Exclusive interview with Will Burrows, VP, Design at Crazy Tooth Studio

We’ve met with Will Burrows to hear about the CTS Lab scientists and their quest for quality. Will shares some funny stories about their amazing promo videos and exciting details on three of their upcoming games!

03.11.2020
Will Burrows, VP, Design at Crazy Tooth Studio

Will Burrows, VP, Design at Crazy Tooth Studio

Hi Will and welcome to the SlotCatalog’s studio spotlight series! Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us about your history in iGaming.

Hello and thanks for spotlighting Crazy Tooth Studio on SlotCatalog! My name is Will Burrows and I am the Vice President, Design here at CTS. My history within the iGaming industry matches Crazy Tooth Studio’s – for the last three years we have aimed our particular brand of game design towards the iGaming market and have found a supportive partner in Microgaming. In 2019 we released two iGaming titles and in 2020 we have released seven more as of October, with several more currently in development.

What’s the story behind Crazy Tooth Studios?

Ben Hoffman, our founder and President, started his career in gaming at IGT (International Game Technology) as a game designer. He saw room for innovation in how gaming products come together and how a smaller, more nimble studio could potentially make more innovative products faster. Ben left IGT and assembled a team of industry outsiders, all of whom are still a part of Crazy Tooth Studio® today.

CTS began making land-based gaming products for clients such as Bally Technologies, American Gaming Systems, Caesars Entertainment, and eventually a large number of titles for IGT. Offering in-house math design, art and animation, sound and music design, and engineering and implementation, the relatively small team at CTS quickly gained a reputation for innovation as well as efficiency. This was thanks to a passionate team but also a dedication to collaborative design – all disciplines working together for a more cohesive end result.

How did you decide on your name?

The first title we developed and released for Bally Technologies is called Choco Choco™ and features Ben Hoffman’s lovable dog Choco. Choco has a snaggletooth which inspired our studio’s name: Crazy Tooth Studio®.

In your opinion, what’s the key advantage you take with you from your history of developing land-based slots?

Crazy Tooth Studio

Developing games for land-based audiences helped us hone our skills as game designers and develop the tools we use to create innovative and immersive titles. While the markets, delivery system, and audiences are all different from North American land-based gaming, our experience and high standards for game design have helped us tremendously.

Your motto is “Quality Always Wins”, how would you say this motto is embedded into the corporate culture at CTS?

As a business we hope to create popular games that perform well, and as passionate game designers we hope to achieve that goal by giving players fresh, well-crafted gaming experiences.

To us, Quality Always Wins means that if we deliver a quality product, everyone wins.

For each game release, you have this short promo from the Crazy Tooth Game Lab. They’re amazing! How do you come up with the ideas and what is it like filming them?

Crazy Tooth Studio

Thank you! We hope that each video highlights the game it’s promoting in a fun way – which is usually how the ideas start. Showing the intensity of blowing up a balloon until it pops, becoming diamond-powered superheroes, or looking for Ancient Warriors…all as the brave CTS Game Lab Scientists. Filming them is a lot of fun – especially when interesting locations or costumes are involved – but I think my favourite part of the process is when the edit starts coming together and we can see our silly ideas come to life. We’re very lucky to have Jason Newmark, our VP - Production, with his background in film and TV to get those videos put together so nicely.

Arctic Valor™Since your entry into the online slot market, you’ve released 9 graphically stunning and unique slots. The first one was Arctic Valor™ back in February 2019. Was there anything in specific that you feel that you learnt from making this game?

Arctic Valor™ was a great experience and served as proof that we could take our style of innovative, engaging gameplay and deliver it to an iGaming audience. We learned so much on the technical side as well as the presentation side and have done our best to keep learning and striving to make each subsequent title better and better for iGamers. We maintain all of our titles and Arctic Valor™ is still being enjoyed by tons of players!

In 2020 you’ve obviously kept a higher pace and a more regular release schedule with hits like Banana Drop, Diamond Force and Seven 7’s. Which of your releases are you the proudest of and why?

Diamond Force™

They are all passion projects for us. Diamond Force™ was fun for me as a life long fan of comics and superheroes while Ancient Warriors™ ended up being a technical achievement with our integration of real-time 3D models – and it looks great! By the time we release a game we really are all very proud and even have a tradition of going out the breakfast on a Go Live Day to celebrate.

