Alchemy Gaming: an alchemy between mathematics and creativity

Today we met Rory Harpur, Chief Product Office of Alchemy Gaming who introduced us to the latest news of this new and promising provider. Alchemy is a young game developer that has already released many interesting titles and has already closed a partnership with Microgaming.

Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, can you tell our readers a bit about who you are and your role within Alchemy Gaming?

I’m Rory Harpur, Chief Product Office at Alchemy Gaming.

On your website, you specify that your team is made up of gaming “alchemists” (from which we imagine your name is inspired). We can say that the development process of a game is always the result of a good alchemy and collaboration between the members of a team. How would you describe your personal creative process?

We love the analogy of alchemy because we see good game design as something that needs to be approached in an analytical or scientific way, but that will never fully be understood in that light. There will always be some magic that falls outside of the science. Our creative process strives to embrace this view, starting with deep analytics of the market to create specific game design goals, and then taking a much more unbounded approach to designing features of the game that hit those goals.

Why do you say that “mathematics is at your core”?

I have been a mathematician within the online gaming space for essentially my entire career so my starting point for all game design is in the balance of payouts. I think this has bred a mindset that the mechanics and mathematical balance is the core, and that everything else is designed to support this. 

Have you introduced any special or particular innovation into your slot games?

I love playing with new mechanics and trying to find ways to create unique player experiences. In 2021, we introduced the X UP™ feature in 2 games, Africa X UP™ and Chronicles of Olympus X UP™. The X UP™ feature incorporates a collection mechanism into the base game that allows players to achieve higher free spins multiplier when triggered. It’s proved very popular among players – we love to see players enjoying Alchemy titles! Chronicles of Olympus X UP™ also introduced the patent pending UPSIZER™ feature which I think is going to be a game changer for the industry. UPSIZER™ essentially allows players who have triggered the bonus or free spins feature naturally in the base game to choose to upgrade their experience at an additional cost. The implementation in this game is just the start too, and we have lots more planned in some future releases.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, too! We have another patent-pending feature coming in one of our games this year and a few more big innovations in the pipeline. 

What type of player do you think will enjoy your slots the most?

I don’t think I can answer that question broadly, simply because It all depends on the game. We’ve made some games that cater more towards casual players and some that are definitely targeting players looking for a high volatility experience. It all depends on the features we’re playing with at the time and what we think will work best for the game.

What are the elements that must not be missing in a slot game and that make it a success?

I think the biggest factor to success is cohesion between the maths and the audio-visual experience. We see successful games ranging from extremely simple to hugely busy and full of features, so I don’t think individual elements are the key. It is all about ensuring the excitement generated by the graphics and sounds in the game align with where the potential wins are.

Let’s talk about your partnership with Microgaming, a leader in the industry. Thanks to this partnership you have had the opportunity to enter a large network, how has this affected your work?

It is great to be partnered with such a strong distribution network. It allows us to focus on making great content without having to spend too much time worrying about how we get our games into the hands of the players.

What are your plans for this year? Will you continue to focus on slot machines or explore other types of offerings?

We’re still firmly focused on slots for 2022. There is still so much novelty and innovation to explore, and we’re really excited about the games that we have lined up. We can’t wait to see what our players think of them!