As the saying goes, "There are always takers for a beheading business, but none for a losing one." This is something both you and I know, so why do players keep coming back to slot machines even though they know they will lose money in the long run?
It is certain that players must be obtaining value beyond money from the game, whether it be a sense of entertainment, achievement, or even just satisfaction and constraint from a corner of their subconscious. This is the value that slot machine designers and producers strive to create.
Here's a common example: the second item at a convenience store is 40% off
Your rational mind might tell you: (100% + 60%) / 2 = 80%, so buying two items gives you a discount of 20%, but the repeated advertisement you hear in your mind is "second item & 40% off," which attacks your subconscious, making you think you get a 40% discount by buying another item: (100% + 100%) x 60% / 2 = 60%. Even though you are buying two items at a 20% discount, you feel the satisfaction of getting a 40% discount.
With this mindset applied to slot machines, players naturally keep coming back. Thus, the designer's job is to create more satisfaction for the player within a certain budget.
Everything from the slot machine's sound effects, animations, color schemes, value adjustments, and rule settings can help you pull off this magic trick.
Therefore, the success of a game depends not only on mathematics but also on sound effects, art, programming, and even how easy the machine buttons are to press. A slot machine game is like a magic show; no part can be out of sync. It is extremely foolish to blame only a few aspects for poor sales.
Below is an example of how to use "rule setting" to give players satisfaction beyond money, demonstrating how to complete the magic show of a slot machine.
Game Features Introduction
Using "DoubleU's" "Piggy Jackpot" as an example.
"Piggy Jackpot" on the "Double U" platform is a popular old game, and even a sequel "Piggy Jackpot 2" has been released.
Simply using the odds table that every game has to introduce the game:
1. The theme's Piggy Symbol scores based on the total number appearing on the screen, while other symbols need exactly three on a winning line to score.
2. The Red Ribbon Piggy, besides being considered a Piggy Symbol, also triggers the locking of Red Ribbon Piggy and a Respin feature.
3. The Yellow Ribbon Piggy, besides being considered a Piggy Symbol, triggers the locking of Yellow Ribbon Piggy and awards Free spins when {3, 4, 5} Yellow Ribbon Piggies appear on the board.
Using Rules to Guide Player Imagination
From the above content, it's not hard to see that the entire game revolves around collecting Piggy numbers. The two special Piggies (Red Ribbon, Yellow Ribbon) also help players collect more Piggies. Try to think, after being brainwashed thousands of times that Symbol numbers = score, how players perceive other Symbols scoring?
The game has a total of 9 squares, arranged in a 3 x 3 grid. According to the usual left-to-right rule, there are at most 3^3 = 27 lines, but it opens 40 lines, not because there are repeated lines, but because its scoring lines are not only from left to right but also from top to bottom.
Humans pursue pleasure and avoid pain. The complex line paths make players give up understanding the lines and squinting at cards. With the most frequent appearance of the Piggy Symbol scoring method rising by number, players easily imagine other Symbols scoring more satisfaction than the actual score, thus not feeling impoverished while chasing the Jackpot.
Testing How Much Extra Satisfaction Was Gained
With the help of software, manually inputting all line methods and violently solving under 40 lines, the distribution of line numbers satisfying scores when 3 to 9 identical symbols appear on the board is shown in the following figure. (Only cases with 0~7 winning lines are counted, more than 7 lines are not listed)
If players fall into the designer's arrangement, imagining scores by the number of appearances, taking the example of three identical symbols appearing in 9 board positions, there are 84 combinations, of which 44 combinations actually satisfy 0 winning lines, and another 40 combinations satisfy 1 winning line.
Even if the total number of identical symbols is increased, the average score gained is far less than the climbing ratio of the Piggy Symbol as shown in the following figure. Once players confuse the two different scoring methods, the magic show is complete.
