If there’s one thing the South East Asian market loves, it’s gambling in all its multifaceted forms. It’s natural that software developers should spring up in the territories that account for so much of the global gambling market like the Philippines.
That’s where Top Trend Gaming hail from, a company whose portfolio is jam-packed with vibrant and maverick games that Asian gamblers in particular will relish. Slots; card games; table games; video poker: you name it, TTG code and release it to casinos across Asia and the rest of the world.
The company may be based in the Philippines, but not all of its workforce are indigenous; sales and marketing executive Johan Westburg hails from Sweden, but since graduating from Gothenburg’s School of Business, Economics and Law has made the transition to the Philippines where he oversees Top Trend Gaming’s inexorable expansion.
The company, who specialise in RNG slots, have a portfolio of over 150 games, a figure that is growing steadily. The fabulously named Karlmarx Fabe is one of TTG’s senior web developers, with over 7 years’ experience to his name. It’s thanks in no small part to his efforts that Top Trend Gaming’s slots have been so well received by operators and players alike.
Every month, Top Trend Gaming release 2-3 new games as well as working on custom games that operators have requested. These may be slots, video poker or other casino games that are branded at the operator’s request, complete with bespoke graphics, logo, colours, themes and features. Their games compete with Konami slots and WMS slots as well as many more at some of the top sites.
Powering TTG’s games is the firm’s platform, a highly evolved piece of kit that has the capacity to integrate with games from other leading developers including Microgaming, enabling operators to provide a complete casino package courtesy of Top Trend Gaming’s advanced software.
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It’s commonplace for software developers to big up their achievements on their own website, proclaim their partnerships and generally perform all the normal things that businesses do in order to thrive. This is common-sense.
Top Trend Gaming, however, have decided to take a contrary approach. It’s not that their website is sparse – far from it – but for some reason, the company have neglected to include any information whatsoever. There’s not an email address, a contact number or an about page. In fact there’s not a single sentence on the whole website.
Instead, it’s populated by the firm’s games, all 150+ of them, which can be trialled in a pop-up window that appears when you click on them. While it’s commendable that Top Trend Gaming have featured all of their current games on their site, it’s odd that they’ve chosen to remain an enigma, both on their website and on social media.
Perhaps business is so good that they’ve no need to actively seek out new clients. Whatever the case, it would be an understatement to say that information on Top Trend Gaming is thin on the ground. Thankfully, the quality of their games speak for themselves.
While Top Trend Gaming’s website is available in English, the only text to be translated is the name of the games and a couple of brief descriptive lines of text on the featured slider at the top of the page. The remaining supported languages, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indonesian and Thai, attest to the territories where TTG conducts the bulk of its business.
While there’s no disputing the coding skills of software firms whose native language isn’t English, sometimes the names of their games can be unintentionally comical. TTG’s English isn’t perfect it would be fair to say, but this doesn’t take away from the quality of the games and the storytelling, attributes that TTG have a strong command of.
As is the case with most games developers, slots form the backbone of Top Trend Gaming’s releases. Video slots, after all, provide the most scope for creativity, and are the gaming niche in which players are hungriest for new titles, so it’s no wonder that devs should apply themselves to slots over poker or table games. Recent releases from Top Trend Gaming include Five Pirates and Fire Goddess, a slot which comes replete with extra wilds and the ability to win up to 30 free games.
Then there’s Frogs n’ Flies, which has a binary-perfect 1024 ways to win, and Chilli Gold, where the aim of the game is to collect stacks of wild gold chillis. There are more stacked wilds in Fortune Pays and Rose of Venice; this would appear to be a feature that TTG are fond of adding to their slots.
Thematically, the Philippines company’s new releases range from the original to the derivative; recent titles include Cleopatra, which is a slot themed around ancient Egypt, and Lucky Panda, two names which have already been done to death, but also some unusual entries such as Aladdin Hand of Midas.
For the most part, Top Trend Gaming seem content to riff on familiar topics, as is the case with the uninspiringly named Hot Volcano online slot, Grand Prix and Mad Monkey.
When it comes to card games, Top Trend Gaming have covered the basics and also tackled a couple of more unusual card-based casino games. There’s baccarat and blackjack of course, the latter available in such variants as Lucky 7 Blackjack, Perfect Pairs Blackjack and Single Deck Blackjack, and the former offered as No Commission Baccarat. Poker fans can choose from Three Card Poker, Texas Hold ‘Em Bonus and Casino Stud, not forgetting the suite of video poker games that TTG have also released.
Video poker is one niche where the end product tends to be the same regardless of who the developer is. Or to put it differently, it’s hard to make a bad video poker game.
Unlike slots, players are generally content to play whatever title is put in front of them, not least because the available versions scarcely differ from casino to casino and the graphics and sound effects have a negligible impact upon your enjoyment of the game.
Top Trend Gaming have released 4 video poker games to date: All American, Joker Poker, Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild!!, whose sole distinguishing feature is that it has two exclamation marks appended to it for some reason.
Top Trend Gaming haven’t exactly broken the mould when it comes to developing table games, but there’s nothing wrong with the trifecta of games they have released in this category. All three are smoothly animated and rendered, providing a convincing simulation of their real life casino counterparts.
Classic dice game Craps is complemented by two versions of roulette: a regular one and a European edition. Look out for these and other Toptrend Gaming titles at our recommended sites, including many of the best Bitcoin online casinos.
From the perspective of European players, the Asian gambling market can be hard to fathom. It’s not the games themselves, which don’t differ too much from those found in Western casinos, both virtual and land-based. It’s more the themes of the games, particularly the slots, that can appear wacky and eccentric to Western eyes.
While Top Trend Gaming have their share of slots whose themes don’t translate particularly well, many more transcend cultural barriers, providing excellent gameplay and an immersive experience whatever your country of origin and primary language.
There are certainly more realistic looking slots out there, but Top Trend Gaming earn praise for the depth and breadth of their portfolio coupled with their ability to devise bespoke games for clients upon request with a short turnaround.
It’s just a shame their website doesn’t provide any contact details. If you want to commission TTG to design a game for you, send a courier pigeon to the Philippines, cross your fingers and hope for the best.
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