For some people, music is everything. Maybe that isn’t totally true – even for the most die-hard music fans – but it’s close. That’s why we see such excitement surrounding the release of Spotify Wrapped each year. You see all your favorites gathered in one place and that’s a wonderful feeling.
If you’re somebody who is really immersed in sound, who notices the tiniest off-pitch note or glitchy noise, you’ve probably realized that online casinos use music in some very interesting ways!
To be strictly accurate, many folks aren’t super aware of what music does to us, but in a lot of cases, it’s actually key to casinos and indeed all kinds of gaming. If you’ve ever found yourself particularly immersed in a game… well, it’s probably at least in part thanks to an amazing soundtrack! Equally, poor sound integration can ruin a good gaming experience.
One of the things that online casinos can do particularly well is sound. Brick-and-mortar casinos certainly use audio to their advantage too, but they’re much more limited. In a confined space, the sounds from all the different games overlap, mixing and merging. At a digital casino, you can isolate the precise noises you want and create an immersive gaming experience with those exact sequences. Each game can have its own ambiance and tone, building the experience.
So, how do online casinos use sound for immersion?
Use 1) To Engage Users
As we’ve already touched on, the most common use of sound is immersion. Imagine for a second how strange it would be to sit and play at your favorite online casino without any sound at all. No cheerful beeps when you win, no exciting trills when you start a new game. You can even simulate this with an online casino by muting your device if you want to see what it’s ready like – and the answer is that it’s pretty strange! We depend on sound far, far more than most of us realize!
A lot of our immersion comes from the noise, and every online casino knows this. They spend significant amounts of time designing soundtracks that are perfectly suited to each game. Noises have to walk a fine line, being unobtrusive so they won’t shake a player’s focus, but still ramping up the experience and maximizing the engagement. It’s a fine balance – but the best online casinos have got it down to quite a fine art!
Engagement is probably the biggest job that music is doing for the casino – but it’s far from the only one. Those sounds serve several other purposes. Let’s check these out next!
Use 2) To Celebrate Wins
We all know what happens when you win at a game. You get a rush of excited noises. The exact type will depend on the game you’re playing and often the size of the win, but there’s no question you’ll be met with enthusiastic noises pretty much any time you’re successful online.
And that’s hugely powerful! Sound does quite incredible things to our brains. It’s why many of us can hum along to a song after only hearing it once or twice. It’s why you might only need the opening notes to continue a tune. It’s also why sounds get stuck in our heads and go round and round!
Sounds are enormously emotional for us. They can make us feel sad, or – in the case of a big win at a casino – they can make us feel happy! After a few rounds of success at your favorite casino, you’re likely to start responding instinctively to the win sound with a flood of pleasure, because your brain is linking the win to feelings of success. The sound itself is also geared to create a positive response and encourage you to play again. All in all, it’s a pretty powerful moment!
You can hear a great example of this in this Twitter post, where the player’s win is being accompanied by the exciting chink-chink of coins and the celebratory tune.
Use 3) To Improve Comprehension
It’s not just about the emotions, though. Sounds are also enormously useful for platforms in helping to guide users around. When you click on a button, for example, you use various cues to determine whether it has been effective. You’ll watch to see if the visuals change, but you’ll also listen to see what’s altering. That’s particularly the case in video games, where we’ve been taught to use sounds as a secondary guide.
Imagine that you boot up your favorite casino game. You’re likely to be greeted by welcome music, letting you know that the game is loading correctly. When you begin playing, different sounds will probably be used to reassure you that the gameplay is occurring as you would expect. For example, selecting a card or chip may be accompanied by a “click” noise, while shuffling the deck might be accompanied by a simulated shuffling sound. At some casinos, a win might be accompanied by the rattle of virtual coins raining down – imitating the thrill of a brick-and-mortar option!
All of these things guide users and make the casino a more intuitive experience for everyone involved. It’s a great way for casinos to make sure their users are always clear about what they’re doing and to enhance the experience at the same time.
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