Gaming supplier Print Studios started out in 2020 and has already made clear that it intends to put its own spin on online slots. Recent title releases Reapers and Pine of Plinko Dream Drop particularly caught the attention of players, leaving them eagerly anticipating the studio’s next release, which is coming up very soon.
Holy Hand Grenade is the company’s eighth offering. It’s a five-reel slot filled with mad bishops and peasants, all tied together by the overarching theme of explosive energy that could lead to major wins for lucky players. VegasSlotsOnline News enjoyed the game so much that it has made it into our most recent Slots of the Week.
Ahead of Holy Hand Grenade’s release on April 14, VSO News sat down with Print Studios CEO and co-founder Carl Wiggman to discuss the difficulties facing start-up studios and to find out more about the upcoming religious-themed title.
Tell us a bit about your background in the industry.
I started at Unibet where I was a management trainee in the product department. Then I gravitated more and more towards slot games. There were a couple of start-up slot studios there and eventually I reached a point where I felt like I needed to get into the makings of the game so I began working at Push Gaming.
We wanted to allow others to do what they do best
I then reached a point where together with two friends we felt that we could start a studio in a slightly more efficient way than what we were seeing. We saw that there were better ways to capitalize on talent. We wanted to allow others to do what they do best without feeling like they needed to be promoted into a managerial role. That’s where we started Print Studios.
Was there anything particularly challenging about starting the company?
From the start, the premise of the studio was to find really strong candidates. We wanted to recruit the most senior people at other studios and had to work out how to get them to come to us when our studio was just a couple of guys and a PowerPoint. That was challenging, but it went far better than expected. It turns out that a lot of people thrive on challenges. Those people are the ones that we needed and the ones that we found.
You also launched during the pandemic. Did this pose any difficulties?
It was fine because we already knew we wanted a remote studio. Even with these multinational companies that have offices, there is always someone that needs to be called in because they’re not in that location. We felt that we should just make it remote from the start but make it right rather than any half measures.
How do you stand out from the crowd in such a saturated slots market?
We make games using new mechanics and take a quality over quantity approach. We have less releases than the average studio per year, but then we have the ability to take on more interesting challenges within those games.
we take on the difficult ideas because we have such strong people
There are some ideas that other studios would shy away from because of their complexity, but we take on the difficult ideas because we have such strong people around us.
You have seven games in your portfolio now with one soon to be released. Which have been your favorite to make?
It’s hard to have any favorites as I’ve loved working on them all. Pine of Plinko was fun because it all came together really quickly and smoothly. But then on the other side of the coin, Reapers was a really complex game to work on so everything took much longer. Both are fun to make in different ways.
Tell us a bit about your upcoming release Holy Hand Grenade. Where did the unique idea first come from?
I’d seen Holy Hand Grenades pop up in different games and movies and it just felt like something that had that right vibe. It’s got a bit of fun to it and a promise of explosive energy with the potential for big wins. Right away the name seemed like it could be a coin slot.
It’s a lighthearted theme without feeling corny, and it seemed like a fun story to explore. It features a medieval town where the local father has decided that the only way that God communicates with us is through explosions. That was really fun to explore.
What makes the game different in terms of its features?
This is us exploring and digging deeper into the SuperSpinners mechanic than we ever have. There’s an amazing feeling when you have a big cluster of symbols that are all covering some SuperSpinners because you know they’re all going to be involved in the win. We found a mechanic that does that super efficiently but can still be dynamic.
the mystery symbols expand or spread randomly
The Hand Grenade feature where the mystery symbols expand or spread randomly – that felt like something that could be fun to do over and over, especially on a big grid when you combined it with these chain reactions you get.
The game is out on the network April 14.
Sounds exciting! What about the future? Do you have any game details you can share with us?
The next game after Holy Hand Grenade is a really special one called Cash Defense. It has a very unique mechanic. It’s a way of combining the typical video game genre with slot games in a boost to both sides. It’s going to be really fun.