The third and final day of the G2E expo hall was fast and furious for team Flip The Switch. We had meetings lined up all day to take deeper dives into upcoming releases and get some more one on one time with manufacturer representatives.
Our day kicked off before the expo technically opened for the day. We were invited to an influencer event in the Light & Wonder booth that gave full access to the games and provided an opportunity to talk to the designers themselves. First off, it’s important to provide some context about the vendor spaces that belong to the larger companies. While they are officially called “booths,” these fully branded spaces are more akin to tiny villages. Within seconds of being in the Light & Wonder tiny village, I locked eyes with an old friend that I have not seen in years.
That old friend was a fuzzy, adorable, and mischievous lemming. Although I have never been fortunate enough to find the OG version of Lucky Lemmings in a casino, I love watching slot creators share their game experiences with the title online. The original game has such a cult following, whether it be for the funny creatures or the fact that they willingly dive off a cliff, it has held a special place in many slot lover’s hearts.
This new adaptation feels like a complete reinvention with various features and dynamic graphics. We’ll be releasing a complete game demo with the game designer on our Facebook and Instagram pages in the coming weeks, but until then, I couldn’t wait to tell you a little bit about an Easter egg we were shown. Stop reading now if you want to discover this one for yourself!
Ok, if you see this game in your casino, tap the lemmings that are eagerly waiting by the cliff. You can start to annoy them, by fast tapping the same one until they really react. An even more specific Easter egg exists, fast the tap the lemmings standing directly on the edge of the cliff. The lemmings will get so annoyed that they need to get away and jump off.
We will be releasing a list of our top games from each booth next week, so I will hold off on sharing the rest of my favorites until then. What I can share are some more general observations, similar to what was discussed in my day one recap.
First, the screens just keep getting bigger and bigger, and I would argue brighter and brighter. Because casinos are tight on floor space, manufacturers will often keep games within a (mostly) standard size range. What they have figured out is to make the games bigger by making them taller.
A task that I would sometimes volunteer to help with at my first casino job was putting out slot toppers. Slot toppers is the term given to the foam core boards that are placed on top of different banks of slots. They are used as an in-house marketing tool to promote things like upcoming shows or dining outlets. The thought that kept coming to mind while touring these booths was more or less “I could never get a topper on that thing.” Machines that were once three or four feet off the ground are now towering over guests.
Like in years past, we are seeing more and more “extra” things added to well known titles. Where there was once not a wheel there is one, if not three. Accumulator pots are also multiplying, which I do not know if I am a total fan of. Wheels? Heck yes, I will take ‘em all, but the accumulator pots are something I really struggle with. I know that in nearly all cases, the accumulators mean absolutely nothing, yet no matter how many times I’ve been burned, I’ll stubbornly sit a game until one bursts.
Miss yesterday’s coverage? You can check out my key takeaways here.
