Promoted feature: Levelling up slot gameplay with GEMs
Award-winning Yggdrasil reveals how its innovative GEMs have propelled it forward as a standout studio which delivers cutting-edge slot games
Among a myriad of new slot launches, the necessity to stand out as a leading global publisher of online gaming content is not to be underestimated. Here at Yggdrasil, our constant drive to innovate and create new gaming experiences – whether it be theme, experience, style or gameplay itself – is consistently at an all-time high.
Game engagement mechanics, or GEMs for short, enhance players’ gameplay with special features and unique innovative characteristics. Initially launched in 2020 with Splitz, GigaBlox and MultiMax, this innovation has been making waves in the industry as players seek the thrill and keep returning to our slots time and time again.
With GEMs being a huge selling point, traditional reels are transformed with different elements as they take players onto a greatly enhanced journey across different universes, whether it be a frozen landscape, a prehistoric forest or even an exotic aquarium. As a testament to the success of this innovation, we are very proud that Yggdrasil has won numerous prestigious awards within the industry.
A growing portfolio
Over the past months, we have been striving to grow our portfolio of GEMs with the aim to diversify it and offer more options for our players. The number of GEMs in our portfolio now amounts to seven, with the further addition of DoubleMax, GigaRise and our recent launches Wild Fight and DuoMax, all of which make for spectacular gameplay and anticipation with every spin. Every single mechanic boosts the reels in a different manner; either by having symbols change in various ways, increasing the size of reels, or dramatically increasing multipliers.
We even went as far as taking the GEM Wild Fight, one of our most recent launches, to another level as for the first time ever we combined it with another one of our mechanics, to another level as for the first time ever we combined it with another one of our mechanics, GigaBlox, in one game, Champion of the Underworld GigaBlox featuring Wild Fight.
Doubling up on the GEMs meant that not only was the game given a fresh new layer of excitement, but it also meant that players would have a bigger potential to increase their wins. We also launched DuoMax as a mechanic in our spectacular Florageddon! DuoMax, which sees one multiplier on either side of the reels as opposed to only one sole multiplier. This gave us the opportunity to implement paylines from both ways, adding even further opportunities for players to maximise their win potential.
One of our hugely popular GEM games is Raptor DoubleMax, where every consecutive win doubles the multiplier, with no limit to its extent. As multipliers double every time, they increase exponentially, and players would definitely get a kick out of seeing massive multipliers accumulating on their screens. Not only does this create the potential for huge wins but it also makes players’ gaming experience more eye-catching and thrilling.
More to come in 2023
Our Masters studios have also been utilising the mechanics to add that same level of hype and thrill to the games they launch through our YG Masters programme. Some games were so successful that a sequel was made after. Alternatively, a successful game which does not feature a GEM would then be revamped to include one.
Stuart McCarthy, Yggdrasil’s head of product and programs, asserts: “We are very proud that our GEMs have propelled us forward as a standout studio that constantly delivers cutting-edge slot games. The team continuously strives to innovate and create ground-breaking content that takes the industry by storm.”
As the team works tirelessly to ensure that GEMs are performing above and beyond our expectations in terms of creating immersive universes and fascinating gameplay, effort never stops to bring about new and novel mechanics as we look at increasing their number in 2023. We are incredibly excited to expand our portfolio and continue adding more GEM games that our players will certainly be thrilled by!
Stuart McCarthy, Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil is a leading worldwide publisher of online gambling content. It was founded in 2013 and has subsequently evolved from being an established and celebrated slot provider to a global publishing powerhouse. A pioneer in the online gaming market, Yggdrasil is known for its strong corporate culture focused on innovation, creativity, quality and technology leadership.