I can tell that they’re looking at it going, “What is this?” (because) it’s so different. And then they’ll get sucked into the world.
I was watching one YouTuber, and they got a big win, and that music—we wanted it to be like a dance song. It’s likely something you’d hear in a nightclub. And so I just saw the YouTuber dancing. He goes, “Oh, I want the soundtrack for this game.”
And that’s exactly what we were aiming for. And that made me so happy to see someone experience the game the way it was designed.
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