Want to get into the exciting world of online slots? There’s money to be made, players to please, and also a killer product to show for yourself at the end of it! Awesome, right? So how easy is it? Let’s check out the steps you’ll need to go through to build a kick-ass online slot machine.

The quality of today’s online slots borders the level of video games

Learn how to code to build an Online Slot Machine

Most online slots games these days are written in HTML5 so they can play straight from the browser. What does that mean for you? Ummm it’s time to learn HTML5 and learn it really well! You may have a basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and maybe some JavaScript and PHP too. Find the right HTML5 course for your skill level on a platform like Coursera and get to work. ‘Hello world!’ is not going to cut it here. Do your homework, tweak your projects, and add to open source projects.

Read More: What’s The Best Way To Learn To Code?

Learn game mechanics

Game mechanics? Say what? So, game mechanics are an element of every game, be it an RPG, a puzzle-like game, the still-somehow-relevant Candy Crush, etc. Game mechanics in online slot machines are their own different breeds. 

You’ll need a number of reels of symbols (usually 3 or 5), some trigger symbols (which are usually on floating reels over the top of your regular reels) that will trigger a feature when to add free spins or multipliers… the list goes on. 

To do your homework for this bit, you’ll need to go and play an extensive collection of online slot machine games. You may get stuck at this part and realize you’ve been playing games for a week straight. But hey! It’s research. 

Learn graphic design and animation

Slot machines vary in popularity not only because of their features and bonuses but because of the visual elements on the screen. The best online slot machines these days are astounding in the degree of gorgeousness in the graphics and animations. 

How can you work on these skills? A good place to start is with Adobe Creative Cloud. The suite is what many game illustrators and animators use to concoct their brilliant playscapes. Take a course and see how far you can get.

Learn backend development

Backend development is what many in the business refer to as the boring bit, but others refer to as the money-making bit. Backend development not only involves wrangling databases, configuring cloud products, and more, but it also demands pure logic, rather than the creativity of some of the other parts of developing an online slot machine.

Become a mathematician

Come this far and still ready to build that online slot machine? Here comes the hard part! 

Building an online slot machine takes some serious mathematics to make sure that it works as you intended. One of the maths components is the layout of symbols on each reel and the length of each reel – surprisingly they aren’t all the same length. Then comes the maths to determine the spinning floating reels and when/where they should land.

Then there are the maths involved in making sure that spins are random. To calculate this you use Random Number Generators (RNGs). There are infinite ways to create RNGs, varying in reliability and un-hackability. It’s true that not all Random Number Generators are created equal. But they are good enough. Most RNGs used by gambling game developers are verified by third-party companies to ensure their authenticity and accuracy.

To learn these kinds of maths you’re going to really need to dig deep on the internet or get a job as a mathematician at a slots game company to see how it all works behind the scenes. 

Market your game

How are you going to get your game out there to the world? You need to market it yourself! Do you know how to market things? Did you even do a market analysis in the first place to see if people would want to play the game? (Note: asking family and friends doesn’t count, they’re biased)

If your game is just for fun then you can learn about marketing and try and promote it online. If you want it to be a money-making game you are going to have to shop it around to the big game houses, such as Aristocrat. They will be able to do all the bits to make it legal. However, you’d be extremely lucky to get it this far!

Read More: Top 10 Digital Marketing Mistakes that People Make

Throw in the towel and go work for a company instead

Just like being a kick-ass full-stack developer is near-on impossible, so too is building your own kick-ass online slot machine. You can copy someone else’s code by cobbling bits together, do a pre-school participation effort job, or take a million years to build something that’s quite good (but by that time probably outdated). 

Instead, think about which of these stages of the game development process interests you the most, concentrate your learning efforts there, then apply for a role in that job at the online slot machine company of your choice. There, saved you the effort :)