Slot Machine Design
Slot machine design is an art form, and the fact that casinos make anywhere from 70% to 80% of their profits on slots is a testament to that fact. But it’s not just about the computerized innards of the games; Modern slot machine design requires engravers, LED specialists, metal workers, lighting engineers, woodworkers, welders, and graphic animators. If they perform their job correctly--and they usually do--the end result is a profitable slot machine that will entice casino patrons to play for hours in the hopes of winning big.
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Before a slot machine is manufactured, a wide array of factors are considered to maximize their profitability. Levers have been replaced with buttons, allowing players to double or even triple the amount of spins they can make in an hour. Bonus rounds give the illusion of a game with more frequent payouts, and the music from licensed properties such as Wheel of Fortune and The Munsters create an environment filled with warmth and nostalgia.
All these elements come together to extend “time on machine,” an industry term for the minutes or hours players are willing to devote to a slot. And then there’s “playing to extinction,” a more cynical term which measures a slot machine’s ability to drain every last dollar from a customer. When you consider that even the stools in a casino have undergone a rigorous design process to keep circulation flowing into the legs of players, it’s a miracle that anyone walks away in the black.
How Slot Machines Work
While the outer bells and whistles may differ, modern slot machine
design has resulted in an industry that’s incredibly consistent in
performance. Each slot contains a computer chip known as a
random number
generator. When a player inserts their money (or casino card) and
presses the button, the random number generator determines the outcome
of the bet based on thousands of possible numerical combinations.
Despite the spinning videos reels and other trappings, the outcome of
each spin is determined the moment you press the button. After that,
it’s all just a matter of presentation.
Paytable and Reel Strips (PARS)
The old school mechanical slot machines made it easy to calculate
odds. For example, a reel with 10 symbols would give you a 1 in 10
chance of hitting a particular symbol. While calculating the odds of
hitting 3 bars or 3 cherries would require just a bit more math, it was
still easy enough to do.
Video slot machines aren’t as easy to figure, as the odds of hitting a particular symbol could be programmed as 1 in 10, 1 in 20, or any other number desired by the designer. Having access to a PARS sheet, however, takes all the guesswork out of the process.
PARS stands for Paytable and Reel Strips, and it‘s the most important element of slot machine design. It offers a detailed explanation of the inner working of a specific slot, from the total payout to the odds of hitting each symbol. While they vary slightly from company to company, all PARS sheets have the same basic information. The following are some of the details provided:
Name of Machine - As you might have guessed, this entry tells the name of the slot machine.
Type of Machine - How many coins can be played on the machine? Do any coins act as a multiplier? These elements and others are covered under this heading.
Max Coin % - The payout percentage of the slot machine if maximum coins are played.
Min Coin % - The payout percentage of the slot machine if the minimum amount of coins is played.
Payment Percentage Per Coin - A breakdown of the machine’s payout based on the number of coins played.
Plays Per Hit - The average number of plays to hit a certain combination of symbols. This section of a PARS sheet details plays per hit ranging from the machine’s smallest payout to its top jackpot.
1st Coin Pays - How much you’ll win on a slot if you play one coin. Just like the 2nd and 3rd coin options, this section is broken down to explain each possible winning combination.
2nd Coin Pays - How much you’ll win on a slot if you play two coins.
3rd Coin Pays - How much you’ll win on a slot if you play three coins.
Factors - A column which shows how many times the symbols in
the Symbols column appear on each reel.
P/H and Higher - This stands for Plays Per Hit and Higher, which gives details on how many plays, on average, it will take to hit a specific payout (or higher).
The PARS sheet gives a number of other details, but this should provide you with a basic idea of how slot machine design works. The next time you visit a casino, take a moment to reflect on all the skill and planning that goes into the creation of these modern-day money makers.
