[casual_games] Casual Download Games: New Releases by Play Mechanic
Joe Schultz
Joe.Schultz at ByDesignGames.com
Mon Jul 21 11:13:54 EDT 2008
What's great to see here is not that Hidden Object is doing more than
Time Management et. al., but that the strongest game types are ones
that do not fit into the what most portals define as "casual"; this is
really refreshing to see.
We knew it was only a matter of time before casual players were tired
of all the same stuff, over and over. I mean who but the creatively
bankrupt would want to play (or develop) yet another match 3 / time
management / hidden object game? Sure there are yet many players (and
games) of those types, and some people will do anything for money it
seems, but judging from this data (and logic) it looks that they are
slowly dwindling in number, thankfully.
Maybe with such info, the more forward-thinking of the bigger portals
will now better consider "other" definitions of "fun" & "casual"...
Joe Schultz
Game Director
ByDesign Games
http://www.bydesigngames.com
On Jul 16, 2008, at 18:54h, James C. Smith wrote:
> “most portals are lunching just as many Time Management games as
> Hidden Object games and almost as many match 3 games”
>
> In the past 6 months, the top 10 lists on casual game download
> portals have been dominated by Hidden Object games followed closely
> by Time Management games. Sim games and Match 3 games have been a
> distance 3rd and 4th. (Source) This is when ranking play mechanics
> by their popularity is top 10 lists.
>
> But it you look the number of new release in the past 6 months the
> number look a little different. About 17% of the games launched on
> most portals are Hidden Object games and another 17% are Time
> Management games. Match 3 games are not far behind with 14% on the
> average portal. In other words, most portals are lunching just as
> many Time Management games as Hidden Object games and almost as many
> match 3 games.
>
> New Releases in Last 180 days as of 7/16/2008
>
> Hidden Object
> Time Management
> Match 3
> Sim
> Adventure
> Mahjong
> Chain Pop
> Word
> Strategy
> Inlay
> Unknown
> Other
> Reflexive
> 19%
> 17%
> 15%
> 8%
> 2%
> 2%
> 2%
> 2%
> 2%
> 2%
> 4%
> 26%
> MSN
> 18%
> 22%
> 16%
> 7%
> 1%
> 4%
> 4%
> 3%
> 0%
> 1%
> 0%
> 24%
> Big Fish
> 17%
> 16%
> 14%
> 7%
> 6%
> 2%
> 2%
> 3%
> 1%
> 1%
> 1%
> 30%
> Real
> 25%
> 20%
> 10%
> 10%
> 2%
> 3%
> 2%
> 3%
> 0%
> 0%
> 0%
> 25%
> iWin
> 15%
> 15%
> 16%
> 7%
> 3%
> 3%
> 2%
> 1%
> 0%
> 1%
> 14%
> 24%
> Pogo
> 14%
> 15%
> 15%
> 4%
> 2%
> 3%
> 3%
> 1%
> 1%
> 1%
> 10%
> 31%
> Shockwave
> 18%
> 21%
> 12%
> 8%
> 6%
> 1%
> 1%
> 2%
> 1%
> 2%
> 3%
> 26%
> Average
> 17%
> 17%
> 14%
> 7%
> 3%
> 3%
> 2%
> 2%
> 1%
> 1%
> 6%
> 27%
> Click the portal links above to see that portal’s list of new
> releases in this 180 day window
>
> Here is the same data again but this time as raw numbers rather than
> percentages:
> New Releases in Last 180 days as of 7/16/2008
> Portal
> Games Released
> Hidden Object
> Time Management
> Match 3
> Sim
> Adventure
> Mahjong
> Chain Pop
> Word
> Strategy
> Inlay
> Unknown
> Other
> Reflexive
> 127
> 24
> 21
> 19
> 10
> 3
> 3
> 2
> 2
> 3
> 2
> 5
> 33
> MSN
> 76
> 14
> 17
> 12
> 5
> 1
> 3
> 3
> 2
> 0
> 1
> 0
> 18
> Big Fish
> 183
> 31
> 30
> 26
> 12
> 11
> 4
> 4
> 6
> 2
> 2
> 1
> 54
> Real
> 60
> 15
> 12
> 6
> 6
> 1
> 2
> 1
> 2
> 0
> 0
> 0
> 15
> iWin
> 178
> 26
> 27
> 28
> 13
> 5
> 5
> 3
> 1
> 0
> 2
> 25
> 43
> Pogo
> 137
> 19
> 20
> 21
> 6
> 3
> 4
> 4
> 2
> 1
> 1
> 14
> 42
> Shockwave
> 102
> 18
> 21
> 12
> 8
> 6
> 1
> 1
> 2
> 1
> 2
> 3
> 27
> Average
> 123
> 21
> 21
> 18
> 9
> 4
> 3
> 3
> 2
> 1
> 1
> 7
> 33
>
> “Other” means I looked at the game and determined it does not fit
> into one of the 10 popular play mechanics listed above.
>
> “Unknown” means I didn’t look at the game and have no idea what kind
> of game it is. It could be a Hidden Object game but that is very
> unlikely since the “Unknown” games are generally games that were
> launch by very few portals and never made it into their top 10 lists.
>
>
> I am a little surprised that Match 3 games are still released so
> frequently. I use a rather strict definition for the Match 3 play
> mechanic that means the game involved getting 3 in a row on a grid.
> This does no include Zuma (Chain popper), Collapse (click group to
> clear) or many other recent games like Ancient Quest of Saqqarah
> which I call an “other puzzle” mechanic but many portals toss into
> their “match 3” genera. So the Match 3 number listed above and
> conservative and would be higher if other puzzle games were included.
>
> Also notice how few Word games are being made or how few of them get
> released.
>
> What other numbers in there are surprising or interesting to you?
>
> James C. Smith
> Co-founder & Producer: Reflexive Entertainment
> Editor & Chief: CasualCharts.com
>
>
> PS: If you have bookmarks for CasualCharts.com or Game-Sales-
> Charts.com that are more than 2 months old then you are probably
> using the legacy charts. Those bookmarks still work, but you won’t
> see any of the slick new features unless you go to the home page at
> CasualCharts.com and navigate from there. The new World Map is so
> much better than the legacy version of the World Map. Be sure you
> are using the latest and greatest.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Casual_Games mailing list
> Casual_Games at igda.org
> http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe
> Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe
> Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8
> List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/casual_games/attachments/20080721/1803080d/attachment-0001.htm>
More information about the Casual_Games
mailing list