Interview: Director of Marketing, Darren Stephenson, speaks with European Gaming about our smash hit, Jammin' Jars 2
Our Director of Marketing, Darren Stephenson, speaks with European Gaming about our top hit, Jammin' Jars 2. He speaks about its success, as well as what makes it a unique, and gives some insight into what we have coming up next.
Jammin’ Jars 2 is continuing to smash records since its summer launch – can you tell us how special this is to Push Gaming and what it means for the team?
Jammin' Jars 2 was such a fun project for us from the very first moment when we realised that the feature we were working on was the perfect fit for the Jammin’ brand. We’d been asked many times about doing a sequel but to know it was actually happening and to see it coming together, made it a really exciting project for the whole business to be involved in. This is especially the case given how the first iteration had been such a resounding hit. Seeing the slots community getting charged up for it was just something else and the hype this game generated is something that we can be very proud of.
Talk us through the game – what do you believe has made this such a smash hit and which features are particularly unique?
Producing a sequel provides a unique opportunity in that you get the chance to revisit a game. At its core, the game remains true to Jammin’ Jars and we felt that was important, so the same multiplying wilds are in play, however, with the max win increased from 20,000x to 50,000x.
We also added little surprises along the journey such as with the fruit blast feature being able to trigger more than once in a single spin, so players might expect they know the feature from the original but then they find that extra little addition.
The most noticeable changes from the original are the addition of coins and the GigaJar feature. The coins act in the same way as the fruit symbols but with the coin values going up to 1000x - this really adds a new dimension to the potential fun factor when you count in the multiplying wilds. In our view, GigaJar brings a completely new feature into the mix - it takes some progression to reach it as we didn’t want to water down the ‘classic’ features that players loved in the original, however it does deliver that all-important unique dimension that made the game truly special.
On to global markets – where has Jammin' Jars 2 performed best? Do you think it’s suited to any particular playing habits?
Much like the original, Jammin' Jars 2 is popular across all markets it is available in. I imagine the game is a popular choice for players that like to enjoy games over multiple sessions and enjoy a familiarity and ‘feel good factor’ whilst always offering excitement and discovery. Of course, Scandinavia and the UK are two of our most popular markets, and with some of the world’s most passionate players there, it’s wonderful to see the slot prove to be one of the most popular launches this year.
Jammin' Jars 2 has also been hugely well received by the streaming community, did team Push design the game with the community in mind?
In my opinion, a good slot streamer is first and foremost a slot player - and players will always be our focus when we’re working on a game. Streamers want to be entertained themselves, so I think when they’re playing our games it’s a good sign that we’ve done something right.
Looking to the months ahead, what other exciting launches can we look forward to?
We’ve just released Fire Hopper which includes some elements that might get people thinking of the Jammin’ games, although with its own unique and exciting twists. Then we have Bison Battle following soon after, which has a land-based slots feel to it and including some really fun bonus rounds. This is definitely a slot with some really unique elements, and I’m sure it will prove to be hugely popular. Both these games include Bonus Buy, which is something new that we’ve introduced to some of our games and players really seem to be enjoying it. Following the hugely positive feedback we’ve received, we’ll continue to include this in some of our upcoming games as we’ve done with a selection of our existing games, such as Jammin’ Jars, Dinopolis and Mystery Museum.
The original interview may be found here.
