What if Mario Kart met real-money gaming?
That’s what Las Vegas-based gaming manufacturer Competition Interactive is attempting to do with Running Rich Grand Prix, a new slot machine complete with a steering wheel that allows players to not only play traditional slots but also a video game-esque race reminiscent of Nintendo’s beloved racing game.
“We’re considering it the beginning of a new era in casino gaming,” said Keith Winters, founder and chief creative officer of Competition Interactive, which he noted was established to introduce the “new, next generation of gaming to the casino floor.”
Running Rich Grand Prix is not just a slot machine, Winters said — it’s a slot machine with an interactive bonus. It features cars and characters, free spins and bonuses. A race bonus allows players to play a video game race, and how they finish in one lap determines their payback.
It looks and even plays like a traditional slot machine, Winters said, but it has a level of interactivity that opens up a whole new realm of game.
“We’re fusing together video game interactivity, whether it’s home PC, console or arcade, with real-money slot mechanics,” he said. “We’re creating the next generation of gambling entertainment.”
After a limited release in 2024 at a handful of casinos, including New York-New York, Competition Interactive this summer announced that Station Casinos will put one machine in each of the local chain’s locations.
Casino operators have been helpful with Competition Interactive’s rollout of Running Rich Grand Prix, said Paul Steelman, the company’s CEO. He attributes that to their understanding of getting a new customer on the gaming floor.
Steelman can recall watching as young people walked past the sportsbook and the casino floor straight to restaurants. Many young people will not play slot machines, he said.
Though initially Competitive Interactive was interested in creating a “skill-based slot machine,” Steelman said that trend proved to not be very friendly to traditional slot machine players. The question was then how to attract that audience and younger gamblers simultaneously.
The result was Running Rich Grand Prix, a standard slot machine — “spin, spin, spin, spin,” Steelman said — with the ability to drive in a simulated race.
“It truly is a hybrid slot machine,” Steelman said.
Skill-based gaming is not a connotation Competition Interactive fully embraces, Winters said. True to its name, the company is more about “interactivity” than skill, Winters said.
“We’re trying to create familiar, mobile-style, home-style, arcade-style experiences that add immersion to the existing game that’s at the casino that would be called a traditional slot,” he said.
Feedback for the slot machine has been positive, Winters said, both from operators and players. Many people will stop and look at the machine when they see its lights, multiple screens and steering wheel.
“When they do play, it’s fun to see their reaction,” he said. “It’s fun to hear them say, ‘This is super fun. This is something that we wish a lot more games existed.’ ”
The plan from here is to continue to release in downtown and Strip casinos, and further fine-tune not only Running Rich Grand Prix but also Competitive Interactive’s other titles in the works.
“I like to think that we’re bringing the arcade,” Winters said. “We’re bringing the home video game console into the casino.”