By now, regular readers of the site, as well as those following the slot machine industry overall, have likely heard terms like perceived persistence – items on the screen that evolve to give the idea that something’s happening, even when ultimately there’s not. True persistence, another scenario, also can evolve, but has actual value (known as equity) connected to it.
But there’s actually a specific term for the graphics themselves: Metamorphics.
Metamorphics as a term likely plays off the metamorphic rock, which transforms under pressure. Similarly, the metamorphics that are on your slot screen starts in one state and as game play continues it/they evolve.
The pots/bags are a great example, but many slots, particularly those by Aristocrat, lately are coming with things like meters, bars that slowly fill up from an empty state to a nearly full state, and then fully filling up when a bonus or feature is triggered.
The concept is that the imagery evolves as gameplay continues, hence the term metamorphics.
An interesting element of these, especially ones that are perceived persistence, is that they are illegal in Australia, and therefore many games that rely on them here in the U.S. for part of what makes them so engaging don’t ever see the light of day in Australia, or have to go through significant revisions to take the elements out.
Similarly, games that are designed initially there sometimes are updated when coming out here to include metamorphics based on player expectations of them at this point, and the success metrics showing games with them often perform better than ones without.
Eilers & Krejick Gaming have released reports periodically showing the top performing games all have these perceived persistence metamorphics, making it hard for game makers to ignore. Popular series like Ultimate Fire Link and Wolf Run have seen more recent entries that feature metamorphic elements, even though the game series historically did not have them.
So now you know! This is a particularly common feature on newer slots, and based on the popularity of the games that have them, they are unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon.
What are some of the slots that are true persistence?
An example would be Rich Little Piggies, which has the counters and upgrades attached to each pig that grow, regardless of who’s playing, until the pig is awarded in the bonus. If you cash out, the counters remain for the next player.