Q&A with Daniel Kalinowski, Affiliate and Social Media Manager at Blueprint Gaming

We recently caught up with Daniel Kalinowski, Affiliate and Social Media Manager at Blueprint Gaming to chat about the new Flintstones slot release and get his thoughts on the latest industry trends.

The Flintstones is a famous cultural icon of a TV series, originally broadcast in the early 1960s and then made into a film in 1994. So, why a Flintstones game now? How did the idea come about?

We were looking for a brand that had a huge appeal to our global audience and The Flintstones had been discussed as a possibility. Like you say, the TV series had been a massive cultural icon and many of us have grown up watching the show much later than the sixties, around the 1990s when the film had invigorated the brand.

Who will it appeal to and why? If you were to say ‘fans of xxx game will love The Flintstones’ what would that game be?

We believe that The Flintstones will carry a similar nostalgic appeal to the fans of our other branded games, but especially something like The Goonies Megaways! Both games have features with wide appeal to players – Cash Collect Features and Super Free Spins where players will get unlimited spins until a win is achieved.

A big chunk of our players come from the generation that grew up on both classics, so we think that Bedrock is the perfect setting for our next flagship game. It is the same feeling of creative fun bringing worlds like these to life in our products!

What features can we expect from The Flintstones? What can we look forward to with the Super Fred upgrades? What do you think players will love the most about The Flintstones? What's your favourite thing about the game?

The Flintstones has special Fred symbols that land on reel 5 and collect all cash symbols from reels 1, 2, 3, and 4. There are of course Free Spins where the Cash Collect becomes even more interesting with Super Fred upgrades. I think these will resonate with our players the most, simply because they unlock so many additional chances for exciting spins and rewards! You can get the “Lock & Collect” upgrade which freezes your current Cash Symbols and spins the reels for more rewards, or “Max Collect” where every Cash Symbol changes to the biggest value won. Those are my personal favourites.

Some of your recent slots include jackpots, but it looks like they won't be making an appearance in The Flintstones. What sways the decision to add them or not?

The Flintstones is already packed with a tonne of mechanics and we simply thought that the game is a well rounded experience without the addition of Jackpot King.

Since Plenty 'O Fish with its huge 10,000x max win, we've seen Anubis Rising and now The Flintstones dropping it back to 5,000x. How do you decide upon the max win figure?

I think it comes down to player experience, a game does not need to have a high max win to offer something enjoyable, which I think The Flintstones does brilliantly. Majority of our recent launches in the last year have been around the 5,000x/10,000x mark and seem to be doing very well!

Some of the ‘values’ and attitudes portrayed in the original TV series might be considered a bit ‘old school’ these days. Does that matter?

It is interesting how this goes, isn’t it? I remember watching The Flintstones on the TV when I was young, as it was considered a children’s show back then. Like you say, now, some of the parts of the show would be seen as dated by modern audiences.

We try to create our branded games in the most respectful way possible, to remind the players of the positives only. Including every fine detail from the show does not always work well with slots, so there is a lot of freedom to pick and choose what we want to show. We are keen to make slot games that stay true to the quality and legacy of the brands we are lucky enough to collaborate with, its important to us and we believe its part of the reason we are known worldwide for our branded games. 

Do you think online slots need big pay-outs to entice players?

Big pay-outs certainly attract some players; however, we have recently noticed a trend with certain mechanics and themes that suggests that there is more than what meets the eye in what entices players.

Based on our data, it seems that our audience enjoys familiarity with our themes and trying out new mechanics within those established settings more than potential big pay-outs.

If this is a hit. What would you consider next? What’s next for Blueprint?

That’d be telling! Make sure to follow the studio on LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram to see more updates when we will be ready to share them!

What’s your favourite Blueprint slot to date? And why?

I will be cheesy and say that my favourite game by Blueprint Gaming is The Flintstones! I loved the show and the movie. The cast in the live-action film was incredible – John Goodman, Kyle MacLachlan and even Halle Berry was there! So if you mix the sentimental value of this franchise with the gameplay in Super Free Spins, I think that’s a winning combination personally.

Which genres would you say have had the biggest impact on players? And which do you think may have had their day now?

In my opinion, the Jackpot King games had a massive impact on our players. You might have noticed Big Win videos of our Jackpot King games online – I am the guy who records and edits these before they go out. I have seen our players win life-changing prizes via these videos, so from my perspective, the Jackpot genre has always been special to me. 

There are also the Megaways games that still enjoy popularity. I remember showing The Goonies Megaways at this year’s ICE to people and witnessing their reaction after seeing that we have added the Megaways system to The Goonies has proven that this genre of games isn’t going anywhere yet.

As for the genre that might have had its best days already, I do not know. People really do play all the games, and while not all slots are as successful as one another, the number of plays we see across our games just cannot be ignored. I know this is a very safe answer but this is how I genuinely feel about this!

What do you regard as the classic Blueprint games and what do players tell you about them? What makes Blueprint slots stand out from other games on the market?

Our Fishin’ Frenzy and Eye Of Horus games are industry classics, hands down. I continue to see all types of players still spinning in those games on land-based machines in pubs.

I also had a few funny conversations with people I’ve just met from outside of the industry who I wouldn’t assume played slots, where after learning what it is that I do for living ask me: “Blueprint? Is that this blue fishing game? Yeah, I play that!”

Those games are just clean, you know? You give them a few spins and you quickly learn the gameplay, which makes them good entry points. Then, the same player might see a new game in the series with a new feature advertised under the logo and decide to give this slot a go instead, because they already know the base game so why not try a twist?  I think it is this legacy of games and a wide selection of variants that makes Blueprint Gaming stand out.

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Check out Slot Gods' full Flintstones review!

Name:

The Flintstones

Developer:

Blueprint Gaming

RTP:

95.00%

Max payout:

10,000x stake

Volatility:

Medium-High

Jackpot:

Mini, Minor, Major, Mega

Reels:

5

Win lines:

10

Theme:

TV/Movie

Release date:

23rd May 2024

Play The Flintstones here: