Coffins, Fish and a Mummified Pig: Inside Booming Games’ Spooky Season

From coffins full of features in Vampires: Blood Moon to a spooky splash for Fish Tales, Booming Games is in full Halloween mode. Craig Asling tells us how the studio keeps its scariest releases fun to play, and lets slip what’s creeping up the release schedule.

When the nights draw in, slot studios get to raid the dressing-up box, and Booming Games has gone all out this October. 

Fish Tales: Halloween gives a fan favourite a spine-tingling makeover, while Vampires: Blood Moon opens up a brand-new world of coffins, symbol removal, upgrades and Wild collection. 

We sat down with Craig Asling, Director of Games at Booming Games, to find out how the team balances horror-loving creativity with games anyone can pick up and enjoy, what gives a slot that unmistakable Booming Games character, and which surprises are waiting in the crypt for the months ahead, including a trip to Ancient Egypt for Mr Oinkster.

Halloween gives slot studios a chance to let their imaginations run riot; what does a seasonal release need to bring to the table to earn its place in the Booming Games line-up? 

Halloween gives our artists and game designers plenty to work with, but the starting point is always the game itself. There needs to be a clear idea behind it: something players can understand quickly and enjoy beyond the seasonal theme. 

For me, the strongest Halloween games make the setting feel part of the action. With Vampires: Blood Moon, the coffins give us a natural way to bring mystery and anticipation into the features. That connection matters. October gives people a reason to discover the game; the gameplay needs to give it a life beyond Halloween. 

Fish Tales: Halloween gave an established favourite a spooky makeover, whereas Vampires: Blood Moon introduces a different world; how do you decide when to revisit something players already love and when to give them something unfamiliar? 

It comes down to what we think the idea deserves. With Fish Tales: Halloween, there was an obvious opportunity to have some fun with an established world while preserving the gameplay that players already enjoyed. Part of the appeal is recognising something familiar and seeing what we’ve done with it. 

A new concept gives us more freedom to develop the theme and features together. Vampires: Blood Moon offered that opportunity. We want room for both approaches in the portfolio, and the important question is whether each release has a clear reason to exist and its own appeal.

Vampires: Blood Moon from Booming Games.

Where do you draw the line between indulging your inner horror fans as creatives and creating something you know a wider slot audience will enjoy? 

I think atmosphere is where you can bring those two things together. You can do a lot with lighting, sound, characters and a sense of mystery without needing the player to be a dedicated horror fan. 

The creative enthusiasm is valuable because it brings personality and detail to the game. Our job is to make sure those details support the experience. Players should be able to read the symbols, follow the action and understand the features straight away. If a visual effect looks fantastic but makes the reels harder to follow, we need to rethink it. The theme should draw people into the game. 

There’s plenty happening beneath those coffin lids, with symbol removal, upgrades and Wild collection all playing a part; how did you make Vampires: Blood Moon easy to follow without losing the depth those features offer? 

The key is making the cause and effect clear. There are several things happening, but players need to understand what has triggered a feature and what it has changed on the reels. 

We approach that through the order of the action and the visual feedback. Symbol removal needs to be easy to see, upgrades need to communicate the change, and Wild collection needs to make what’s being collected clear. Each moment deserves enough space to register. 

The depth comes from how those features work together. Players don’t need every interaction explained at once, but they should be able to follow each step as it happens. 

Looking beyond the Halloween line-up, what do you think gives a slot that unmistakable Booming Games character, whatever the theme? 

For me, it’s personality, clarity and a strong central feature. The theme can take us anywhere, but players should quickly get a feel for what makes the game interesting. 

A lot of that character comes through in the details: how a feature builds, how the animation communicates what’s happened, and how the sound supports the moment. Those elements need to work together. 

We also want variety across the portfolio. Different games should offer different experiences, while sharing the same care in how they’re put together. I’d like players to recognise that quality even when we take them somewhere unexpected. 

Before we let you disappear back into the crypt, what else can you reveal about what Booming Games has lined up for players over the coming months? 

I can lift the lid on a few! Booming Buffalo Hold and Win Extreme 2 follows up one of our top performers, so that’s a particularly exciting release for us. There’s also Blazin’ Bingo Trio, a triple-pot game with a new “Prize Board” bonus that I’m looking forward to players discovering. 

Then, in early 2027, we’re taking Mr Oinkster to Ancient Egypt in Mr Oinkster’s Mummy Mayhem. It’s the next adventure in an IP that’s become a popular part of our line-up, with a highly dynamic, cash-collect-driven bonus at its heart. He’s certainly not travelling light when it comes to personality, and Ancient Egypt gives us plenty of scope to have fun with the character.