Connor Blinman: “Piggy Smash is where nostalgia meets innovation”

Following the release of Piggy Smash, we sat down with Gaming Corps’ Head of Games Connor Blinman to discuss the Smash4Cash mechanic and plans for the future. Today, we take a deep dive into the core mechanic of the title and how Gaming Corps strives to continually innovate its product offering.

Q: For those that might not know, can you give us a brief introduction to Piggy Smash?

Absolutely! Piggy Smash is the latest release from Gaming Corps. Since its release, it’s been received well.

As our first hit for 2024, we wanted to start this year off with a bang. So back in 2023, we went to the drawing board to come up with something that the casino industry hasn’t seen before; we believe we have done exactly that.

Piggy Smash, as the name suggests, centres around players being able to smash different coloured piggy banks and is the first to incorporate our new Smash4Cash mechanic. Every time the player places a bet, the hammer comes smashing down onto the piggy bank, where there is a chance that it will break open to reveal a prize or feature.

To keep the game as exciting as possible, the different coloured piggy banks correspond to different prizes. Players can see the pipeline of upcoming piggy banks and their different colours, meaning they have an idea of the different prizes that they could potentially win.

We’ve found that this keeps players engaged for much longer periods of time and adds to that sense of excitement and anticipation.

Q: This is quite an interesting concept! What was the inspiration behind using piggy banks?

Piggy banks, for me, will always be nostalgic. They remind me of saving up my pocket money and smashing them open when they got too full. You never really knew how much you had managed to put away until that moment of smashing it open, it was really quite exhilarating.

When creating Piggy Smash, we really wanted to emulate that sense of excitement, but also inject a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour. Players don’t know how much will be in each piggy bank until they smash it open. This was also where the idea for the Smash4Cash mechanic came from.

Q: You mentioned Smash4Cash there. How did you come up with the idea for this mechanic?

Gaming Corps has always had an affinity for arcade-style games. Arcade games bring that sense of nostalgia that players know and love. We wanted to keep that sense of familiarity, but also bring a new type of game to the online casino space that hadn’t been seen before.

We had come up with the initial concept for the mechanic quite early on, but it wasn’t until we were smashing piggy banks for the first time that we came up with the name Smash4Cash. It just seemed like a natural fit.

We knew that we wanted to keep the mechanic as straightforward as possible. The way the game plays and the way the wins and features are awarded are not like anything else on the market.

Q: We’ve touched upon the base game, but we noticed that there are a range of other features within Piggy Smash. What can you tell us about those?

The concept of Piggy Smash itself is very simple. But in order to make the game as dynamic and engaging as possible, we added several features: Multiplier, Rampage, Instant Win and Multiplier Rampage.

Starting with the Multiplier feature, as the name suggests, this guarantees that the next piggy bank that players are able to smash open instantly will be multiplied by up to x10. With the Rampage feature, the hammer transforms to smash up to ten piggy banks in a row for free; I guess you could say this could be compared to when you receive free spins in a traditional slot game.

The Instant Win feature is very exciting, it gives players the opportunity to win a mega-jackpot prize of up to x1000 the total bet. And then the fourth feature, Multiplier Rampage, combines both the Multiplier and Rampage features – meaning that consecutive piggy banks that are smashed open will be a Multiplier.

Q: From a design perspective, you have chosen to take the classic arcade-style route. What is the appeal of this theme for players?

At Gaming Corps, we are very proud of the fact that we boast a wide range of products in our portfolio; we offer players everything from classic slots to Plinko, and from Mine games to new and exciting arcade-style games.

Piggy Smash, you could say, is a game that brings this breadth of content together into one thrilling gameplay experience. It combines the look and feel of an arcade game but has the style of a mechanic that is reminiscent of a traditional slot game.

Arcade-style games have always been popular with players. It all goes back to that sense of nostalgia and familiarity; players have an idea of what they can expect from these types of games. One of the challenges, however, is bringing that experience to the more traditional casino games.

When developing Piggy Smash, we found that combining that element of arcade with traditional slots wasn’t overly straightforward. Not only do you need to make sure that the game you develop is of the highest quality, but you also need to be very conscious of your target audience – slot players know what they like, and more importantly, what they don’t like. Innovation therefore becomes a very thin line to tread.

Fortunately, we were able to draw upon our experience of developing arcade games to create something new. It was a challenge, but it is something we have been very proud to achieve.

Q: Piggy Smash forms the first in the Smash4Cash series of games – but could we see more titles begin to integrate this mechanic?

Of course! This certainly isn’t the last you’ve heard from Smash4Cash. We are already in the process of delivering our next game in the series, "Rampage!".

I won’t give too much away, but "Rampage!" will take on a very simplistic theme and art style which we believe gives us a great opportunity to appeal to an audience who may have more of a penchant for classic arcade designs.

The theme will also mean that we will be looking to partner with our clients to create more branded opportunities, which is very exciting for us.

Q: We’ll definitely stay tuned for that one! And finally, what else is on the horizon for Gaming Corps in 2024? What can players expect to see?

This year is going to be a big one for Gaming Corps, with plenty of announcements in the pipeline. Piggy Smash is really a great metaphor for this year – it's surprising, full of potential and brimming with excitement for players.

We have plans to release at least one slot game per month where we aim to push the boundaries of innovation and gameplay. We want to continue to deliver unique, elevated experiences for our players. Our arcade-style games portfolio will also go from strength-to-strength this year as we continue to add more titles in the next few months. In addition to this, we are also exploring new ways to disrupt the crash game space with our upcoming title "Samba Soccer".

Our team are working hard to consistently elevate the quality of our products each month - players should be excited to see what we plan to deliver throughout 2024 – stay tuned for more developments!

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