Richard Ganster: The fairy-tale theme is evolving and pulling in new slot players

Richard Ganster, Games Portfolio Manager at Greentube, talks to us about game themes and in particular, why traditional fairy tales continue to prove popular with players.

Why is it that games featuring classic stories and characters continue to be popular for developers like Greentube?

The stories and characters are easily recognisable and understood by our players, especially when it comes to the characters. This makes fairy tales and more traditional themes more distinguishable because simply from seeing thumbnails or gameplay videos, the player knows quickly and easily what the game is about and what to expect from it. At Greentube, we like to lean into traditional themes like fairy tales, ancient Egypt, and ancient Greece, to list a few examples, because of that instant understanding they give the player when they enter a casino lobby. At the same time, we are also constantly looking at introducing new twists within our games to keep them feeling fresh for players.

How do you stop games from becoming replicas of one another, when using familiar themes such as fairy tales or characters from particular traditions?

In the case of Diamond Tales™, we were lucky enough to work in partnership on the games with Royal Casino, a Danish operator that owns the rights to the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. These include The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid and two other stories, which you will see later this year (so watch this space).

This meant that it was important to try to stick as closely as we could to these beloved stories, because they are known so well by millions of people. To do this, we added a beautifully illustrated book, with pages that turn as the player spins. In addition, we added environmental storytelling to the different chapters of the game, showing the player not only the story progression but also the volatility of the game itself. We wanted to reward the player for finishing the story and what better way to do this by giving them a higher volatility experience? Greentube has never done something like this before and we believe it is an innovative design idea we have not yet seen on the market.

Is there a particular demographic of player that games based around folk tales usually appeals to?

When designing the Diamond Tales™ games and looking into Andersen’s stories, we learnt that these fairy tales – and fairy tales in general – exist in some form or the other in many different cultures and parts of the world. Therefore, the demographic of players for fairy tale games is quite hard to nail down, as so many people know these tales in various forms. What we generally believe is that these games are appealing for the more casual player, because of the theme. However, due of the design of the game mechanics, the volatility mode and the massive 50,000x max win, we also believe that hi-rollers will enjoy the game too.

Does leaning on fairy tales mean that the gaming industry’s leading players are stifling the creation of new themes and stories?

I don’t think so. When you look at other entertainment industries like the video game business, particular genres of games – for example, RPGs, platformers and shoot ‘em-ups – have existed since the 1970s and 1980s and still thrive today. However, that doesn’t mean highly successful, innovative new genres and themes have not been created as a result. What we believe with the Diamond Tales™ games is that we are pushing the envelope with the fairy tale theme, both visually – with our top-quality animations, transitions and artwork – and mechanically, via new features like the Diamond Tales™ Feature and the Snap Drop feature. Because of these factors, we expect the fairy tale theme will evolve and draw in new players who might not have played these types of games before. However, experimenting with new and exciting themes is important to us too and we think you will see this with some of our releases later this year.

Finally, what else is in store from Greentube across the rest of 2023?

As I alluded to in the previous question, we have some innovative games lined up for 2023 that will impress players. We have lined up some attractive themes that they have not yet seen from Greentube and in terms of mechanics, we have developed new features and ideas that are unlike anything else available. We can’t reveal too much more at this stage, but Casino Guru News will be the first to know when we are ready to tell all!

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