If there was a prize for the weirdest game developer name, then Banana Whale Studios would surely be a front runner. This Singapore-based company clearly has a sense of humour and their logo of a bright yellow cartoon whale with a ‘Phht!’ noise coming from its blowhole adds to the fun approach that they like to take. But be in no doubt that this is a serious business, with a range of slots games and a supporting platform that brings their range to desktop and mobile casinos across Asia.
The business was incorporated in March 2017 and shortly afterwards released their first games. So far, their small range consists of slots and lottery games, each with their own distinctive theme and style. Many of these have been designed to appeal to the local markets and Banana Whale Studios slot machines with an Asian influence include Shanghai Night, Singles Day and Lucky Gods. It’s not all about Asia though, as they have a slot based on a zoo keeper, the futuristic Robot Dice and the comical Glorious Leaders, which features some familiar faces across the reels.
Their website encourages readers to think of them as a hybrid company, which provides games plus a stable platform to play them on. The founders of Banana Whale Studios come from both the design and development sides of the business, along with the casino operators side. It means that they have an ideal perspective on what’s needed to bring successful slots that work for everyone, especially the players. It’s certainly attracted attention within the local gaming industry, as in May 2018 they were scooped up by the larger One Horizon Group Inc (OHGI). This company owns a wide range of businesses, covering artist management, digital media and secure messaging services. The acquisition of Banana Whale Studios will give them further access to the massive gambling markets in the region.
Read More
Read Less
With claims that their slots offer a new type of gaming experience, it’s time to take a look at a couple of them to see if they live up to this statement. Singles Day is a five-reel, nine-payline game that plays out against a backdrop of a Chinese city. Symbols such as tasty snacks from the region, shopping bags and parcels are seen, along with a man carrying a red placard in a symbol that looks inspired by Chinese government posters. This wild symbol will help to complete combinations when it lands in the right places, and if the free spins games are triggered, any wilds will stay locked in place throughout the 10 extra games.
Lucky Gods is another Asian-influenced game. It's a slot machine with five reels, nine paylines, and bonus features like scatter pays and wild symbol substitutions.
The humour is dialled up to the max with Glorious Leaders, where cartoons of Vladimir Putin in his judo outfit, Donald Trump on the toilet and Kim Jong-un stuffing his face with burgers and fries are all featured. As well as a unique choice of symbols, it’s got some innovative gameplay, with players having the option to collect prizes, or keep going, banking their winnings for the chance to win larger amounts. In a special bonus round, collecting 3 examples of either the Great Wall, Trump, or Trumps’ Hair will lead to instant cash awards, while secret cubes reveal more payouts or win multiplier stars.
Shanghai Night is a beautifully designed game where the five reels are set at the corner of a building back in the days when the city was known as The Paris of the East. A colourful nightclub is filled with shady-looking characters, a singer, bunches of roses and an old gramophone, and bankrolls can be filled thanks to some potentially rewarding bonus features. These include a microphone stand that becomes an expanding wild symbol, while collecting enough bonus icons triggers an Encore Spins round where landing winning lines is made easier by giant-sized symbols.
The Banana Whale Studios range may be fairly small, but it’s expanding quickly, and their website previews several new slots due for release. Judging by what they have on the market at the moment, we can expect more well-designed games that cover popular, or unique themes and come with their own combinations of bonus rounds. While the features seen on their existing games may not be quite as innovative as they suggest, with most having been seen before, they are certainly bonuses proven to work and to be popular with punters.
For a wider range of games, with similar style, features, and online availability, try Push Gaming slots, Playtech games, Everi slots, or any others across this site.
Rather than running their own sites, or providing a white label casino solution, Banana Whale Studios simply develop games for others to use. To make integration of their range as smooth as possible, the software behind them has been designed from the ground up to be stable, reliable and fast-loading. Their game engine works with the poor internet connections that can be experienced in parts of Asia, while also functioning on older mobile devices and desktop PC’s.
Multiple languages and multiple currencies including crypto-currencies are supported, opening up their range to players in many countries. Casino operators can customise the games to their own liking, or to suit the specific tastes of their players, adding skins to each slot if they want to put their own brand on them for example. An open data platform means that casinos can see player activity, while each client has their own platform, not one shared with other casinos.
It’s important to have games licensed and regulated by local authorities in gambling and Banana Whale Studios slots comply with the regulations in multiple countries. It means games can be hosted at the safest online casino sites, although at present these are mainly in Asia, excluding punters from Europe and the USA among others. All of the integration can be handled by Banana Whale Studios, including payment solutions, licensing and language, so all that the casino operator has to do is decide which games they want to include.
The company is still expanding and has received working capital from OHGI to help them realise their ambitious growth plans. A recruitment drive, offices in Taiwan and active expansion into new casinos should see Banana Whale Studios become a well-known supplier across the region. Playing slot games on iPads, iPhones, Android and Windows mobile devices is a massive part of the gambling scene across Asia, so it’s good to see that their whole range has been developed in HTML5 for easy integration into mobile-based casinos.
As more and more games are launched their reputation will surely grow in line with their portfolio, and with the fun, entertaining range released so far, we’re sure that players will hear a lot more about this company in the years to come.