With traditional casino gambling becoming less and less popular with the millennial generation, the industry has been brainstorming (read: scrambling) for new game ideas, approaches and tactics to rekindle this vital market. One deceptively simple idea has been tested in Atlantic City over the past year: legitimate arcade games that reward cash prizes for displays of skill, not chance. The flagship game, Danger Arena, is a first-person shooter time attack—one minute to kill 10 enemies. At $1 per play for example, scoring 6 kills starts the payout and a perfect score wins $25. (Bonus icons offer a possible grand prize of $1,000.) A max bet of $20 per play ups the wins to $500/$5,000. Theoretically, any player with the appropriate skill could make $50,000 in ten minutes. These games have become a minor hit on the casino floor, but like any arcade, the more games to play the better. Enter TumbleSeed.
TumbleSeed is a video game released in May 2017 for PC/Mac, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. You play as the titular seed and control its movements with a platform beneath it. Using the left and right sticks, the goal is to guide this tumbling seed up a randomized mountain whilst avoiding holes and enemy attacks. Various power-ups are available to help you, but memorization is largely useless as no two runs have the same layout. The game’s physics and momentum are highly realistic and it is very easy to completely lose control of the seed… only to ‘catch’ it at the last moment before it hits a trap.
This is exactly the kind of game casinos need. TumbleSeed is completely reliant on skill and is always beatable, however its randomization guarantees players will never exploit the same strategies to always win. Using the same paytable structure as Danger Arena, for example, payouts can begin by reaching the second zone (of the five total). Clearing the whole mountain can pay the top prize, but collecting a bonus icon can award instant prizes or a multiplier.
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| The player adjusts the pitch of the light-green line to roll the pink seed out of danger. |
Presentation and accessibility are also paramount in this setting. TumbleSeed uses an aesthetic inspired from games like the PlayStation Portable releases LocoRoco and Patapon: flat, round geometrics with bright, solid colors. Those games were staples of the PSP’s library and caught the eyes of gamers of both genders and all ages. These same eyes will be drawn to TumbleSeed; a refreshing change from the reeled displays that dominate the casino floor.
Danger Arena used a modified controller design for its cabinet, no superfluous buttons but enough for an authentic controller feel. TumbleSeed only uses two sticks to control the pitch of the screen-wide platform. Add a single extra button to swap between power-ups and that’s it: a very simple and unassuming control scheme. Those intimidated by the many buttons, triggers and sticks of traditional controllers needn’t be psyched out, and this soft introduction could even help new players graduate to games like Danger Arena.
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| Danger Arena gameplay. This is a bold step for the gaming industry, and one that I hope expands. |
One of the main goals of a casino is to keep patrons playing, and TumbleSeed’s length helps this goal. Most runs will only last a couple of minutes and winning runs can last much longer. Compared to the mere seconds of a slot machine spin, granted the slot will take in more money quicker, but TumbleSeed will keep the player engaged longer. It has the same devilish ‘just one more go’ factor slots have, and all the while the player is enjoying themselves while ordering drinks from the cocktail servers and upping their tier score. With casinos becoming increasingly emptier and geriatric, the focus is now on maintaining the buzz of the atmosphere, and keeping the beautiful people front and center of the action. Where slots like Kitty Glitter and Spin Poker may be losing their appeal, games like TumbleSeed will have better luck.
TumbleSeed’s availability as a ‘regular’ video game would also help its popularity in a casino setting. Hardcore players would play and practice at home, with the hope of translating their skill into cash at the casino. Though it sounds so simple and hackable, any player of TumbleSeed would know that it is not the easiest game to play. As fun and engrossing as it is, sitting down to win the game in consecutive runs is a herculean task. But it is not an impossible one, and any gambler knows better than to expect to hit the jackpot every single time. The player will most likely hit minor wins, lose that many more times, stay on the property for dinner and a few drinks, inevitably play other games and leave overall happy.
Fun and positivity is the most both parties can hope for, and will likely ever receive along with the occasional windfall. If TumbleSeed catches on and its ilk permeate the casino floor, new loyal customers will be born and the industry will tumble into higher profits.
