Are you playing or being played? How music in casino slots affects your thinking

From living life large on the Las Vegas Strip to passing some idle moments at home on your smartphone, slot games are one of the most popular pastimes of the 21^st century. Slot games can have all sorts of themes from Ancient Egypt to pop culture to sport to movies. But one factor that they all share is a musical soundtrack.

That music is crafted with one object in mind – to keep you playing. That’s no surprise, casinos are businesses, and their marketing departments are dedicated to boosting revenue just like those of any other company. The way they do so using music, however, is enough to make you sit back and wonder. When you spin those reels, are you playing, or are you being played?

Slot zombie syndrome is real

If you’ve sat pressing the spin button over and again, you might have found yourself losing track of time, and almost falling asleep. It’s easy to put it down to too many late nights, but you might just be falling victim to slot zombie syndrome. No, that’s not something we’ve just invented, it’s a condition that US casino slots bloggers have been discussing for years.

The combination of repetitive action, flashing lights and most important, sound has a hypnotic effect over time. It’s not in the strictest sense, but it can hurt your wallet. The point is, we should play slots to be entertained, not zombified, so if you feel your eyelids getting heavy, the best advice is to take a break and get some fresh air, or at least try a different game!

Ramping up the dopamine

Casino games use music to trigger very specific physiological as well as psychological responses. Listen to a game like Lady Luck’s Charm Deluxe, for example. When the free spin bonus triggers, the music changes to a short repetitive tune that triggers feelings of anticipation – your brain releases dopamine           and you feel like you have won already!

Other games pull off similar tricks with sound effects that give an overblown reaction to even the smallest win. When you combine this with potential zombification, you can see how players can be confused into thinking the slot game is being a lot more generous than it really is, just by the sounds it is making.

Slots for music lovers

As we mentioned earlier, slots have numerous themes, and if you visit one of the US online casino apps from your phone, you will find an even bigger choice of slots than you would at a physical casino – click to learn more about the types of slots that apps make available to US casino players. One category that will jump right out is music slots.

This is the sort of simple and straightforward marketing any of us can get behind. If you love Guns n Roses or Ozzy Osbourne, then of course you are going to invest some coins in spinning their branded slots and listening to some top tunes at the same time.

Could the ideal soundtrack in a casino boost your odds of winning?

The purpose of the playlist at casinos is to keep customers playing for longer, not to try to persuade them to win. Online casinos operate in the same way. It has been thoughtfully designed to improve the experience.

Senior Editor at RealCasinos website, Nathan Grohman has been in the gaming industry for almost 10 years:

“The soundtrack in a slot game is just as significant as the plot, graphics, and general idea. It really establishes the scene and affects how a player enjoys the game. Not only in regards of how much fun it is, but also in terms of the emotions that you can feel while spining the slot machine.”

It is a known fact, a playlist cannot affect the results of games in which there is only a chance component and no element of skill.  While playing, it may boost your mood and confidence, but it won’t enable you to gain greater money.

Nevertheless, you can discover that you’re a better player when you reach the right music if you’re playing a game that requires a certain level of expertise, like baccarat, poker or blackjack.

Photo by Adrian Trinkaus on Unsplash