Could you start by introducing yourself, detailing your role at Nailed It! Games, and sharing how your journey in the iGaming industry began?
I’m Pawel Piotrowski, co-founder of Nailed It! Games, responsible for the product side of the company. I started Nailed It! three years ago alongside my business partner Grzegorz Przybylowicz who is responsible for the technology side of things. As it stands our Krakow-based studio has a team of twenty talented industry professionals.
Personally, I’ve played online casino games for the last twenty years, starting with blackjack before moving onto video poker and online slots. During this time, I realised I wanted to make games, so joined the industry and spent nearly seven years at Yggdrasil before setting up Nailed It! Games.
What emerging technologies are you looking forward to integrating into your slot games? How do you envision these technologies enhancing the player experience?
The most obvious answer here has to be Artificial Intelligence. AI is already used in multiple aspects of game production already and I think it will continue to be an incredibly valuable tool going forward. I’m not convinced that technologies such as AR/VR will become hot in iGaming any time soon though!
What are your top three slot games at Nailed It! Games, and what unique features make them stand out in terms of player engagement and experience?
All of our games have high production quality and great audio-visuals, but if I had to pick, I’d say our number one slot has to be Riptide Pirates™. Riptide Pirates™ offers something players have never seen before. It’s a replayable amalgamation of innovation, exceptional technical performance, and unique features and mechanics.
The game revolves around a unique Pirate Bonus feature. Players must land three Pirate Bonus symbols to trigger this. Once triggered a battle on a 10×10 grid with up to four active cannons kick-starts. In a battleship-style game each cannon has three chances to hit an enemy ship. Hitting treasure chests will award a bonus modifier, sinking small boats will award a multiplier win, and sinking galleons will trigger one of four jackpots.
I also have a lot of love for Cosmic Moon™ and our newest game of 2024 Big Buzz™! These games have tried and tested mechanics that have proven to be a huge hit with players.
As you develop games, how do you ensure they capture player engagement uniquely? Can you discuss any specific game developed with market expansion in mind?
The vast majority of the team here at Nailed It! have experience creating games for Nordic countries, so they are well versed in player preferences and how to make a good title.
Right now, we are focused on the UK players, and how we can create and adapt our products for that audience, but that’s not to say that we’re not always thinking and working on content for wider audiences! Having access to data from our publisher, Games Global, gives us a big advantage, not only can we focus on specifics, but we can also identify growing markets and see what type of games perform well and where.
Riptide Pirates™ performed exceptionally well in Spain and Latin America, reaching number one on several charts, and our upcoming release, Stars Bonanza™, is designed for the Netherlands, Nordics, and the UK.
How do you incorporate psychological elements into your game design to boost engagement and entertainment?
Games are all about emotions. When we are developing a new title, we put a lot of stock into the different feelings each element of the game evokes. Ultimately games should be fun and deliver memorable experiences such as shooting the cannons in Riptide Pirates™.
How has player feedback influenced the development of your games? Could you share an example where player input significantly shaped a game’s development?
We take all sorts of feedback on board when developing our content. We test our games internally amongst each other to ensure that it meets our standards and ensure that each title is finetuned ahead of its launch.
In terms of external feedback, we listen to casino operators who are very much players as well. We made quite a lot of changes to Riptide Pirates™ bonus game after showcasing the game at ICE after getting detailed operator feedback.
Of course, we also listen to the players once a game is released, watching live streams and reading reviews. It’s important we take these learnings and apply them to our next releases.
Which game at Nailed It! Games has recorded the largest win? What elements do you think contribute to its success among players?
I don’t believe large winning potential necessarily equates to a successful game. Some of our initial games such as Gold Mine Stacks™ and Book of Fate™ had very high max wins at 50,000x and were extremely volatile. These max wins were reached multiple times, but it didn’t translate into commercial success. Now we are focusing on lower max wins with more frequent wins which seem to work much better with our player base.
How does Nailed It! Games promote responsible gaming and player safety?
We ensure that all our games meet the right regulatory standards when it comes to player safety. We also advise where players can seek help for problem gambling in our promotional materials.
Looking ahead, what exciting new developments or major releases can players anticipate from Nailed It! Games?
Big Buzz™! This game went live recently, and early results look very promising. This will be followed by the release of Stars Bonanza™ on the 8th of August 2024, a game with classic aesthetics that features some fantastic mechanics.
Tell us more about the newly launched Riptide Pirates™. How does it stand amongst the other games from your portfolio?
Riptide Pirates™ is our flagship title and we have spent significantly longer than we would developing this title in comparison to any other production. Its performance has been simply amazing, it’s by far our most successful game and we expect it to be a long-time performer.
It doesn’t happen too often that such an innovative mechanic as the battleship-style bonus game in this game becomes so successful.
Tell us more about the exciting features and mechanics found in Riptide Pirates™ and how they are triggered.
There are two collection mechanics in the base game. Collecting skulls awards walking Wild reels and collecting Pirate Bonus symbols boosts your next Bonus game.
Thanks to the Bonus Booster in the base game, the longer it takes to trigger the Bonus, the better your Bonus will be with additional cannons unlocked.
The Bonus game is what makes the game really stand out. It’s a battleship-style Bonus with multiple features that can be unlocked via the chests, with jackpots up to 5000x on offer.
It provides a different experience in every bonus round, making it extremely replayable.
Closing thoughts before we conclude, what message would you like to share with the supporters of Nailed It! Games?
Thank you for playing our games. We wish you amazing wins!