Crazy Tooth Studio Interview: Vice President of Design Will Burrows on Slot Innovation and Game Design

All of the above! I would also add responding to trends, with both themes and mechanics, but honestly we tend to lean towards cutting our own path.

We always have a brainstorm session with the whole team when coming up with new ideas, but concepts are always brought to those sessions, inspired by everything from actual game dev experimentation, to pop culture, to an art style, or even something as simple as blowing up a balloon until it pops.

As I said above, inspiration can come from anywhere and we believe that shouldn’t be ignored. Of course we try to recognize trends or respond to things happening in the industry, but it’s all about balance.

We feel looking to start the next trend is just as important as chasing one. Maybe even more so!

COINVERGE! One of my personal favorites. That came from a classic brainstorm session with the team where we just tried to make something fun – the idea of showing the player prizes and then just trying to capture them was so simple and we ran with it from there.

We often find that the core of a casino game isn’t necessarily spinning reels or lining up symbols but the simple idea of anticipation. We weren’t quite solving a problem, but perhaps looking for a different, unique answer to how that kind of anticipation can be presented.

We did a follow up called A Flight Of Fortune™ that added some elements and I wouldn’t rule out a CoinVerge title in the future from us.

That question is kind of funny because when we made The Incredible Balloon Machine™ and Golden Hook™, crash games didn’t really exist. There definitely wasn’t a separate tab or lobby for these types of games, so we certainly think of them as slot games – just presented differently.

They have a base game, features, and bonuses just like a slot and a very similar experience in terms of the math – just no reels! Well, a fishing reel I guess.

It’s in our DNA to push things. We’ll always look at things kind of sideways and see what’s possible and how we can surprise players. In fact, we have several titles coming this year that fit that description.

We also strive to take our innovative math concepts – like BIG BuildUp® persistence – and slip exciting gameplay into more conventional slots. If we think it’s fun as players ourselves, we’ll pursue it and take it all the way.

That one is tough to consider because we haven’t actually made a land-based game in almost ten years! But one thing still holds pretty true – the development timeline in the online world is usually faster.

As an exclusive content provider for Games Global, the time it takes from brainstorm to a player spinning our games can be pretty quick. That alone is something we love. Especially with Incisor®, the software platform we use to develop our games, we want our ideas to come to life and get in front of players as fast as possible.

Of course there are design constraints with both sectors, but it can be a bit counterintuitive in terms of what is actually a constraint. For instance, in the online world, we design our games to look good and run on any device and any screen size – something Incisor® has made that down right easy – but in the land-based space you’re often beholden to the specs of one machine, and it can even change before you’re ready to release the title!

But aside from hardware concerns, the markets and players can also be very different not to mention regulatory concerns. But after nearly ten years of online development, we’re not only used to these things but have also seen all sectors of gaming begin to converge, as the concept of an omnichannel experience for players becomes more prevalent.

We have certainly revisited ideas from our land-based past for the online space. Just because we did 12 years ago for a cabinet doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun for online players on their phone!

But I will say those revisited ideas are often unrecognizable by the time we vet for today’s world, today’s players, and smaller screens, of course.

We pride ourselves on taking any idea we decide to bring to life all the way – we exhaust all of our resources and experience to give each game its best shot to find an audience. So by the time we release a title, we at least feel good about what we put into it – and we think every Crazy Tooth Studio game is the next mega hit!

But of course, that’s not always the case. So when we do find an audience with lasting players with a title, we’re not always surprised but thankful and ready to double down for our players!

The Lucky Clucks® series is one we’re thankful to have an audience for. In fact, we’re working on the fourth installment right now! Fire Gnomes™ is another title that found lasting players and we’re excited to be releasing Fire Gnomes 2: Magic Wheel™ this spring!

We try to release such a range of games each year, that it’s hard to say. 777 Mega Deluxe™, 777 Super BIG BuildUp® Deluxe™, and 777 Super BIG BuildUp® II: Double Deluxe™ are great examples of more traditional looking slots that pack a punch and found players globally whereas Lucky Clucks®, Fire Gnomes™, and even The Incredible Balloon Machine™ also made an impact with players! So it’s hard to say!

We do everything in house and in person. So yes, we work closely together. With the Incisor® software platform, we’re able to blur the lines even further and literally work on the projects together – artists, animators, engineers, math designers, and sound designers.

Our team is agile because of this – the groups working on each title are relatively small and our creatives are working on multiple titles at once.

We have a saying that we’ve tried to adhere to from day one: we take the work very seriously, we don’t take ourselves seriously at all.

I think it’s extremely important to remember that we get to make games for a living and have fun doing it, and we hope that translates to what we put out into the world.

Like anything else, there are deadlines and stressful moments and business decisions, but if we can keep those things in mind it doesn’t just make working here more fun, but it lowers the chance of individual egos getting in the way of making the best possible games we can.

We make those videos for ourselves, for our partners, and for the affiliates out there that watch them and share them – if only as a way to say: we are real people with goofy senses of humor and we love what we do. They’re also kind of a celebration for us when a game is done and ready to get in front of players.

Perhaps helping to broaden what gaming is and can be – whether that’s mechanics, production value, themes, or maybe something even Crazier.