Comfort manipulation in online gaming

The design of physical casinos is an art - at least more regarded as such than i-gaming development. Architects use the physical space to keep guests from getting lost, presidents of gaming carefully map slot layout to pull people where desired, and whoever does the floors manipulates comfort levels.

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Little Creek Casino in Shelton, WA. _(Image credit - Flickr)_

Comfort manipulation in physical gaming spaces

Let’s focus on the floors. A brief lesson. Around the machines and the tables, there’s plush commercial carpeting. It’s easy on your feet and you feel comfortable. When you leave the gaming area, suddenly you’re walking on marble tile or some other hard material. Your feet feel worse. You become uncomfortable. Subliminally, you associate being on the gaming floor with comfort.

Can this be brought online?

I don’t know how much of an effect this whole charade has on revenue, and doubt anyone truly does. It’d be impossible to research in any meaningful way. With that said, I theorize it’s possible to achieve the same effect with an online gaming experience. Changing the design of an online casino costs much less than changing a physical one.

Comfort polarity

So in a physical casino you have polar opposites of comfort. They’re your tools of psychological manipulation and they’re really simple.

• Well-padded carpets = comfortable, as you’re playing or at a restaurant.
• Stiff marble = uncomfortable, as you’re walking around or leaving.

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](/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Casino-Comfort-Polarity.jpg)What can be the comfort poles with online gaming? Well, when players are actually in an active game, that’s favorable and they’re generating revenue. When they’re looking through your game library or requesting a payout, maybe that’s when marble floors are appropriate. With no way to psychologically affect guests through their feet, you could utilize the eyes. Mix the highly visual experience of i-gaming with color psychology. If you believe in that, there are a number of appropriate color associations. A pair that could work -

• Green produces calm, a feeling of refreshment, is associated with wealth, and it’s the easiest color on the eye.
• Red causes people to react with speed and force, plus calls for action to be taken. It can be harsh on the eye.

Closing

It’s impossible to measure how much of an effect playing with guest comfort levels has on physical casino revenue. Online nearly everything is possible to measure and experiment with. Can the carpeting / marble effect be reproduced in i-gaming? Theoretically, if color psychology is to be believed, playing with website colors could do it. Green is already on many virtual tables. Red in the game selection screens is just a CSS change away. Ultimately, this may all be a bunch of baloney. Or it may just not be this simple. Split-testing an array of different colors or “materials” in i-gaming design could ultimately lead to a revenue boost.

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_(Image credit - Gizmine)_