It was a rather eventful year in triple-A gaming. Many big-name games delivered and some lesser-known or even debut premium studios landed very well. Stellar Blade, Black Myth: Wukong, Helldivers 2, and Astro Bot all made a huge splash. Still, the most telling releases came from the indie space.
Dominating the glut of the headlines, three games with a distinct through line rose to the fore throughout the year. Balatro, Ballionaire, and Liar’s Bar all garnered strong player bases and had critics raving. So, what is it that allowed these somewhat unassuming creations to become huge hits?
Gaming’s Largest Market Embracing iGaming
It’s often a very close race, but most analysts point to the North American gaming market (that of the United States and Canada) generating the most revenue each year. China is, of course, a close second or sometimes pips North America by some estimates.
Canada and the US just so happen to have seen their entertainment landscapes change drastically over the last handful of years. In particular, in the US, in 2018, it was put to the states to regulate their own online gambling spaces for betting and iGaming. Now, Canadians and Americans have convenient access to iGaming apps, which feature live tables and online slots.
Opening to such a huge market, developers have gone all-out on expanding their most popular ranges for maximum appeal. This is why the collection of the best Megaways slots now ranges in a great many themes and features.
Those range from the original Bonanza Megaways to Extra Chilli Megaways, Dog House Megaways to Gonzo’s Quest Megaways. All of them boast up to 117,649 paylines on any given spin. Already, the iGaming industry of North America is worth billions. Being online, gambling games are now more accessible and modern in what was already a gambling-friendly culture. The hit indie games tap into this new landscape perfectly.
Improving on the Classics
Developers have been trying to put classic casino and gambling games out as standalone video games for years, but few have found an audience. What Balatro and Ballionaire did, in particular, was to take the fundamentals and improve them for digital gaming. It was poker Balatro adjusted, adding in boosts and challenges to power it to over 3.5 million units sold within its release year.
While not to the incredible acclaim and spread of Balatro, Ballionaire did something very similar. Tapping into pachinko, the game uses rougelike mechanics as well to encourage the build and replayability. Whether it’s the pachinko Ballionaire uses as its core gameplay or the use of poker hands and a deck in Balatro, both improve on classic gambling games.
Towards the end of the year, though, a game that essentially just mimics these games also gained tremendous traction on Steam. Liar’s Bar sees you take a seat at an online four-player table to compete either at the card game of Cheat or Pachinko (liar’s dice). Again, it became a huge hit with a hefty player base and lots of praise.
These indie games could have come out any year and found success with their accessible and engaging game mechanics. Yet, they happen to have risen to prominence at a time when iGaming is very popular across North America. It may be a coincidence, or perhaps greater access to iGaming has given video game developers inspiration.