Kingmaker: Big Time’s Nik Robinson lifts the lid on latest release

Big Time Gaming Kingmaker slot

As Big Time Gaming releases Kingmaker, CasinoBeats speaks exclusively to the innovative developer’s CEO Nik Robinson about the game and the story behind it

Kingmaker’ might seem an appropriate epitaph for a company that has shaken up the slots sector with a range of eye-catching games and mechanics but is in fact the title of Big Time Gaming’s latest release

The slot combines the potent Megaways mechanic with Gem Multipliers and free spins with multipliers to offer players huge potential for big wins.

The title might at first appear to be in familiar territory with its medieval setting and use of MegaWays – but the gameplay comes as something of a surprise, as the developer continues to deliver the unexpected. Big Time CEO, Nik Robinson, explains.

“we decided to build a game where the feature is actually the last thing you want to see

What was the inspiration for Kingmaker? 

NR: “The majority of our games take a large number of spins to trigger the bonus and we receive a great deal of feedback on this via various player forums and social media.

“So, in response, we decided to build a game where the feature is actually the last thing you want to see and instead our players will be screaming for the third scatter never to hit!”

Early previews have picked up on that, acknowledging that the base game takes a while to build towards triggering the bonus features, with high volatility in the free-spins feature. Can you explain the reasoning behind this?

“There are two things you want to happen in Kingmaker – get the bonus in the first 20 spins and reap a reasonable reward, or stay in the base game to increase the five-of-a-kind pay multipliers to dizzying new heights presenting an unlimited positive (100 per cent-plus) RTP to the lucky player, who manages to hold back the third crown.

“For streamers the game can be played like a soap opera, they can play the game to their viewers in instalments, setting either a time limit or a multiplier to reach and then close off the game – like a Stranger Things cliff-hanger – and proclaim they’ll reopen the quest on Wednesdays stream!”

“we will only use Megaways to enhance what we perceive to be a new player experience

Kingmaker is another MegaWays title. Irrespective of the licensing of MegaWays to third parties (and acknowledging Triple Reaction and Reel Adventure mechanics), do players now expect BTG games to come with MegaWays?

“It’s an interesting discussion point internally when we are looking at producing a new title, we will only use Megaways to enhance what we perceive to be a new player experience.

“Conversely, our next two productions coming up in the fall are not Megaways titles.”

The game feels like something of a stable-mate to earlier release Holy Diver, is this continuity deliberate?

“The only thing it has in common with Holy Diver is the medieval setting, the gameplay is about the unlimited collection of the base game multipliers.

“In Holy Diver, players need to collect an inventory to enter the feature. In that respect, they are worlds apart. With Kingmaker the longer you linger in the base game the greater the rewards.”

What can you share regarding the next releases Big Time has planned?

“We have a busy climax to the year with three groundbreaking machines! One will be a new music licence, featuring everyone’s favourite track from The Cult’s seminal album Electric, in which we actually blow up the shed from Bonanza with a crack of lightning – something that I’m sure a lot of Bonanza fans have wanted to do while waiting for the D!

“With the November release we’re doubling down on a major brand while putting an explosive spin on the continued success of its previous incarnation. And – just as you think BTG can’t blow anything else up – we will be ending the year with an almighty bang as we introduce our most in-depth Megaways title to date, all wrapped up in arguably the biggest gaming brand of all time.

“We can’t say what for now but all will be revealed at G2E Las Vegas!”

How is the Tesla promotion going? It’s a novel idea to give away a car, do you have plans to run any similar promotions in the future?

“Yes, we do but there’s still plenty to do with the current competition. Funnily enough, we’re just recreating the biggest win from a player on Betway who hit an interesting multiplier on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? This player will take the July leaderboard position!

“We will be handing over the recreation of the win to CasinoGrounds.com and Kim Hultman will be broadcasting the video of the big win as we add it to the leaderboard, which will leave August, September, October, and November leaders to be crowned.

“In the meantime, we’re delivering games with huge potential for the leaderboard position, especially The Cult licence, which is set somewhere in the future, where Bonanza and Danger High Voltage gave birth to a new slot and it’s just become an uncontrollably outrageous teenager!”

Kingmaker launches today, August 14, on Casumo and then to the wider market on August 28. 

Kim Hultman (aka LetsGiveItASpin) will stream the first plays to his 25,000-plus Twitch followers at 20:00 CEST this evening, with the rest of the CasinoGrounds  community trying out the game from 22:00 CEST.