Behind the Scenes with Henrik

As part of NetEnt's 30 Year anniversary, we're going behind the scenes with some of the people who have helped shape NetEnt's games and the experiences they bring to players around the world. From the ideas that spark a new game to the maths, mechanics and features that bring it to life, we're taking a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes.

Today we're chatting with Henrik, who has been part of NetEnt for 9 years, working within the math team and contributing to some of the company's most memorable games. From the evolution of slots and the rise of features 4such as Megaways and Feature Buys, to the thinking behind the maths and mechanics of games like Narcos, we're getting an insight into what it takes to build a great slot game.

What’s your strategy when playing slots? Do you try every single Elevate feature or are you more of a button smasher?

When playing for real money, I'm a button smasher at the start, dragging out the enjoyment for as long as I can. I usually move over to Elevates or feature buys when I start getting bored and need to get some action happening, if the money allows it, of course.

When it comes to testing games out for play money, I go straight for the Elevates and feature buys to see what all the fuss is about with the game. It saves a lot of time when you're testing things out!

As someone who has been in the industry for a while, the evolution of slots must have been exciting, where do you feel it really took a turn to advancing?

From when I started, I think we've seen at least two bigger steps that really changed the industry, and almost all companies created some kind of answer to them.

The first one is Megaways. The idea that the best-looking symbol, the one that's nice and shiny and really stands out to you, is actually the worst one for you as a player, and what you really should be chasing are the smaller ones that don't look as good. It feels like a win either way, so it really hacks your brain into thinking that you're doing better than you actually are. Such a clever thing.

At first, it was just a few games by BTG, but soon lots of casinos had a special tab just for Megaways and everyone was doing them, either by licensing it or coming up with a similar mechanic but giving it their own name. At its core, it's such a simple idea, ways with a differing number of symbols on each reel on every spin, but that's also what makes it so good and flexible.

The other thing is Feature Buys. Bonus Bets had been around for a while, giving you a slight edge towards getting the feature or something extra for a small cost, usually double the bet. But then buying your way directly into the feature for a much larger cost shifted it into something completely different and introduced a new way of gambling.

These days, it's not just about buying your way into free spins, it's about buying into your favourite part of the game. If that's the base game feature, go for it! It's very much in line with the zeitgeist, you should get what you want, when you want it. Just hitting the Spin button is your linear TV, while Feature Buy is your streaming alternative.

It did create a lot more work when it came to creating a game, and a bit of a headache initially when it came to monitoring them and making sure they were working as intended, but that has all been fixed now.

You’ve been at NetEnt for 9 years. How different was it in 2016 compared to now?

We've come a long way since then, with many organisational changes and mergers along the way.

My first interview was at NetEnt's old office on Luntmakargatan in Stockholm, and when I started a couple of months later, we had moved to the huge office next to the Central Station. It was three floors, with a game room on every floor, a cinema on the top floor and a roof terrace. The math team sat in the furthest corner from the entrance, so it took about five minutes from entering the building to sitting down at my desk. You got your steps in just by going to grab coffee during the day. Now we've moved once more, with a much shorter walk to the coffee machines, so I need to find another way to get my steps in.

Games have also increased significantly in complexity and in what is required compared to back then. A simple 5 by 3 game with paylines and free spins as the main feature, with a fixed x3 multiplier, would not have the same appeal today. Back then, we also created one version of each game. Now we have different RTP variants and several Elevates on top of that. All in all, a game today can have 18 variants or more.

The core of the work is still the same. We create mathematical models for new games and work closely with the Product Owner and the game team to bring great games to the players. We look at the statistics, play the game, make changes, review the statistics again, make more changes and play it again. The cycle continues until we are happy with the result, or until the certification date comes around.

What’s the process of coming up with the maths for a game? Does the theme affect how the maths comes about? The starting point can come from many places. Inspiration often comes when you least expect it. It can come from board games, indie games with an interesting hook, movies or books. You find something that you think could work as a slot concept and then start developing it from there.

Once you've developed it into a slot game, you may need to know where the original inspiration came from to recognise it. However, the most common approach is to look at previous games and try to combine two or three ideas to create something new. Almost all games out there are an amalgamation of ideas that have been used before. When something truly new comes along, as it does from time to time, it will either be reused until players get tired of it, or it will become one of those games that people remember and continue to talk about years later.

Sometimes the starting point is a theme, particularly with branded or seasonal games. Many games start with one theme in mind and then evolve into something completely different once production begins. For example, Rabid Randy Gone Fishing was initially about a highway robber chasing down a carriage, but it ended up being about a fishing trip to the swamp. The maths is flexible, and as long as you can communicate the mechanics clearly to the player, so they understand what is happening and it makes sense within that particular universe, you can make it work.

That said, once the theme is established, it can provide inspiration for additional features or for changing certain elements of the game. The best games are the ones where the theme and the maths work hand in hand, so everything feels connected and fits naturally together.

You’ve worked on many of the NetEnt games, which one would you say has the best features? One of my personal favourites that I've worked on is still Narcos. It has so much going on in the game.

In the base game, you have the walking wilds that stick around between rounds as long as you keep winning with them. It was also the first ways game we made with wilds on all reels, which brought a lot of additional complexity with it. Then you also have the Drive By feature in the base game, which turns some of your characters into wilds and feeds into the first feature.

Then there are two bonus games. Free Spins builds on the base game features and keeps going as long as you continue winning with those wilds. Since it's a ways game and the Drive By feature can trigger when you're running low on wilds, it can keep going for quite a while.

The last one is the Locked Up feature, which is a 3, 2, 1 hold and spin feature with coin prizes. The briefcases can also come with something extra, such as a multiplier, an adder or a large prize. That wasn't as common back then as it is today. The wins in the Locked Up feature also needed to be clustered together in order to pay, which created some extra "if only" moments.

The team also did an amazing job with the look and feel of the game, which really brought everything together.

NetEnt has been around for 30 years now, what’s your fondest memory at NetEnt?

I don't think there is just one particular event that stands out to me. Rather, it's all those initial brainstorming sessions that take place around a whiteboard, when a game starts with just a couple of words or a sentence and the ideas begin to flow freely. Somewhere along the way, a concept emerges that will eventually become the actual game.

Sometimes you get two games from a session, sometimes you get nothing at all and need to go back to the drawing board, but there is always something that you take with you for another project.

Then the next step is getting that idea to actually work in the real world, rather than just in your imagination.

What is the biggest myth players believe about slot math (like 'hot' and 'cold' machines) that you wish you could set straight once and for all?

RTP isn't everything. It takes a long time to reach the stated number, and you're unlikely to get a good estimate of it unless you play a large number of rounds. How the RTP is distributed will have a much greater impact on your playing experience and how long you can play than the number stated in the game rules.

What’s your favourite tradition (official or unofficial) that has started during your 9 years here? In the math team, we started writing "Morning" in the team chat during Covid as a way of letting everyone know that we had started for the day and creating some sense of familiarity during the new work from home era. It has carried on ever since, and I think it's one of those small things that adds up and helps keep the team connected.