Casino games used to take themselves very seriously. Lots of black, red and gold. Cards on velvet. Chips stacked neatly. Maybe a lion, a crown or a diamond if the designer felt adventurous. Then slots got weird. Now you can find games about chickens, fishermen, fruit with faces, badly behaved animals, cowboys, aliens, chefs and characters who look as if they escaped from a Saturday morning cartoon. Some of them are genuinely ridiculous, and that is probably part of why they work. There is only so much excitement you can squeeze out of another shiny seven.
A funny theme can be surprisingly good
The funny thing is that the theme often has almost nothing to do with the game underneath. The reels still spin. Symbols still land. Bonus rounds still appear. But suddenly the whole thing is happening in a farmyard while a cartoon pig shouts at you, or underwater beside a fisherman who seems far too pleased with himself. But after ten similar looking games, the one with the stupid character is usually the one you remember. Casino lobbies such as Bet way can contain hundreds of titles, and once that happens, looking respectable is not necessarily enough. Sometimes the game that stands out is simply the one that looks like someone had more fun designing it.
Sound effects have become half the joke
Older slot machines had a fairly limited vocabulary. Bells, coins, mechanical clicks. Online games can make any noise they want, which has led to some wonderfully unnecessary choices. A chicken can scream when a feature starts. A character can laugh every time something lands. One symbol gets its own little tune for no obvious reason at all. After a while, the sounds become part of the personality of the game. This is also where a game can go too far. There is a difference between a funny noise appearing occasionally and having the same character shout at you every twelve seconds. You normally discover that difference quite quickly.
Not every casino game needs to look expensive
A lot of casino design still goes after luxury. Marble floors, dark tables, gold lettering, expensive suits. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is hardly the only way to make a game enjoyable. Some of the most memorable slots look cheap on purpose. The drawings are exaggerated, the colours are too bright and the characters are slightly ugly. Somehow that can feel more inviting than another perfectly polished screen. You already know the game is not asking to be taken very seriously. And maybe casino games needed more of that. There are enough dramatic wheels, glowing jackpots and deep voiced announcers telling you something enormous is about to happen. Sometimes it is nice to open a game where a cartoon fisherman appears, makes a ridiculous noise and gets on with it. The casino does not always need to feel glamorous. Sometimes silly is more fun.
