Casual Gameplay
Games where gameplay is easy to begin, pauses, and end, without negatively affect any players' experience.
During the first decade of the 2000s, computer games started to become popular among new and large user groups that traditionally had not played these types of games. Differing in themes, gameplay, and how and when they required players to play when compared to earlier games, these games became known as casual games. Although it is possible to find earlier examples after the genre had been named, the appearance of many games of this type highlighted that a more varied flora of game types are possible and appreciated. The book A Casual Revolution[1], discussed this genre, and differentiates between casual games and casual gamers. In this four main areas of difference between causal games and hardcore games are discussed: fictional presentation, game knowledge required, time investment required, and difficulty levels.
Contents
Examples
Puzzle-based games such as Bejeweled, Combine, Staries, and Zoo Keeper are examples of games with Casual Gameplay simply because they either are played for a limited amount of time or because one can take pauses from them whenever one wishes. Icy Tower shows how an action game can provide Casual Gameplay as well due to the ease of beginning to play and the limited time of each game instance.
FarmVille and Mafia Wars are examples of Casual Gameplay first based on the social site Facebook. While players can require a lot of knowledge of how to play the games most effectively, they are easy to pick up and the gameplay allows players have control of when they wish to play - although social pressure to return favors to other players can offset the latter.
Using the pattern
The instantiation of Casual Gameplay depends on the combination of many independent design choices.
Game knowledge Time investment Attitude t. difficulty
Even if some games depict Conflicts (e.g. Mafia Wars) they do this in an abstract way and Casual Gameplay more typically revolved around Construction or Puzzle Solving.
Diegetic Aspects
One of the characteristics used to describe the difference between casual games and others is that they tend use positive colors and sounds in the presentation of their Game Worlds. Although this is primarily a question of graphic and sound design, it can also reflect the tendency to focus upon Construction.
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
The flexibility of when to start or stop playing makes games with Casual Gameplay provide a Freedom of Choice to players. The combination of this Freedom of Choice and often having Construction or Puzzle Solving gameplay make players have the possibility to regard the gameplay of these games as Pottering.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
Potentially Conflicting With
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
- ↑ Juul, J. (2010). A Casual Revolution - Reinventing Video Games and Their Players. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01337-6.
