Casual Games

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About Casual Games

Games that generally involve less complicated game controls and overall complexity in terms of gameplay or investment required to get through the game.

  • Many people are playing casual games.
  • Popular with people who ignore other games entirely.
  • Lucrative and growing market.
  • Traits, but with significant exceptions:
    • Be slower-paced.
    • Have simple rules.
    • Don't require a large time commitment.
    • Have a low difficulty level and be forgiving.

Pac Man, Centipede, Tetris, Solitaire, Bejeweled, etc.

Why Casual?

Casual games fit the lifestyles of many individuals.

Easy to Learn

Have very limited instructions and take advantage of assumed knowledge; Drag, drop, click.

  • Begin with a two- or three-sentence description of play followed by actual play itself.
  • Mechanics are almost always obvious just by looking at the game.
  • Offer excellent feedback.

Contrast with regular FPS: What weapon? How to fire? Change weapon? Move?

Reduced Complexity

The rule sets in many of these games are rather simple.

  • Use patterns already know.
  • Repeat the patterns - this holds players.
  • Simplicity allow for relaxed play.

Casual players want a break, not a commitment.

Casual Conflicts

Conflicts mast be casual.

  • Player versus game: The pattern gets progressively more difficult.
  • Player versus score: The player is trying to beat his or her last score, or the score of another player.
  • Player versus time: The player is trying to do a task within a set period of time.

Short Play Time

Measured in minutes, not hours.

Lack of Commitment

Casual games are willing to wait for the players.

  • If the player gets up, talks on the phone, answers the door, and comes back to the game, nothing’s changed and nothing’s lost.

This ability to come and go is one of the key features that draws people to these games.

Family Friendly

A casual game, is, by default, family friendly and contains no objectionable content.