LAI Games Is on a Mission

Committed to Innovation, Their Efforts Continue to Pay Off

Since its founding in 1958, LAI Games has been on a mission to bring innovative, high-income producing games to the industry that thrill players and revolutionizes out-of-home entertainment. With seven AMOA Innovator Award wins – five in the last five years – the company says they seem to be achieving their mission.

The latest game to receive the AMOA honor is Angry Birds Coin Crash, which brings a new twist to the well-established world of coin pushers. Players attempt to build huge towers of coins and send them crashing over the edge of the playfield deck and into the Winners slot for a major ticket win.

LAI Games bills the machine as the first and only tower-building coin pusher redemption game available in the U.S. and says it “mesmerizes players and builds anticipation as the towers inch closer to the edge with every coin added to the playfield.”

Angry Birds Coin Crash gives guests multiple ways to win tickets and add coins to the playfield deck. The objective is to guide each coin down the playfield into one of three color-coded Character Cards to win either tickets, coins or a chance at a tower build. If the disk is lit up at the time, the Bonus Meter for that color increases. When the Bonus Meter reaches the top, the player wins a bonus amount of tickets, coins or a tower build.

A close-up view of the unique coin towers of Angry Birds Coin Crash.

The game’s coin towers are built from the bottom up via a unique mechanism that deposits coins in a circle, one layer at a time. The completed tower is then pushed onto the playfield deck, creating an incentive for repeat play. A large ticket payout awaits if they’re able to make the tower fall into the winner’s chute.

The towers can reach a height up to 1,200 coins, with multiple towers on the deck at once. During a tower build, guests play a mini-game with a chance to add more coins to their tower. A Bonus Wheel begins to spin, and if the ball lands in a numbered slot, that amount of coins are added to their tower. If it lands in the spot with an egg icon, they move one step closer to winning a Super Bonus amount of tickets.

Coin Crash is completely self-contained, with nothing to restock and no consumables that can eat into revenues, the company reports. Tower stability has been tested over many months, too. In an effort to protect against tilting, there is a tilt plumb bob that activates if the game is jostled. Then there’s the Angry Birds license, which has wide, and continually fresh, appeal with Angry Birds movies continuing to be released (number three is due in spring of 2022). It’s an intellectual property that will interest guests for a long time to come, LAI Games believes.

The game launched at all Dave & Buster’s locations earlier this year. They have the exclusive rights to the game until Labor Day (Sept. 6).

LAI Games’ Dallas team: In the back row are Roy Loudermilk, Rustin Wright, Paul Jennings and Carl Clancy. In the middle row, David Loggins, LaTesia Willis, Hayden Record, Justin Randall and Chris Brady. In front, Allison Timberlake, Reggie Walker, Jorge Gonzalez and Hailey Overby.

Looking Back

Like the rest of the industry, 2020 held challenges for LAI Games. The company shut down for a time, and many employees were furloughed. The Dallas headquarters has now reopened at full capacity and continues to hire additional personnel to keep up with increasing demand for their products. Their Singapore research and development studio continues to be impacted by short and long-term shutdowns.

Illustrating their commitment to innovation, LAI Games decided to continue working on new games that were already in the pipeline, as well as developing a completely new consumer-facing virtual reality game called Arcade Legend. The company said it saw this as an opportunity to step outside their traditional business model while staying committed to their core competency: building great arcade games and experiences.

“It has been a tough year for myself and the team, but one full of exciting opportunities, incredible teamwork and amazing projects,” said Shannon Perell, VP of R&D. “While we were fortunate to be allowed to continue development of new products in some capacity, making the transition to a work-from-home development environment was a challenging one.

In the company’s Singapore design studio, Liam Cary, Mindy Rosenfelder and Shannon Perell collaborate on a project.

“Singapore has maintained a cautious approach to its reopening, and even now only essential roles work from the studio while the rest of the team continues to work from home. We’re all looking forward to returning to the office and will be trialing a hybrid working arrangement as soon as the local government allows.”

Perell added that the pandemic really motivated the team to explore new opportunities that could leverage the skills, expertise and experience of the development team. After evaluating various ideas, several rapid prototypes and multiple pitch meetings, they received the green light to move ahead with one of their more ambitious ideas.

Liam Cary (left, holding the game gun) works with Wee Hong Yeo in the Singapore studio.

“What started as an unimpressive HYPERshoot recreation in virtual reality has evolved into a mature arcade simulator and multiplayer gaming experience called Arcade Legend,” the company said. As LAI Games’ first consumer VR game, Arcade Legend was announced earlier this year and debuted as part of Steam’s Next Fest game festival in June to what they said was “an overwhelmingly positive response.” “It’s still early days, however, and we’re really excited to explore the opportunity to work with more amazing game manufacturers in our industry, and we hope to bring more great games to Arcade Legend over time,” Perell added.

Looking Ahead

As the industry continues to recover, LAI Games is currently launching new games as well as updating their existing lineup.

In addition to Angry Birds Coin Crash, the company debuted a new basketball game, Slam ‘n’ Jam Ultra. The game may have a classic name (remember Slam ‘n’ Jam and Slam ‘n’ Jam Jr. from over a decade ago?), but it is thoroughly geared toward a modern audience. Slam ‘n’ Jam Ultra incorporates a vibrant 32-inch HDTV backboard that augments gameplay with a progress meter and score, along with game timer and the goal the player needs to progress to the next round. The display enhances, rather than detracts from, gameplay, by displaying the information the player needs to succeed at the game.

Players race the clock to beat their goal in up to five rounds of competitive action, with local leaderboards adding another layer for competitive replay value. Slam ‘n’ Jam also has a unique feature that allows a winning player to carry teammates to the next round if they fail to complete their goal, where they can play for fun instead of tickets. This allows less skilled players to be a part of the ongoing action.

The modern and stylish cabinet is well lit with LED lighting to attract attention, while the durable steel net appeals to old-school street basketball fans. Modern soundtracks and play-by-play commentary make it a crowd favorite. The company also says it’s a favorite for location owners, too, due to its affordable price tag.

LAI Games also made some key updates to its existing game lineup to offer added value to operators. They launched a new 2-player version of the Pearl Fishery pusher, with a footprint two-thirds the size of the original.

Additionally, the award-winning Virtual Rabbids: The Big Ride now comes bundled with additions that formerly were sold separately. Called The Big Bundle, the game ships with the entire contents of The Big Expansion Pack: three additional ride experiences for a total of six rides, a new acrylic header and signage, a full marketing media kit and a set of consumables. The Big Bundle also includes a hygiene kit that is integrated into the game, offering guests peace of mind with sanitizing wipes and a trash bin for wipes and sanitary masks.

The company hinted that there are more exciting offerings coming later in the year and plans to debut some new games at IAAPA in November, so keep an eye out! Learn more and stay up-to-date at www.laigames.com.