AskGamblers continues to introduce innovative studios that are shaping the iGaming industry of today. We had a chance to talk to Magnus Palmstierna Eckhéll, Creative Director/CCO of the Snowborn Games studio, so read on to find out about the studio’s creative processes and what makes their games unique and attractive to players.
Hi, Magnus! It’s wonderful to meet you! Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself and Snowborn to AskGamblers readers. Could you please start by telling us something about yourself?
My name is Magnus Palmstierna Eckhéll, and I'm the Creative Director/CCO of Snowborn, as well as one of the original founders of the studio back in 2017. My background is that of a Senior Art Director and Designer. Today, I focus mostly on building Snowborn’s strong brand, as well as planning and executing our marketing activities across various channels.
Snowborn is an ambitious and relatively new iGaming studio. Can you tell us about your selection of games and your creative processes?
We started Snowborn with the ambition of creating a premium game studio that produces amazing games in all aspects, including math, visual design, and player experience. For us, producing slot games is all about creating great online entertainment for our players.
The Product Owner (PO) is the gatekeeper of the ’big idea’ and takes the lead in determining what we should do. Then, the art director takes on the task of interpreting that abstract idea into how it could actually look. Mood boards lead to rough design mockups for reel design, environments, backgrounds, symbols, and characters.
While the art director is working on the art concept, the mathematicians, together with the PO, work on the most vital part of the slot: the game math.
When math and mechanics feel solid, and we have a visual concept that matches, we proceed with the production phase, where the developers work on getting the game engine up and running, and designers, illustrators, sound designers and animators start working on the final game assets.
With all the competition out there and the insane number of slots being produced every month, it is hard to be original. But we really try to come up with unexpected game themes, cool mechanics with our own twist, and fun game characters that will put a smile on your face.
Snowborn titles are available through the Games Global network. What does it mean for your studio to have such a prominent name in the industry by your side?
It means everything! It is really hard to succeed in this industry as a single studio trying to get your games out to all the operators. Being a part of the Games Global family means that we have access to the best distribution platform for slot games in the industry, which in turn gives us the best possible reach and exposure for our games. We are proud to be able to be a part of Games Global’s portfolio offering to the most prominent operators in the markets where we are active.
Snowborn is famous for delivering high-quality slots and fun features to its players. How do you come up with new features? Where does it all begin?
As I mentioned before, it all starts with the Product Owner (PO) having a grand idea and the genre of a game that fits our current release plan and feels suitable for the player group within that time window. We always try to think ahead to develop unique gameplay and features that could set the game apart from others.
First, the PO defines the core mechanics of the game, including the number of reels and paylines and the overall volatility (frequency of wins vs size of wins). We always try to find the right combination of features that we believe will be most attractive to the players, such as compelling bonus rounds, Free Spins, and multipliers that engage and provide opportunities for big wins. Based on this, the mathematicians develop the math model.
Players can feel when there is good math in a slot, and that is why some games just work over a long period of time.
After that, the PO and the art director brainstorm ideas for the slot game's theme, considering popular trends, to come up with something that we believe resonates with the target audience, will match the mechanics and math profile and has the potential for engaging visuals and immersive gameplay.
Designing a great slot game takes time, but we love it!
We can see that you have just released a new title, congrats! Could you share some of your plans for the near-term future with our readers? What can we expect from Snowborn?
Thank you! Yes, we recently released Cat Clans 2™, which is a follow-up on our massively successful release Cat Clans™ from 2021. We have kept the core mechanic with multiplier wilds and sticky multiplier wilds in Free Spins but taken everything a step further and added a few cool tweaks, such as three different levels of Free Spins, Mad Respins and mystery symbols. We are so happy with how the game turned out, and the early performance results are looking very promising.
We are also super excited about our upcoming game, Eggs Bonanza™, which will come out on global release on 19th September. This game includes a couple of studio-first features, such as a collection mechanic in the base game that will boost your starting level in the Bonus feature to different degrees depending on how far the booster has reached before triggering the Bonus. We believe this game, with engaging mechanics and balanced math all wrapped in beautiful and fun barnyard-themed artwork, really has the right ingredients to become a great success!
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions!
