If you've spun a slot or two in your lifetime, chances are you've crossed paths with a buffalo, opened a mysterious book, or wandered through Ancient Egypt in search of treasure. These themes have been around for years, yet players keep coming back for more.
So why do they still work? And more importantly, how do you make them feel exciting in 2026?
We sat down with Vanja Veselinović, sales manager at Zillion Games, to chat about reinventing classics, finding the sweet spot between familiarity and innovation, and why sometimes the best ideas start with something players already know.
Q: Let's start with the obvious question. Buffaloes. Books. Pharaohs. Fruits. Why do these themes refuse to retire?
In an online casino lobby, a game has very little time to communicate what it is.
A buffalo, a Book, a pharaoh or classic fruit symbols create instant recognition and set expectations before the first spin. That familiarity is valuable, but it is only the entry point.
At Zillion Games, we use proven themes as a foundation for building recognisable series and game worlds. From the very beginning, our strategy was not just to follow popular themes, but to build our own game universes and recognisable series.
Our Buffalo character, which players immediately connected with, became the starting point of that journey. Over time, the Buffalo model proved to be our most successful performer, and we’ve seen that its core gameplay can work exceptionally well across different themes and visual styles.
These themes remain relevant because they are flexible.
The theme can earn the initial click, but mechanics, pacing, volatility, bonus design and visual execution determine whether the game holds attention and gives players a reason to return.
Q: So how do you stop a "Book of..." game from becoming just another "Book of..." game?
First of all, by creating a genuinely new gameplay experience. We focus on improving the mechanics and introducing unique features that are not commonly found in the market.
Our Book-style games stand out thanks to the combination of traditional Book gameplay with the Hold & Win mechanic, which creates a much more dynamic and engaging experience for players.
The goal is not simply to release another “Book of…” title, but to make players feel that they are playing something familiar in a completely new way.
A Book game comes with very clear player expectations around special symbols, bonus anticipation and Free Spins.
We do not think the answer is to remove everything familiar. The product has to respect what players already understand, then add enough depth to create a different session experience.
Q: Is there a danger of trying too hard to be different?
Absolutely.
In iGaming, originality is not a goal by itself.
A mechanic can be technically impressive and still underperform if it interrupts the spin rhythm, creates unnecessary complexity or makes the value proposition difficult to understand.
When we assess a new idea, we look at it from the player experience first.
- Can the player understand what is happening quickly?
- Does the feature create anticipation? Does it add meaningful progression?
- Does it fit the volatility and math model?
- Can the game communicate its main appeal clearly enough for an operator to position it in a crowded lobby?
The right balance is to keep the core experience accessible and place innovation where it improves the game. We do not need players to stop and think about how clever a mechanic is. We want them to understand it naturally, enjoy the result and want to see it trigger again.
Q: Players often say, "I've seen this slot before." Is that something you worry about?
Yes, because that reaction often happens before the player even opens the game. Casino lobbies are crowded, and players are scanning titles, thumbnails and familiar visual cues very quickly.
If the art, title and core proposition look interchangeable, a strong math model may never get the opportunity to prove itself.
At the same time, familiarity is not a negative. In established categories, it can give players confidence that they understand the basic experience.
The important question is whether the title gives them a specific reason to choose this version. That can come from a recognisable character, a distinctive visual identity, a feature combination they have not played before or a bonus flow that creates a different rhythm during the session.
That is why we think about differentiation across the whole product. It starts with the lobby impression and continues through the first spins, feature discovery, bonus pacing and repeated sessions. If players recognise the category but remember the individual game, then the title has built its own identity.
Q: Looking at your portfolio, it feels like you enjoy mixing themes together. Egyptian buffaloes aren't exactly historical. 😄
Really? I thought Egyptian pharaohs riding buffaloes were a perfectly documented part of history! 😄
Yes, we’re fully aware when we mix different themes, and we actually enjoy experimenting with our characters and game universes.
For us, it’s not about being historically accurate; it’s about creating something memorable and entertaining. Sometimes the most unexpected combinations are the ones that immediately catch a player’s attention.
Q: Mechanics seem to be where developers get really creative these days. Which ones still excite your team?
Huge part of our creative energy is actually focused on developing completely new mechanics that we plan to introduce in the near future. I won’t reveal all the cards yet, but our goal is not just to follow market trends, it is to evolve our own proprietary mechanics and combine them in ways that feel fresh and unexpected for players.
What excites our team the most is the possibility of creating unique combinations of gameplay systems, bonus features, and progression elements that work together as one coherent experience.
We believe the next wave of innovation in slots will come not from a single mechanic, but from how different mechanics interact with each other. That is exactly the direction we are investing in for our upcoming releases.
Q: Visuals seem just as important as mechanics now. Can good art rescue a familiar theme?
Mechanics and visuals should complement each other rather than compete with each other. In most cases, players make their first decision based on the visual presentation and the theme that is what catches their attention in a crowded lobby.
Can great art rescue a familiar theme? I think it can definitely give it a second life, but only if the visual identity feels distinctive and supports the gameplay experience. Strong art direction can turn a classic concept into something that feels fresh, modern, and emotionally engaging.
This is something we invest in seriously at Zillion Games, and being shortlisted for Game Design & Art Direction at the SBC Awards Europe 2026 was an important recognition of that work.
For us, strong art direction is not decoration added at the end of development. It is part of the product from the beginning and plays an important role in how players discover, understand and remember a game.
Q: With more than 125 million game rounds played every month, you have plenty of player data. Does that influence your creative decisions?
Absolutely. Data plays a major role in our creative decision-making. When developing a new game, we look closely at player behavior and preferences to understand which themes, mechanics, features, and gameplay patterns resonate most strongly.
We also keep a close eye on market trends and how player preferences evolve over time. At the same time, we don't want to simply replicate what is already successful.
We use data to identify opportunities, while our creative team turns those insights into new and original gameplay experiences. The creative and product teams then decide how to turn those insights into something original that still makes commercial sense for operators.
Q: Finally, if you had to convince someone who's tired of classic themes to give them one more chance, what would you say?
I would not ask them to give a game another chance simply because it has a buffalo, a Book or an Egyptian theme. I would ask them to judge what the product actually does with that theme.
The category may be familiar, but the experience is defined by the mechanics, math, pacing, feature architecture and presentation.
That is also the standard we set internally. A classic theme has to earn its place in the roadmap. It needs a clear product reason, a feature proposition that can compete in today's lobbies and a visual identity strong enough to be remembered. If we cannot explain what is different and why a player should care, then the concept is not ready.
Classic themes still have room to evolve. The opportunity is not in repeating what already works. It is in understanding why players recognise and trust these categories, then building a better experience on top of that foundation.
Reinventing the Reel
With more than 70 games, over 900 integrations, and 125 million game rounds played every month, Zillion Games is proving that innovation doesn't always mean abandoning the classics. Sometimes, it's about taking the themes players already love and giving them smarter mechanics, stronger visuals, and just enough surprises to keep them coming back for one more spin.
