[casual_games] Re: Aztec

[Juan Gril]

Thanks to Alex, Margaret, Daniel, Jonas, Kim and John for their comments. I
modified the section. Please let me know what you think:

http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Whitepaper/Production_an
d_Design#Visuals_and_Themes

And I paste it here for those click-averse ( John :) ):

Visuals and Themes 

Keeping the audience in mind, the visual design in a Casual Game could vary
depending the target audience. The game designer should ask first who is
going to play the game before deciding on a particular theme or visual
style. 

On downloadable single-player games, historically successful visual themes
were something that players are somehow familiar with. Games that are based
in real life environments (ie: Cinema Tycoon) give the player a sensation of
playing in a familiar environment. Other non real environments that casual
players are familiar with are those that have been portrayed successfully on
very popular Hollywood films: magic (Lord of the Rings) or exotic places
(Indiana Jones) are some examples. Contrary to popular belief in the
technological crowd, sci-fi movies are not as popular across the mass
audience. Casual Game designers should stay away from putting sci-fi themes
in their games. 

Many downloadable, single-player games take the path of a "realistic" look.
But some have started to have cartoon-like looks (ie: Diner Dash). The key
is to not make the player feel they are playing a game for kids. Contrary to
puzzle games in arcade machines in the 80s (ie: Pengo), since most downloads
get purchased by an older audience, players in general get put off by "cute"
characters or visual elements that make the sensation of watching a Saturday
morning cartoon. Exceptions to this case tend to gravitate towards those
games which have a realistic theme (ie: Cake Mania) or have UI and
supporting graphics with a mature look (ie: Chuzzle). 

When it comes to online web games, the choice of themes and visuals tend to
be different. Since the age range of web game players goes across the board,
there are all kinds of visual themes used successfully. It will depend on
the web site's audience mostly. Sites like Cartoon Network, Nick, and to a
big extent Neopets target younger players and hence cartoon like visuals are
the norm and work very successfully. 

Use of bright and shiny colors, appropiately used, is a plus. Even some
special effects (ie: the use of particle systems to create an explosion of
stars when an award is given) have worked well in some games.

Cheers,

Juan


-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of John Szeder
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:51 PM
To: 'IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List'
Subject: RE: [casual_games] Re: Aztec

I will weigh in with my wisdom here but I am too click-averse to go to the
wiki and enter it.


Games that look like they are fun will be more likely to be downloaded than
games that don't look like they are fun

Games that are fun will be played more often than games that are not fun

Games that ship with fewer defects are likely to make more money than games
that ship with large numbers of defects

People will purchase just about anything... Once

I want to apologize for the ensuing controversy that stems from these
radical notions.

-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Kim Pallister
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:38 PM
To: casual_games at igda.org
Subject: [casual_games] Re: Aztec 

>So, is this statement true or false? Can the visual theme of a casual
game look like a Saturday morning cartoon?

Well, 'saturday morning cartoon' is itself a pretty wide berth.

I'd argue that Diner Dash is both successful and somewhat cartoon-like.
As are Cake Mania, Magic Match (character is cartoon like anyway), and a
number of others.

I don't think there's an undue weighting of 'aztec themed' games. I
think the industry recognizes the fact that theming/wrapping/dressing or
whatever else you want to call it resonates well with players.

History and Mythology have always provided good fodder for doing such in
games, both in hardcore and casual.

So along with your Aztec themed, you've got Egyptian (Luxor, Lumen,
Mosaic, Bricks of Egypt), Atlantis (Atlantis Quest, plus the overlap
with multiple 'underwater' titles, etc. 

There's of course all the nostalgic periods of more recent history
(Hotel Solitaire, Roller rush, etc).

Is this really any different than first person shooters, where we go
through a rash of 'space marine' titles, then a wave of 'WWII shooters',
and so on?

Kim

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