If you want an overview of how UX trends have evolved over the last decade or so, then a cursory glance at modern online megaways slot games might provide it.
These games incorporate many of the features and mechanics of their traditional counterparts, but they tap into player psychology in a way that the older incarnations of the slot machine never could.
What’s more, at the same time as providing a compelling and compulsive gaming experience, these games also help operators to stay afloat on the UK’s ever-undulating sea of regulations.
Variable Rewards and Player Engagement
It’s a well-known quirk of human psychology that we’re incentivised by random rewards. This is part of what made the early slot machines so compelling. Online Megaways games can offer an unprecedented amount of variability.
Not only are the rewards random, but there are so many different ways to win that players are easily captivated.
It’s the same sense of discovery and uncertainty that’s made modern social media feeds, and loot boxes in videogames, so compelling. Megaways slots, however, have refined this UX design trend in a way that few other formats can rival.
Gamification and Feature Integration
It might seem strange to think that a slot machine, which is, after all, already a game, can be further ‘gamified’. But additional features can provide additional layers of complexity and interest for the player. In this sense, things like reel cascades, and multipliers, can create games on top of games.
Players are no longer simply passive observers of a series of spinning wheels: they can interact with those reels and see them change shape and layout as the game progresses.
Mobile-First Design and Fluidity
A clear majority of online gamblers interact with their preferred services with the help of their mobile devices. Slot machines are played, overwhelmingly, on small, vertical screens. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Megaways slots are optimised for those screens and for touch controls.
It’s worth noting, however, that the UK Gambling Commission’s regulations have banned certain features like autoplay and turbo spin, which are thought to make games dangerously compulsive. The development of new features, like Megaways’ dynamic flow, is therefore critical.
Transparency, Fairness, and Credibility
Gambling sites rely on the trust of their users. If the mechanics of the game are hidden, after all, there’s nothing to stop sites from simply providing a game that isn’t fair. For this reason, the ‘ways to win’ display, which updates to reflect the state of the game, is of vital importance.
Operators can also check the financial vulnerability of players with the help of modern machine learning and thereby stay on the right side of the new rules around deposit limiting.
