Concept

Building a video game can be a monumental task. Designing assets, complex interactions, and game logic requires a high level of expertise. Fortunately there are game designs which limit the complexity required to create a successful, entertaining experience. Games of chance, such as many casino or lottery style games rely on a strict set of rules and parameters which reduce the complexity required to develop. Slots is a basic match-3 style game, built natively in Swift, which tracks betting value, session score, and a global high score.

Solution

The foundation of Slots is built natively using SwiftUI, pairing a simple implementation of sound effects running through AVKit's AVAudioPlayer functionality, with game logic driven by Swift's Int.random() which generates a random integer within a specified range which corresponds with the various game assets.

Once each of the three Int values have been generated, they are compared against each other using an if { else } conditional statement to determine whether there are matches between any two or three of the generated values. If a match is determined, then the user is 'paid out' either 5x or 10x points proportionate to their initial betting value. If a user depletes their entire amound of coins, a 'Game Over' modal is displayed to the user, which also triggers a global reset of the game environment, while maintaining the High Score value, if applicable.

To create a more interactive experience for the player, the app uses a combination of animations, triggered by an onTapGesture() interaction with the 'Spin' button. By using ternary operators to provide multiple states for transformations such as .offset(), .opacity(), and a .animation(.easeOut) modifier, the illusion of a spinning slot machine is achieved.