Ancient Warriors™

Is there any player segments or countries you work extra hard to please?

It’s our goal to entertain players across each and every market we have a chance to release a game in.

Of course, some themes or math models prove more appealing to certain segments, which are lessons learned and contribute to the overall process.

The Incredible Balloon Machine™According to our data, The Incredible Balloon Machine got its fair share of lobby positions after the release in January. What was your reasoning on taking a “crash game” into casino lobbies full of video slots?

What we wanted to do with The Incredible Balloon Machine™ was give players a completely new kind of slot gaming experience. The WiNCREASE™ feature that powers that game is actually more complicated behind the scenes than a lot of traditional slot game math models. The result is a nuanced game that has proven to be one of our best performing slot titles… despite not having reels.

Let’s have a look at the future! Could you share any details on your upcoming games, what they’re about and when they are scheduled for release?

Sure! We are always developing new titles, three of which are scheduled for release in early 2021 with Microgaming.

777 Mega Deluxe™ features RESPIN INSANITY™ paired with a 4-reel, 7-position gameboard that’s going to look fantastic on any device or desktop. Each winning spin re-spins to try for more and more matches with the possibility to fill the screen with like symbols. Locking multipliers and a fast-paced Bonus Spins make it an energetic instant hit. The art style is a nod to classic casino slots but with a sleek, modern take. 777 Mega Deluxe™ is a classic hot rod with a jet engine. Available 21 January 2021.

777 Mega Deluxe™

3 Devils Pinball™ takes the POWER PATH™ feature (as seen in Queen of The Crystal Rays™) and turns it into a pinball machine! When the feature is triggered, a shiny pinball is shot around the reels, bouncing off flippers and bumpers, leaving behind wild symbols and sometimes multipliers. It’s an absolute blast to see a slot game turn into a pinball machine, with all the sights and sounds it adds to the experience. The theme is inspired by the 1920’s and 30’s animation style affectionately known as “rubber-hose” cartoons. The carnival funhouse look and devilish characters drop players into a fiery world – with great music!

3 Devils Pinball™

Aureus™ features COINVERGE™ - a new way to win. The gameboard consists of fifteen coin locations that flip with every spin. The spinning reels contain brackets that land to surround the coins. Line up closing brackets and win what they contain! The wonderful twist is how many special coins can be landed, beyond just credit values. Special coins such as multipliers, upgrade coins, collect all coins, and even re-spins can all be captured and won, sometimes several during the same spin! The fun of this unique experience is also the jovial host – Jupiter, the Roman god himself – who summons his lightning powers to drive the gameplay action. Aureus™ - which means Roman gold coin – creates endless fun through variety and dynamic gameplay.

Aureus™

Given your promo videos, I’m sure you have a funny story to share with us that wasn’t caught on camera! Would you care to share it with us?

Years ago we decided to have a New Year’s Eve party in an empty office space next to our studio here in downtown Reno. We decorated, offered a bar and music, and even produced a fake movie trailer to show as entertainment. The party was a success and many friends and colleagues showed to help us ring in the new year and celebrate another twelve months of doing what we love. Weeks later we were walking back to our office after having lunch and overheard a complete stranger turn to his friend and say, “I went to a New Year’s Eve party in that building – some kind of top floor millionaires had a bash, it was awesome”. It didn’t take us long to pitch a game called “Top Floor Millionaires”. Perhaps we’ll see that title show up in the iGaming world someday.

Let’s say you could only play slot games from three game studios (including yourself of course). Which two competitors would you choose?

Yggdrasil comes to mind as a studio that has done some exciting things. Just For The Win is another studio I always check out.

This interview is coming to an end. But before we say goodbye we would love to hear if you have any predictions regarding the iGaming sector (regulation areas excluded)?

We see the demand for higher quality, more varied experiences only going up. If we’re lucky enough to get the attention of players, we should be delivering some truly memorable content.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Will! Is there anything you would like to say to your fans, future fans or future employees?

We just celebrated ten years of making games and the only thing we want is fifty more!

Crazy Tooth Studio

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