Casual game on!

What is it about things in their simplest form that makes them so appealing?

We live in such complicated societies where everyday people are looking to cut steps out, rationalise and simplify. The same could be applied to mobile gaming.
The concept of ‘casual gaming’ is a relatively new one to all spheres of the mobile gaming world and is growing in popularity; all anyone has to do is take a look at other mediums of gaming to see this. Take online gaming, sites such as Newgrounds, Pop Cap, and addicting games .com have cropped up and get hundreds of thousands of hits each day, organisations such as MSN and Real Networks have launched successful casual game download sites for PC user. Also Nintendo has hit this demand head on with casual gaming on the Nintendo DS with the ever popular Brain Trainer and even developed a whole console based on casual games, one of Dot’s favourites, the addictive Wii.
So why has this new genre of games proved so successful?
I put it down to two factors. Firstly, cost. Gamers, hardcore or not resent having to fork out at least 50 to 60 euro for a top of the line console game .This requires commitment, and lots of mullah.
Casual games are cheap and plentiful, a gamer can purchase one, give it a play if it’s a good game great, if its not how bad, just get another one. Nothing ventured nothing gained! As Rob Fahey put it “Sometimes, a snack between meals is what’s desired, not a four course dinner,” well said Rob.
And although this snack’s graphics and levels may not be as sophisticated as its console counterparts its gaming experience rests on its simplicity, with minimal control keys and limited levels. And it is in this simplicity that lies its second key to success.
Because of this simpler playability it appeals a wider audience in particular to the older generation who were not given mobile phones at the age of seven to purchase frog ringtones and buy pretty wallpapers. It also appeals to the non-gamer consumer, Tony Pearce CEO with Player X a major distributor of mobile games and content says “It isn’t the big style action-packed format anymore. The average consumer isn’t a gamer.” These games are simple, approachable to the technologically illiterate user and because operators are making it easier and easier to download them, booming. People want to play games they recognise and already know the rules how to play. Crosswords, puzzles, card games etc. are no longer in the form of magazines, books and papers carried around in bags and briefcases, they are now saved onto mobile phones and whipped out of the pocket whenever a free moment arises. I mean before Dot got her mobile Sudoku you should have seen my Sudoku book, full of cross outs to the point where you could barely read the numbers!

One recently new type of mobile gaming technology that caters for this surge in popularity is Flash lite. It allows Flash game developers to transfer their expertise into the mobile version that is Flash lite. And with 33 million flash enabled handsets worldwide, flash lite games are bound to take off hand in hand with casual gaming.
It is clear that there is a huge market for casual flash games on the net. The joy of these games is that they will transfer well onto other mediums and I reckon it’s only a matter of time before these flash games are brought to our mobile phones. Selatra has already began to do this with games such as Reversi (otherwise known as puzzle classic Othello) and Invaders.

People will look towards these games seeking diversion, socialization and competition and will get in return an immediately rewarding experience!