Four Leaf Gaming is a relatively new name in the iGaming space. Founded in 2021, the company now has four games in its portfolio and many more on the horizon.
The latest Four Leaf release Everest was a hit in the VegasSlotsOnline office, so much so that it made it into our Slots of the Week roundup. You can shatter frozen rows to create more paylines, or spin the bonus wheel for extra multipliers in the game based around the tallest mountain on planet Earth.
VegasSlotsOnline News spoke with Andy Hollis, the co-founder of Four Leaf, to find out a little more about the company, how it started, and where it is going next.
Thanks for chatting to me today! Firstly, tell us a little bit about Four Leaf Gaming and how you came to the decision to create the company.
John and I founded Four Leaf Gaming at the end of 2021, at a point when content was and arguably still is a commodity. However, we have innovative ideas not just on core game mechanics but also ideas on shaking up the standard play journey by creating a slot game with an unrelenting focus on the player. For that reason, we believe the players will enjoy our ever-growing portfolio.
At every turn we allow the player an option to increase the game’s potential
We wanted to give the players control over their experience as much as possible and not force them down one particular path. That’s where our Game & Fortune features come in. At every turn we allow the player an option to increase the game’s potential by injecting exciting experiences into the flow. For example, with our Bonus Booster that spins up before any bonus round, we give the player the option to risk all or just a few of their free spins for a chance to win more.
We also have Bonus Replay that gives players the chance to replay their bonus if they didn’t win what they had hoped. We recently introduced our Fortune Maker mechanic which gives players the chance to win €1m by risking some of their bonus winnings.
In those early days, was there anything in particular that you wanted to make sure you got right?
We knew going into this venture how competitive the landscape was. The industry is producing a volume of content not seen before and reducing the length of the average game lifecycle. We feel for Casino Managers who have the unenviable task of selecting from upwards of 50 games per week. This is why we began to focus on the player and how we engaged with colleagues and friends within the B2C space.
We knew we had to do things a bit differently to stand out whilst still keeping a familiar experience for players. Blending innovative ideas with more familiar concepts allowed us to create content that we were confident would resonate but also bring something new to the table.
Were there any lessons you took from your past experience at Microgaming that helped you in this journey?
We took a lot of learning from our 20+ combined years at Microgaming. During our time there we had roles that touched on every aspect of the business. We worked with a huge number of new studio partners, and we were able to see what made each of them successful but also importantly where the challenges lay and how to overcome them. We learned how we could utilize the best of both aspects, avoiding common traps and applying the positive aspects to our approach.
In your opinion, what are the main things a modern slots player wants from games?
As mentioned earlier, the average lifecycle of a game is shorter than say, ten years ago as a result of volume each month and, whilst there is a new generation of players emerging, the core offering isn’t hugely dissimilar. Players still want to be entertained and stimulated while playing.
empowering the teams to challenge and create something special
At Four Leaf Gaming, our focus is always on the player experience. We are players first, and come at game design by creating games that we would like to play. Working with market-leading casinos on bespoke games is an exciting development and you will have to keep an eye out for future collaborations. We also pride ourselves on adding to our already skilled team. Our recruitment policy is to create healthy dialogue by employing with an emphasis on talent, experience, and our culture values, empowering the teams to challenge and create something special.
Strategic deals with our partners are also important and having been the first Silver Bullet partner to launch our hugely popular Dueling Jokers Dream Drop title on the Relax Gaming Jackpot product – a game that is not like the normal Jackpot games, our approach was to create a volatile slot with a jackpot, enabling players multiple chances to win big. Unlike most slots associated with jackpots/progressives, where volatility is low, keeping players in the hunt for the jackpot.
Having said that It’s impossible to combine every different player’s preferences in to one single package. Through our Game & Fortune mechanics we try to afford players the choice to tailor their experience based on what they value most.
You now have four games in your portfolio with three more soon to be released, which did you enjoy making the most and why?
Each of the games presented their own challenges in design and development. Personally, I probably enjoyed creating Wild Buccaneers the best. It was our second game so we had ironed out any teething issues with the first game and we were able to focus on refining everything a bit more.
We leveraged the hugely popular Megaways mechanic for the game but wanted to implement it in a different way from what others had done. The concept of a completely random and potentially endless multiplier trail with wilds and bonus triggers is what makes players love this game.
maybe we will do a sequel and bring these guys to life in the future
I really loved the theme and had a lot of fun creating and iterating a variety of pirate characters you see in the game. There were several great characters that didn’t make the cut unfortunately but maybe we will do a sequel and bring these guys to life in the future.
Now onto Everest, your latest release, what makes the game different?
Everest has been an idea we have been discussing since we founded the company. It was originally going to be our debut release but it’s taken several iterations to get it to a stage we were happy with.
Everest features a reel set that expands upwards with every win but what sets the game apart is that when the reel reaches ten rows high, free spins are triggered and played out on the fully expanded reel set with each spin offering 100,000 ways to win. Combine this with two different wild symbols that each behave in different ways and you have a really exciting experience.
It’s an interesting theme that we haven’t seen before, how did you come up with it?
We had the mechanic for the game before we landed on the theme. The setting for the game actually came to me when flicking through some old traveling photos. We spent time in Tibet and traveled to Everest base camp and I was overawed by it. I thought it would make for a really interesting backdrop to the game and the mechanics tied in really well with the theme.
Finally, what’s next for Four Leaf Gaming moving into H2 of 2023?
We have some really great concepts coming through for the remainder of 2023.
players venture into a long-forgotten temple in search of untold riches
After Everest we have Temple of Fury Dream Drop going live on August 3. This sees players venture into a long-forgotten temple in search of untold riches. We went with a really different approach with this game by putting all of the potential into the feature-packed base game with locking symbols, expanding reels, symbol upgrades, extra respins, and expanding wilds. Putting all of the RTP into the base game means every spin gives players the best chance possible to hit the life-changing Dream Drop Bonus.
We will also continue to grow our family of Game & Fortune features and have some very exciting ones planned for in the near future. Watch this space!
Keep an eye on our website and social media pages to keep up to date with our latest releases.
