Ganapati

About the Company

Ganapati (Malta) Limited is an online casino game developer established in 2016 as a subsidiary of Ganapati PLC which came together in 2013. The parent company is headquartered in London with operational offices in Tokyo, Japan. Between 2013 and 2016 the company focused its efforts on app development before progressing into online gaming. Ganapati Malta CEO, Taku Sawada was appointed to his role in the new subsidiary before the company was registered in Malta in June 2015.

Aside from the British finance expert, all directors of the parent company registered in the UK are of Japanese nationality. This and the company's creations lend deep authenticity to the company's claim that they "combine the traditional European iGaming experience with an authentic Japanese flavor that can only be found with Ganapati".

Ganapati debuted at ICE Totally Gaming in 2017 and inked a number of agreements at their first show. Their stand was well attended by serious inquirers as well as many visitors who simply wanted to satisfy their curiosity about a truly Japanese game supplier and to sample the sushi, sake, and Asahi beer on offer. The company and their games have been nominated and shortlisted for several prestigious industry honors such as those bestowed at the London Global Gaming Awards and EGR.

As of review time, neither the parent company nor the Malta division had gone through the process to obtain a license in the United Kingdom. Reports in late 2016 indicate they had chosen the Malta arm to apply for the UKGC license.

The Malta company was awarded its first license in June 2017 by the Malta Gaming Authority allowing them to offer content throughout the European Union through operators licensed in the jurisdiction. While a UKGC license offers a certain feather in the cap and allows companies to market in the UK, the Maltese license is key as it opens doors to the entire EU.

Software and Games

The games are all developed and deployed in HTML5 for play on any mobile device or computer browser. At review time we found a little fewer than a dozen titles deployed for play on their demo site. The desktop interface, controls, etc., were the same as those found in the mobile versions of the games.

The first slot we tried was Ukiyo-e. A highly volatile slot with traditional 2D Japanese artwork. The game offered huge multi-position icons (stacked and spread up to 3x3 in the base game) depicting woodblock prints of centuries-old art. The five-reel slot has 60 fixed paylines.

The bonus game is a skill-based shooting round. A perfect score will yield 8 symbols that can turn wild during the free spins that follow. Each of the bonus wilds has a highlighted border so they are easy to see during bonus play, adding to the sense of anticipation.

Pikotaro’s Pineapple Pen was another high volatility game based on a popular pop song with nearly 200 million views on Youtube PIKOTARO - PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen). Although not depicting woodblock prints, this game is very flat as well, except for the hypnotic back screen. Deceptively simplistic looking, the game has very interesting mechanics with unique free spin, re-spin, and a picking bonus that is triggered by collecting wild symbol badges during gameplay.

CrypBattle was another fixed line slot. This element seems to be a function of the maths and displays. Wins and losses are, of course, generated by the RNG, but reels strips with a fixed number of specific symbols in a specific order don't seem to be a feature of these or even most modern slots. It would seem the RNG is queried, a result is generated, and a random end result is displayed on the settled reels.

This game was not as volatile as the previous two. The artwork was more modern and intricate as well with excellent anime shadings and a mixture od Manga-esque characters with colorful icons derived from Celtic symbols. Prior to accessing the reels, you must select 3 of 5 characters that will come into play as stacked symbols and during free spins.

While our selection of test games was chosen at random, it still represented more than 25% of the existing portfolio and gave us enough information to heartily recommend the games to any operator or player.

The Final Analysis

Before closing out the review we simply had to try one more game. If you get a chance to get your hands on Wild Sumo at any of the casinos listed on this site, don't pass it up. The game simply rocks! Never a dull moment.

With offices in London, Tokyo, Malta, Los Angeles, Estonia, and Romania, the company seems set for success.

External Links

Official Facebook
Official Youtube
Official Twitter