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by (120 points)
I've heard of 'gaming design' and 'playground design' in the context of casinos. What are the differences between these two design philosophies?

1 Answer

0 votes
by (300 points)
'Gaming design', advocated by Bill Friedman, focuses on creating smaller, crowded gaming areas with low ceilings and minimal decorations to keep players focused on gambling. 'Playground design', on the other hand, is a newer approach pioneered by Roger Thomas and Steve Wynn with the Bellagio. It emphasizes creating comfortable, luxurious spaces with open rooms, high ceilings, and elaborate decorations to make players feel relaxed and encourage them to stay and gamble longer.
by (100 points)
The bellagio is truly amazing. I don’t gamble, but I still love just walking through the resort and seeing the beautiful designs around it. I’m sure it has a similar effect on many gamblers.
by (100 points)
So I have to say, I have worked in casinos my entire life, including in low level casino management. It is important to consider that casinos generally take from both schools of thought when designing their layouts. The maze design mixed with a nice looking interior was what I noticed most in my time working in Indian Gaming (Native American Casinos)
by (100 points)
I've been to Las Vegas many times but have never gambled there (I'm a mathematician...).  The Bellagio is certainly my favorite of the places I've stayed, it's amazingly elegant.  I do feel kind of bad that it's as nice as it is because people lose a LOT of money there, but at least some of us can enjoy it.  And the shows there are great, too.
by (100 points)
As someone that works in a casino, this was a fun video to me. The owner actually has two casinos, and due to a series of events I won't bother explaining, each are designed differently. While they don't follow the rules to the tee, they still loosely fall into each of the explained categories in the video.

The one mostly following the playground design is by far the most popular. It gets roughly double the numbers to the gaming one. While regulars more or less stick to their thing in both, the gaming one has a hard time roping in new people to come regularly, while the playground seems to be appealing enough to have people become interested and want to come back (as long as they don't lose too much on the first visit.)

As an aside, most of the employees, myself included, also prefer the playground casino; the more open design makes keeping track of people easier and is just generally more pleasant to spend time in.

Also, for the clock thing; it actually works damn well. Sure, some have wristwatches, but most stick to only having their phones to check time, which they often don't check since that requires active effort while they're focused on the game. So yes, if they had a clock they could just glance at the wall to see, they'd definitely spend less time in the casino. Considering that we also get a lot of elderly customers that don't even have mobile phones, the effect is so much more.
by (100 points)
This actually makes a lot of sense because a couple years after the Bellagio was built my local casino did a complete interior remodel to basically do exactly what the playground model does.
by (100 points)
That moment when casinos realise treating people well is better
by (100 points)
I think there is another thing to those two design principle, the playground model targets the average tourist, the design principles in the other guide are pretty much targeting addicts (gambling equipment beats normal decoration, seriously?) So he probably wrote down what triggered his responses as a fresh guide which makes the design principles infinitely more nefarious given his background. It's like a dry alcoholic advising bars on how to generate more customers by designing certain drinks or whatever (which, I am sure has happened somewhere sometime?)
by (100 points)
Does the playground model still not use 90 degree turns or did they overturn that rule as well?
by (100 points)
I feel like this video told too many jokes and didnt give the actually interesting information quick enough until the middle and also gave too little of it, its kinda infuriating
by (100 points)
Lmao so they took the advice of a gambling addict who had no self control and is super impulsive, and would gamble in a burning building if it increased his odds.

No wonder the last casino does so much better lmao, making it a desirable place to stay
by (100 points)
Basically IKEA.
by (100 points)
Huge fan of Roger Thomas - Bellagio and Wynn casino do just that, they make it a relaxing, luxury environment to spend time in.
by (100 points)
Next time you go to a casino, check out the carpet. Odds are very good it has a wacky, disordered geometric pattern on it that probably contributes to eroding your sense of direction.
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