Ainsworth Game Technology’s recent release of two new slot games, San Bao Dragons and San Bao Pandas, capitalizes on current market trends and the launch of the new 49-inch screen A-STAR Raptor cabinet. The games, available in Class III, Class II, and historical horse racing (HHR) markets, offer players three pot-style chases and a $10,000 Linked Progressive.
“We took a great deal of time with these, really taking a deep dive into things like bet configurations, entry bet levels, hit and miss frequencies and hit frequencies, and what features to use,” says Mike Trask, Ainsworth Vice President of Marketing & Product Strategy
The company then launched the new game concepts in Class II and Historical Horse Racing markets. After seeing performance metrics about 2x House Average, the company decided to use the titles for the first Raptor installations.
The strategy worked. Last month, the Raptor appeared on the Eilers & Krejcik Cabinet Performance Report as the top performing New Upright Cabinet, showing above 2.5x performance.
The San Bao slots feature three perceived persistence mechanics, the aforementioned sticky games, plus jackpot and extra free games. There are three progressive jackpots with each game, and two available bonuses that scale with denom.
“Predominantly, competing three pot games have been done with a hold and re-spin, and we wanted to move away from that a little bit,” says Ainsworth Director of Game Development Dusty Fasbender. “None of our features in the San Bao games are hold and re-spin. Probably the most unique thing we did was Sticky Wilds because that’s something we hadn’t seen previously. And it seemed to fit well with the other features we were going for.”
The games can be played with 1-, 2-, 5- and 10-cent denominations in Class III markets. Operators have the option of including a wireless phone charger on the cabinet, or two bash buttons on the Raptor.
Other features of the San Bao games include the A-Star Raptor’s 49-inch screen and an 18 ½-inch button deck, with enhanced sound and functionality.
Trask reiterates that current lists of the top new slots include a large number of three-pot games, and the San Bao slots tap into that trend.
“More and more players are approaching (three-pot games) due to the fact that they feel ready to hit often,” Trask says. “And so, both of these games, whether it’s the dragon hatching itself from an egg, or the pandas getting bigger, both of those become very approachable to a player.”
Fasbender said that his design team also took care to consider the games’ volatility, which social media influencers recently started to notice as increasing in new slot games.
“We mitigate that to some degree by doing a 75-cent bet and making these features happen as frequently as they do,” Fasbender says. “The player is going to feel those features happening very frequently.”
The San Bao games have been installed in several U.S. markets and have received positive feedback. A few social media influencers also have tried the San Bao slots. Josh Duffy of the YouTube channel Slotaholic recently streamed gameplay from Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, Louisiana.
He called the San Bao games “a great addition to the Ainsworth lineup”.
“While this game does turn into a bit of a chaser, the line wins are strong enough to keep the player engaged as they hope to trigger a free game feature,” Duffy says. “The real big win potential is primarily found when two features trigger simultaneously – as evidenced in my livestream when the green and purple coins triggered and resulted with a beautiful $1,400 handpay on a $6 bet!”
