An underrated but invaluable element of slots is the sound that accompanies the game, and enhances its levels of audience engagement. 

At a time when a plethora of new features enter the market and enrich overall wagering experience, the sound of the reels spinning and jackpots ringing has remained imperative. 

In SlotBeats’ new video series, Now That’s What I Call Slots,  the sound of slots was placed in the spotlight as it showcases the ways in which the music, background noise, scores and sound effects impact the player’s experience and elevate the overall engagement with the title.

In the debut episode, James Ross, reporter for SlotBeats, was joined by Henry McLean – co-founder & commercial and marketing director at 4ThePlayer – as he discusses the company’s most recent title, 12 Trojan Mysteries.

“Normally when we’re looking at the slots and sound design we take a thematic approach to the audio but this time we thought we’d try something slightly different,” he began. “The beauty of 12 Trojan Mysteries is that it’s more Vegasy and a classic sound. It’s a sound that conjures up instant excitement.

“We put a bell in our first game with Six Wild Sharks and the players actually really enjoyed it. Streamers were like ‘woohoo the bell!’ and it instantly connected with them. We think it’s because it’s instantly recognisable. They know that when they hear it, they’re in for a good time. It also goes back to when you’re in a casino and the bell goes off. It’s that kind of excitement that’s creating the game.”

“This is also our first attempt at generic win sounds. We wanted to create something which the player would instantly recognise was ours. Others do it really well! I’m sure during lockdown people would recognise the Netflix ‘duh-dun’ sound effect a million times and straight away you instantly think about entertainment and fun and that you will be watching something good. 

“We wanted to get that connection at 4ThePlayer that when you hear these sounds you instantly think this is from 4ThePlayer.”

Highlighting the potential for innovation within sound, McLean expressed that it’s “actually quite hard to innovate in sound”. However, he believes that sound is a ‘really important element” which developers “don’t spend enough time looking at’. 

When pressed on how 4ThePlayer tailors its sound to the players, McLean instantly responded: “It must not be annoying.

“The amount of times you open a game and it looks awesome, you’re excited about the themes and features and then you start spinning and instantly like ‘oh my god what is that sound’.

“I always play with sound on and if I don’t like the music, I will close that game. The first thing we do when developing the sound is we play it in isolation. We play the audio over and over again and think ‘does this grate on us or is it a positive earworm?’