[casual_games] Definition of Casual Games

Wed Jul 13 17:49:45 EDT 2005

There are many casual games that women do not enjoy. Arcade shooters are traditionally male, and yet are still in the casual game category (in my opinion). I personally would not call Sims a casual game because it is too big. The game can conceivably carry on for an indefinite period. I think casual games need to have a defined start and end, and not last much longer than a few minutes.

I agree that console games are not casual. Many of them require the player to walk around searching for things to do. They can be quite boring, really. A casual game has to put the player immediately into some action so that they need to respond quickly.

I agree with the points about intuitive controls and simple (or non-existent) story lines.

Cheers,
Brent Silby.
DEF-LOGIC
VIDEOGAMES
www.def-logic.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Thing 2 
  To: 'IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List' 
  Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 9:36 AM
  Subject: RE: [casual_games] Definition of Casual Games

  Here's another definition of a casual game - a game my wife would play  =)

  The Sims yes, SimCity no, while the gameplay is relaxing and pretty much non-stressful, it seems to cross that line of complexity that a lot of people aren't willing to step over.  Platform games like Mario 64, for example, she loves.  Games like Tetris/Bejeweled are what I would consider casual.

  Personally I think the complexity of the current console controllers scares some people off.  My wife will pick up the Xbox controller and give it a spin if it's a driving or puzzle game or if it's 3rd person but, FPS games on a console (or keyboard and mouse for that matter) do take a bit more coordination, some people get frustrated with that and simply stop trying.

  A casual game must have:

    a.. Simple and intuitive controls. 

    a.. Time is of course a factor, you should be able to jump in for 10 minutes, be entertained and stop playing with no problems 

    a.. I also agree that any storyline involved should not be overly complex 

    a.. I like to think of a casual game as something that's relaxing to play, not extremely violent and stressful 

  I'd like to see (make) a game that follows the Disney/Pixar model in that the story is straightforward so that kids pick it up and enjoy it right away, characters that always manage to make you care, with worlds that are complex and beautifully detailed.  Think of the best cartoons out there, the story entertains kids and their parents while many of the jokes are for adults....

  I'm brewing up an idea for a game along these lines that I myself would find fun to play.  I've been thinking about it for a few years actually, refining it, writing about it, refining it more etc.  It's a collection of gameplay elements that I've found highly entertaining since the Atari 2600 all rolled into one big game.  I have much of it fleshed out on paper and in my mind, I have sketches of many of the 'bad guys' that would inhabit my world.  The problem is I have no team, no office, no web page and no funding....I don't even have a name for it yet but I do have some limited game dev experience, I was the lead mapper on a game called Glympse that, like so many other projects, fell through.

  Regardless, I do know what I want the gameplay of this game to be like.  And that is very much casual, easy to pick up with simple controls, fast and fun travel minus vehicles and limited in such a way that travel itself would become part of the gameplay.  I want people to be able to pick it up, like we said, for 5-10 minutes and have fun with it or keep playing it for hours on end in a social MMO environment.  I want people to laugh out loud at this game.  I'd like to incorporate physics and over-the-top animations in such a way that it actually makes people burst out in laughter, or at least chuckle to themselves  =)

  That's enough for now, I love the idea of this mailing list and hope to add what I can to it as well as learn what I can from it.

  Jay Ellsworth

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  From: machaira at comcast.net [mailto:machaira at comcast.net] 
  Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 2:46 PM
  To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
  Subject: RE: [casual_games] Definition of Casual Games

  Yes, a game is a game, but different games have different complexity levels. I think that's what everyone is getting at. It sounds like a casual game isn't very complex in its ruleset and isn't as deep as a game like GTA.

  She knew everything that could be done in the game right away or she was just able to wander around?

    -------------- Original message -------------- 

    A game is a game.

    My wife played GTA for the first time a while ago and picked it up right away.  Her previous experience with non-PC games was relegated to the arcade - Frogger and Space Invaders.

    I'm not trying to convince anyone, yet I would compare Bejeweled to GTA.  I see it a different way - No invisible separation.  :)

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    From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of machaira at comcast.net
    Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 1:10 PM
    To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
    Subject: RE: [casual_games] Definition of Casual Games

    Are we talking about for an experienced gamer or a newbie? Take someone who has never played anything like GTA and sit them down in front of the game. Will they know all the ins and outs of the game in 5 minutes?

    Am I off-base here or do I just have a different idea of what constitutes a casual game? I wouldn't compare Bejeweled to GTA.

      -------------- Original message -------------- 

      Good point.  :)

      Though the learning curve on a game like GTA is pretty simple.

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      From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of machaira at comcast.net
      Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 12:58 PM
      To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
      Subject: RE: [casual_games] Definition of Casual Games

      But does the learning curve for casual games fit for these games? I can't see it taking a mere 5 minutes to learn any of these other than the barest minimum.

        -------------- Original message -------------- 

        If a casual game doesn't require time commitments, then I see games like Counter-Strike, Grand Theft Auto and SimCity/The Sims as casual games.

        And I think it makes sense to lump Bejeweled and Zuma with the above games, because users can play these games for five minutes or for five hours.

        Personally, I love using the CS, GTA and Sims model for developing "casual games" that are published online.

        Thanks,

        Malcolm

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        From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of joey kolber
        Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 12:05 PM
        To: casual_games at igda.org
        Subject: RE: [casual_games] Definition of Casual Games

        I would call a casual game something that doesn't require commitment. Many games these days are so intense that they require hours and hours, or are so entrancing that people will spend hours and hours on them. Casual games don't require this. While some may entrance people for long periods of time, they don't require people to devote part of their life to it. They can play some, leave, and then come back and play again. Games light in plot, like puzzle games and many online quick games could be put in this category, while many MMO's, like MMORPG's and many roleplaying games in general would probably require more of a commitment.

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