3 Gladiators vs Caesar – Q&A with Marcin Tomala, Senior Game Designer at Yggdrasil Gaming

I think this is the first Roman-Emperor-themed slot I’ve seen from Yggdrasil Gaming. What made you head down this path? Can you tell us about the creative process for bringing a theme like this to life?

When designing a slot game, we always strive to connect the intended experience of the game, its features, and mechanics, with the theme and artistic choices made for it. The core idea behind 3 Gladiators Vs Caesar is high-risk and high-reward gameplay, with strong emphasis on the thrill of conquering. All artistic choices followed this mindset – after a long brainstorming session of ideas, we settled on choosing a theme about glorious battles against a mighty foe: enter, Gladiators and the Almighty Caesar. 

The 3 Gladiators vs Caesar soundtrack is pretty epic! How do you come up with musical elements like this? Do you work with external artists or is this handled in-house?

The audio design of our games is a collaborative effort between us and world-class audio designers. We maintain a hands-on approach, working on art and audio simultaneously in an intertwined process that helps bring our unified vision to life. It's a rewarding and fun experience for everyone involved, knowing it leads to a final product we're all proud of.

I love the bonus options. And giving players a chance to play it safe or take on more of a challenge with Deathmatch mode makes this game a real stand-out. Will we see more slots like this in the future from Yggdrasil?

Yggdrasil has some really strong surprises up its sleeve for the upcoming months that we’re extremely excited about. I cannot say too much for the time being, but the Deathmatch Mode, while fun and thrilling, is one of the milder ones, compared to what’s to come. Expect some wild rides on Yggdrasil’s ship soon!

Not many slots offer a consolation prize! Have you played around with this idea before and will it be something we can expect to see again?

The consolation prize was a clever way to nullify the biggest flaw of high-risk games: disappointment. Most Slot Games of the competitors ignore this flaw, while we wanted to address it head-on! While hitting big and succeeding feels great, we didn’t want to punish the player for failing – instead, we wanted this moment to be a surprising opportunity for new wins. The consolation prize adds another layer of excitement, giving the players another chance at reaching something worth a good, memorable story.  

Some of your slots, like Aphrodite Goes Wild, have enormous max wins, but 3 Gladiators vs Caesar takes it to the other end of the scale with a 2,930x top multiplier. How do you decide which way to go with new releases?

Choosing and constructing the Slot Game’s features and values is a careful process, with a lot of research and thought put into it. It involves precise calculations and no shots made from the hip. Max Win is one such element. It may seem like an arbitrary number from the outside, but in fact, it is a carefully designed gear in the magnificent machine of intended player experience, where every single nut and bolt of mathematical values have a tangible impact on the final result.

With DoubleMax, DuoMax, GigaBlox and more in your arsenal, it seems like Yggdrasil Gaming is determined to lead the way in shaping the way we play slots. Are there more innovative mechanics on the horizon?

Yes, indeed, and we’re excited to say that. The upcoming months of Yggdrasil’s releases have quite some innovative high points, bound to shake the market and the players’ expectations. Stay tuned!

Obviously, 3 Gladiators vs Caesar is a fantastic slot. However, if you had to choose a favourite from the Yggdrasil back catalogue, what would it be and why?

For me, as a Slot Game Designer, it is not an easy task to choose only one favourite Slot Game from Yggdrasil’s portfolio. Every single one of them offers a completely different experience, with a vast palette of different emotions and expectations, each being a unique, memorable adventure on their own. If I was to talk about every Yggdrasil game worth mentioning though, we would need a separate interview session, I suppose!

Has the introduction of tougher gambling rules in the UK made it more challenging to appeal to players there? Do things like stake limits and bonus buy-in exclusions form part of the design process when producing slots for this market?

Yggdrasil is not new to licenses and jurisdiction requirements. With our games meticulously prepared for release in many countries across the globe, we keep such requirements in mind and design our games in a way that players in all countries can enjoy them with similar intended experiences. With our way of planning out Slot Games, the UK’s bet size and Buy Bonus regulations are of no hindrance to the fun of the gameplay. You could say we were prepared even before the UK announced these changes.

Where is Yggdrasil headed next? Are there any new games you’re particularly excited about releasing in the near future? Is there an entry to the Xmas slot genre on the cards?

Finally, I understand this is your first time teaming up with a slot review site to share details of a new release. Just to help boost our egos, can you tell me why you chose to collaborate with Slot Gods?

It was a simple decision really. We, at Yggdrasil, value strong cooperation partners, with wide reach and a good reputation in the market. As such trusted affiliates, you guys were among our first choices, and so we didn’t hesitate to reach out to you! 

Name:

3 Gladiators vs Caesar

Developer:

Yggdrasil

RTP:

94.00%

Max payout:

2,930x stake

Volatility:

Medium

Reels:

5

Win lines:

20

Theme:

Action, Adventure

Release date:

22nd Oct 2024