One of the most hectic booths on the G2E floor has visitors elbowing their way to play games that don’t look like anything they’ve seen on casino floors. Gamblit Gaming might be referred to off-handedly as making “products to attract millennials,” but if you look at who’s playing the games, the initial impression is this:
It’s just people having fun.
Chief Marketing Officer Darion Lowenstein describes the games offered in Gamblit’s space as “quick to play, easy to understand and social.”
“We actually don’t talk about millennials that much,” Lowenstein said. “We’ve had 70-year-olds playing in here, asking when these games are coming to their markets.
“We had one casino executive, a high-ranking guy in his late 50s, come in here, spend about four hours, and other people who leave, then come back with friends.”
Nevada approved skill-based gaming in 2015, and Lowenstein expects other jurisdictions to follow. He cites the competitive nature of casinos – especially in the East, where the states are closer together.
“You can’t have customers going to another state just because they have a legal game that you can’t have,” he said. “So we expect it will spread quickly.”
He said Caesar’s Entertainment will be adding games at seven properties, beginning later this year.
Among the products:
Cannon Beard’s Treasure uses the idea of blackjack – garnering cards to reach 21 – as the foundation. In their G2E model, four players plunk down $2, then press a “grab” button when a card they want appears in the center. The goal number varies – one example asked players to hit 15, for instance – and one player wins the pot, fueled by buy-ins from all four players.
Gamblit Poker uses the same four-player station (which can offer a variety of games) and cards pop up for players to grab to build the best five-card poker hand. There also is a live version of Gamblit Poker, where players hit a buzzer as a live dealer places cards in the center. On Thursday, some testing the game leaped to their feet as they neared a straight flush, and Lowenstein cautioned the players can get “competitive and excited.”
Games similar to those found on iPhones, including “Match 3volution,” a version of a popular mobile game where players group three creatures in an attempt to evolve them. (Yes, that’s a weird explanation. Just give it to me.) Other games at the same structure, called a “TriStation” because it has three monitors, include Playboy Pinball, a version of the old pinball game, except with better video and graphics, and a word search game, Lucky Words, in the vein of the old board game Boggle. Hey, if patrons with strong vocabularies can make money, imagine how casino demographics could change.
A virtual reality game demoed via a partnership with VR company HTC Vive. The game is a version of one of the most popular VR games, The Brookhaven Experiment. Players don those geeky VR headsets, plunk down, say $15, and attempt to meet three challenges, such as shooting monsters. “But we also wanted to make it a theatrical experience,” Lowenstein said, so the Virtual Reality Cube features smoke billowing, an elevated stage and music pumping from a sub-woofer. Players watching can also bet on the participant to win. (They can’t bet to lose, because the person could then purposely fail so their friends could collect.) “Casinos see the whole thing as a set piece,” Lowenstein said.
A G-Sports station, where those who love E-sports can roost. “Players can compete in a game they already have at home,” Lowenstein said, with payouts for those who finish in the top three via a leaderboard system.
He added that Gamblit is trying to focus on games that are social, interactive, fun and require skill.
“We’re a next-generation gaming company,” he said.
