Saint Nicked™ 2: Santa’s Naughty Makeover—Behind the Scenes with Lucksome
For this article, we had a chat with the team from Lucksome, a game studio owned by industry heavyweight Blueprint, to discuss the latest Saint Nicked™ 2: Ho Ho Ho title. We explored the inspirations behind the brand-new Christmas-themed slot and touched on the innovative mechanics and new details players can expect. Read on to gain valuable insights at Slotsjudge about the fresh title and discover the studio's future plans.
1. So, Santa’s gone rogue in Saint Nicked™2: Ho Ho Ho—who came up with the idea of turning him into a bad boy, and were they on the naughty list?
I believe the idea came from Bryan Upton, the founder of Lucksome (TM). The first Saint Nicked™ game, which was released last year for the Christmas period, and it was their first holiday themed game.
Bryan has a lot of “outside the box” ideas for themes and mechanics, and a Bad Boy Santa is very much up his street humour wise. As the works on the initial game began and all the art and voice acting started coming along to create the theme, everyone agreed that we had something special, but also funny and memorable.
As for the naughty list, I can’t speak for Santa, but Mr Upton has been on my own naughty list for good 3 years now since I started working at Blueprint!
2. Let’s be honest—did you ever imagine players cheering for Santa breaking the rules instead of spreading cheer?
I think the balance of humour and homage to the Christmas legend which created Saint Nicked™ is a perfect concoction for a good adult-themed slot. We all know who Santa is, what he does and how he operates, so another retelling of the story might have felt a bit dull for a LucksomeTM game.
Witnessing a new version of Santa in Saint Nicked™ offers something fresh, and so I think that players were intrigued to see what the games have to offer.
3. Those Free Spins look like a wild ride—what’s the most “naughty” part about them?
Landing 3 or more Scatter symbols awards 10 free spins, with a progressive meter that unlocks extra spins and multipliers up to 10x.
There are a lot of naughty things in these free spins as all the action takes place in a strip club, which I’m guessing Mrs Claus isn’t the biggest fan of. Thankfully we don’t get to see her going through the bank statements in Saint Nicked™ 2 Ho Ho Ho, but perhaps this will make a nice feature in future games.
However, from a gameplay point of view Saint Nicked™ 2 Ho Ho Ho has Blueprint’s signature Cash Collect features and special collect unlocks, which have proven to be a massive success with our operators.
With the Cash Collect feature the players can scoop up all visible cash prizes across the reels if a special Santa or Rudolf Collect symbols will land on reel 6. Landing the Santa Collect symbols can also lead to more rewards, like Lock & Spin Collect, Happy Hour Collect and The Thirsty Elf, which all modify the spins for more ways to win.
4. The Random Gift feature can be full of surprises—if Santa was handing you a surprise gift in real life, what would you hope for?
I would honestly love if the surprise present was something that my mum would like as I still haven’t got a clue on what to get her for Christmas.
5. Those cheeky elves seem like troublemakers! Which one do you think would cause the most chaos in your office?
The Thirsty Elf seems like pure chaos. That’s that one friend who orders shots for everyone as the group is ready to leave to find the nearest kebab place before falling asleep in the least appropriate locations. I can imagine this elf always coming in late and drunk, falling asleep during meetings and ending up being called by HR for his jokes.
6. Finally, we’ve seen Santa like never before—can we expect more twists on other classic characters in the future?
I don’t think anything has been announced yet, however players do enjoy themes that include gods, fairies, myths or historical figures. Our strategy has always been to provide our audience with what they want, thus, I would say that it is likely that you will see more themes like Saint Nicked™ from either Blueprint or LucksomeTM in the future.
Conclusion
Saint Nicked™ 2: Ho Ho Ho does an outstanding job delivering holiday spirit paired with the thrill of spinning the reels. The interview only proves that Blueprint made a positive impact on Lucksome's production, allowing it to incorporate trendy themes and even more innovative mechanics. After the chat with Daniel, we are left excited to see what else the studio has in store.
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