Why Are Casino Mini-Games So Popular in RPGs and Open-World Titles?

The bar for AAA games has reached heights where almost any action adventure, RPG, shooter, or fantasy game needs to be an open world. This allows players to be fully immersed in the game, and it’s a great way to create a massive virtual playground for multiplayer titles. However, for that vast world to be appealing, developers need to fill it with all sorts of things and allow players to interact with those features. In other words, you’ll likely find mini-games or side activities, including gambling. 

In some instances, these casino mini-games might seem out of place, but they serve an important purpose. Of course, devs cannot add real casino slots or table games that allow you to win real money. The regulations won’t allow it for once, and those who want to gamble already visit the best casino sites where they can claim bonuses and use other perks. In other words, there is no intention here to compete with already established gambling brands. The goal is to improve the overall player experience, and here we will explain how these mini-games achieve this.

It’s a Way to Add More Player Freedom 

In open-world games, players need to complete quests, solve problems, and gain power in order to advance. However, devs don’t want these things to feel linear, they want to give players freedom when tackling these issues. So, if the player needs to collect money, they can do chores, take on bounties, sell materials, or, if there is a casino mini-game, they can also gamble to gain more in-game currency. 

Also, these gambling activities won’t necessarily be about money, they can have some unique rewards. These unique rewards are a perfect intro for the next reason why gambling features are popular. 

Player Prestige 

In MMOs, things like cosmetics, methods of commuting, and additional inventory space don’t have a big impact on player power. Meaning they don’t give an unfair advantage, but they make playing the game more enjoyable. Additionally, if those assets are rare, they give players bragging rights. So if these items are hard to acquire, and if the number of active players is high, these assets will have greater value. Knowing you have something that only 0,5% or only 1% of the playerbase has feels satisfying.  

One way to make something scarce is to lock it behind a difficult task that only exceptionally skilled players can complete. The other one is to have it be an item that has an incredibly low drop rate, in a side content like a casino mini-game. Also, if the drop rate is low, and the player somehow manages to get the item after only a few attempts, it will feel incredibly satisfying. A moment they will definitely remember as if they hit the jackpot. 

Players do care about prestige in big games, and are even prepared to spend real money on it. That’s how many titles are monetized, simply by selling these rare items with appealing visuals. 

They Can Serve as Gap Fillers

In massive multi-player games, there’s a lot of group content. This means several or even dozens of players need to band together and coordinate to overcome certain challenges. This sounds very fun in theory, but in practice, you’ll need to wait for hours for everyone to come and reach the same destination. Also, things can go wrong, someone can disconnect or have to change plans, so you might have to wait longer. 

Having side-content or gambling activities is very useful in these instances, as it makes the wait more bearable. In World of Warcraft, for example, there was an item that required seeds and soil to generate random plants. Some of these plants that drop randomly are incredibly rare and expensive, and allow you to make easy money. So, seeds and soil are practically chips, and the bag is a slot machine that can give cheap as well as incredibly expensive rewards. 

This bag is rarely used when you do something else in the game, but people commonly use it while they are waiting for the group to assemble. In other words, there are instances where gambling is a more productive time investment, and it won’t feel like you are doing nothing. This gambling item was mainly used in the classic era, but Blizzard has returned servers that host that version of the game. Also, it seems that Blizzard will come back to China too, so this MMORPG will make its return there as well. 

Making Games More Believable  

Many popular open-world titles that feature gambling, GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Star Wars: Outlaws. After all, developers want their virtual worlds to feel realistic, and gambling has been around in the real world since ancient times. So, it makes sense for them to add this content when they want to create a story that feels real.