Kai Botha from Kalamba Games about overgamification, regulation, and player preferences

Kalamba Games is a team of iGaming enthusiasts that offers high quality slots to players in several regions of the world. We had a conversation with Kai Botha, a Commercial Director at Kalamba Games, about game features, expansion to different markets, player preferences, and eternal success of slots. Read on to know the developer’s perspective on the most discussed topics of today.

SLOTEGRATOR: Earlier this year you reported that Kalamba was on track to hit 90% year-on-year growth. In your opinion, what is Kalamba doing so well that you’re recording such enviable numbers?

KAI BOTHA: I’m a strong believer in the philosophy that if you do the little things right then the big things will follow. I think a big part of our success is due to consistency. Consistent customer service, consistent game performance and consistent lobby exposure through promotions. Everyone at Kalamba is very focussed on doing the little things right everyday and I think this is our greatest strength.

S: Overgamification is becoming a big topic in the industry. Which Kalamba titles really hit the nail on the head when it comes to balancing classic simplicity and gamification?

KB: Our gamification innovation typically comes from our in-house engagement/promotional tools. When it comes to our games themselves, overgamification has never really been a problem. I think our studio team is really good at balancing feature-rich games with traditional slot player wants and needs. When it comes to our promotional tools, these have been a massive driver in our success over the past 3 years.

Personally speaking, I don’t really buy into the concept of ‘overgamification’.

Innovation is a one way train and the train is going to leave the station with or without you so best you buy a ticket and hop on. And if you make mistakes you can pause and make iterative changes to your strategy, but you’re never going to take a step forward in the right direction; you're never going to have the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.

As far as slots go, our primary remit is to entertain players. Win or lose, when a player leaves one of our games they should leave the experience feeling entertained. Now whether that entertainment comes from the game itself or promotional tools is inconsequential. Secondly and just as important is maintaining the integrity of the user experience. This is achieved primarily through UI and UX. Make the experience as intuitive and non-invasive as possible for the player. You want the players to be entertained but not distracted, engaged but not overwhelmed.

If you’ve done this well, you’re essentially giving control of the experience over to the player. Let them choose what feature or promo they want to interact with. If you can balance this recipe of entertainment and user experience, you will appeal to all players, not just the traditional players.

Your players will always tell you what they want. You just have to listen.

S: Kalamba has been very busy expanding into new markets, particularly regulated ones. Are new-market players more likely to look for feature-rich titles or straightforward classics?

KB: This depends entirely on the market. Regulated markets are typically a lot more restrictive when it comes to features and gamification. And so it's not really up to the players but it's more determined by the barriers implemented by the regulator that dictates the kind of content available in each market.

And so the primary focus on entering a new regulated market, which presents a lot of challenges, is to develop really strong and consistent games that are not heavily dependent on features. In summary, you have to play within the rules of that jurisdiction, some rules are more open to interpretation than others. Some markets are a simple no, and others there are loopholes that can be exploited. Regulation can stifle innovation but it can also facilitate it.

S: When it comes to overgamification, what do you think is a good rule of thumb for where developers can draw the line?

KB: If you’re entertaining players and ensuring a quality user experience, then there is no line so to speak. We want them to be entertained but not overwhelmed, engaged but not distracted.

The solution to ensuring this is simple, give the player control of their own experience. And what I mean by that is to build features that are specifically non-invasive and that require the player themselves to choose whether they want to engage with a feature or a promo tool themselves. We’re not going to force the experience on them.

S: The classic slot machine has been around for a century and a half. What about the game gives it such staying power? And given how long slots have been around, why is there any need to innovate at all?

KB: There will always be a place for classic slots and the classic slots player and part of that success has been driven by the simplicity and predictability of the traditional slot. BUT Innovation should always be paramount. Don’t just think about who your customer is today, think about who they will be tomorrow. Otherwise one day you might wake up and not recognise your player base or worse yet, they might not recognise you. For example, there is nothing stopping you from developing games that appeal to traditional and new player types. You should always develop a dual content strategy that resonates with multiple player demographics.

S: What do you see as the future of gamification? Will features continue to get more complex, or will there be a correction in the market? Which features will survive, and which will disappear?

KB: There will always be a place for features but I think innovation will be measured by increased regulation. As to what will survive and what won’t, only time can tell.

S: What game features do you personally love to see in a slot? Which ones make you cringe?

KB: To be honest I’m a fan of all features. Some I like more than others but there aren’t any that would necessarily make me cringe. The way I see it is there’s something for everyone and you as the player get to choose what you interact with and not. My personal favorite is Hold and Win games.