The Light & Wonder vice president of game design wants fans of the Netflix sensation to be drawn in by the visual allure and remain in their seats because of the pacing and narrative and a thrill they find familiar. And he’d very much like to assure these casino gamblers that they won’t be killed when the inevitable losing button-tap transpires.
“I like to use the word eliminate,” he laughed.
Red light, green light indeed.
Gaming Today spoke with Tsombanidis about Squid Game, which debuted recently at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland, Calif.
Q: Why was Squid Game a proper basis for a slot machine?
YT: The philosophy of our team is storytelling. We want to be the best storytellers in this medium. And so, when we are looking at brands, the brand has to have a story, has to have characters, a journey that resonates with everyone.
So even though it could be a space thing or something people are not familiar with, if there’s a story in there, if there’s an underlying narrative that connects with everyday people, I think that’s a good start.
Q: What will entice players to the Squid Game slot?
YT: Squid Game is a redemption story. It’s these people that are maybe not where they want to be in life. This is an opportunity for them to, basically, get their souls back.
All the contestants are chasing this pig full of money. I think that is something everyone can understand. ‘OK, I need to chase this pig full of money.’
So that’s what we do. We put a big pig full of money in front of the game. That is where the money is in the game. Throughout the game, you are chasing that pig full of money.
In the show, the way you get closer to the money is more people get eliminated from the game. It’s the same thing in our slot game. We remove symbols, which are people. When they get removed from the game, you get more pigs in your game.
I feel like if you are a fan of the show where we are dead-on it will resonate with you. If you don’t know the show ‘pig full of money,’ you’ll understand that, right?
And it’s not a complicated mechanic. We understand that our audience will know the show and there’ll be a bunch that don’t.
Q: How hard is it to appeal not only to Squid Game fans but also casino regulars who may be unfamiliar?
YT: Squid Game, it is very contemporary. It doesn’t feel dated. It definitely doesn’t feel like your grandma’s game kind of [experience]. But when we do a game, we always try to ground it in something very simple, something very familiar, so when the player sits down, what they’re looking at feels very familiar.
We are always trying to hit our demographic, but we’re also trying to get to the fringes a bit, bring some new players in.
Q: An unsuccessful player is not killed by a giant doll?
I like to use the word eliminate.
Q: Wouldn’t killing players be bad for business?
YT: Just start again! Just repeat! I’m not a violent person, and so if you play the game, if you are a fan of Squid Game, your instinct would be that it was a violent game. There’s no violence, there’s no blood. I have no blood in there, no one getting shot, no guns. There is not one gun in that game.
But yet it’s like Psycho.
You don’t need to see the knife entering.
It’s all suggested. I think this is more powerful. Building that story in the player’s mind is a lot more powerful than showing the reality, the gruesome part of that. I like taking on those challenges.
Q: When did slots become about narrative and not just tapping the button?
YT: I think my job would be really boring if I didn’t have something grander. This is a form of entertainment like every other form of entertainment, like your phone or TV. Story is fundamental to all those other mediums. Why would this medium be any different?
I’ve been doing this for a few years now, and the story being the pillar of how we approach games, I think worked for us. It does so many things for us, even just gives us a common language where I can judge the quality of a game and other people — engineers, mathematicians, artists — we can all talk a common language of story.
How is a slot machine story developed?
YT: We write a script up and it has pictures in it, and it has the arc of this game, where we are starting with the player and where we end.
Every game is a rollercoaster.
How are we going to take him up here? How are we going to bring him down here? Where are these highs?
That game is like a treasure hunt and our job is to be really clear with the player what the treasure is. And then we put that player on that journey and during their journey my job is to make sure that there’s enough carrots that they keep going.
Q: How did the idea form?
YT: I was a huge fan of Squid Game. My wife and I don’t watch a lot of shows together, and this is one of them we actually enjoyed. I could see in Squid Game they do a lot of things that are not just for the sake of being gruesome. So for a quick example, the pig has a very orangey glow. And the psychology of that is: It represents the soul, the sun, the warmth.
There’s all these little things that they put in the show.
They have to sacrifice themselves and it has a monetary element. There’s a few elements in there that I think would translate really nicely to a gaming world.
This was one I could see from the beginning was going to make a really, really good slot game.
YouTube slot machine reviewer/influence Brian Christopher is a fan.
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