“Casual Gaming”
Posted May 31, 2008
“Casual games” get a bad reputation in the eyes of more hardcore gamers because of the fact that more of the general public plays them, a lot. These people are not considered to be “gamers” by console controller wielding geeks, hence the specification of “casual gamer” versus simply “gamer.” I find the term “casual gamer” appropriate for use with regards to someone who enjoys playing video games, whether they may be Devil May Cry, Halo, or Bejeweled, but does not play often for any number of reasons. What gamers play does not matter, rather the frequency. Another term, “hardcore gamer,” could be used to express the exact opposite; rather someone who spends copious amounts of time playing video games. How much is a lot versus not so much? Come on, it is not a science. But just because certain games do not require the player to spend 50 hours traversing through dialogue or keen practicing to perfect the headshot does not make its player any less than any other typical gamer. Casual does not mean the game is not fun, original, or well developed, and those listed here have certainly fit all three categories.
Epsilon
A level in Epsilon without worm holes requires the player to utilize the time-reversal technique.For those of us who are in love with Valve’s Portal there is Epsilon by Dissolute to keep us occupied when the Portal levels have run out. Playable for free through a browser, in Epsilon the player uses the mouse and a few keys to manipulate a floating sphere through wormholes to retrieve tokens and then pass through a portal to end the level. Some stages are a bit tricky if you do not anticipate where the sphere is going to fall ahead of time; and the little gravity manipulator items can throw you for a loop on certain stages. At any time the orb can be suspended, unlike those in Portal, and each level may be restarted at the push of a key. The music is surprisingly good for a flash game, and adds a nice ominous techno feel to the game. I would not recommend leaving it run in the background if you stop playing the game however.
Audiosurf
Red and yellow colored blocks are worth higher amounts of points, while blue and purple are worth less.Oh no, not another one of those music games; what instrument do I need to buy now? Fortunately, Audiosurf developed by Dylon Fitterer is a refreshingly different kind of music game where the player chooses any song they desire. Yes, if you have it, you can surf it. Playable through Valve’s Steam program, the player will be asked to select a space ship which will determine various things. First, what style of play as there are two: one features colored blocks of various point ratings, the other is called Mono in which there are only two blocks, those you are required to pick up and those you are not. Second, the player’s ship will determine what special ability you can perform to make catching blocks easier. I am a fan of the “Pusher;” by holding the left or right mouse button I can choose where my collected block will fall. Lastly, the chosen ship will be specific to a difficulty setting: easy, medium, or hard. After song selection, the audio track and difficulty will determine how many of what type of blocks will appear and how fast the ship will move. The style of the song determines the style of the track; during the slower parts the track will be an upwards slope, whereas the faster sections form downhill tracks. The player will have three block-filled lanes and two sidelines to move around on; this is dependent on your mode. Blocks must be hit with the ship to be collected into the repository, where they will disappear when three or more of the same color touch; this is when points are earned. Each lane of the repository can only carry six blocks, and if overfilled they will prevent the player from picking up any blocks for a short period of time. At the end of the track additional bonuses may be applied to your final score based on your play, and you will be rated against any else who has ever played that song. Yes, there are other people who have N’Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” title, surprised? Playing from your music library is addictive and having an online score board just makes it that much more competitive.
Orisinal
It Takes Two; a game in which a cat and dog utilize a teeter-totter to collect snacks.More of a website full of games than just one; this full flash page was created by Ferry Halim and he makes these kind of games for living. The site contains approximately 59 unique flash-based games ranging from The Amazing Dare-Dozen where the player has to launch eggs from baskets of varying heights, to What Comes Around where the player takes control of a raccoon who drops walnuts on intruding gophers. Instead of feeling like a jumbled mess of games, the collective reflects the individual games in clean fun, light stylistic graphics, and soft harmonic melodies. Each game has a score board to influence competition, and the top scores are quite amazingly high. I find it a bit difficult to consider those game players to be simply “casual.”
Diner Dash
The restaurant can become filled with customers in a moment's notice.Diner Dash was developed by Gamelab and exploded in popularity upon its release, reveling in its casual-ness. While its popularity might discourage certain gamers from playing it, they are simply missing out. In Diner Dash the player controls Flo the server and helps her seat, wait, and bus tables with just a few clicks of the mouse. Each level represents one business day, and upon completion of the day a certain total of cash inflow must be met. Depending on how well and how quickly customers are served will determine how much money the business will receive. Gauging customer happiness is simple, there are hearts that empty and fill to represent that party’s feelings towards their dining experience. As the stages progress, party sizes and type vary and make seating and pleasing customers more difficult to keep the player on point. While the concept is simple, the intensity of the dinner services are progressively addictive.
Mystery P.I. The Vegas Heist
One of the first areas, the casino floor. Here you can see the list of objects to find on the left and the picture in which to find them in on the right.The most popular game on the PopCap website right now is Mystery P.I. The Vegas Heist, similar to Mystery P.I. The Lottery Ticket but instead set in Sin City itself. Little more than a digitized seek and find game, I have to admit the game started to seduce me as I moved from area to area. You play a detective whose mission it is to find a casino’s lost money. To obtain clue items, you must find a list of items in a certain area, or picture. The items you are searching for are embedded, along with many unnecessary items, into each area’s picture and you must search through the photo to find your items. While it is not required to find every single item, doing so will reward the player bonus points and higher private eye rankings. Upon finding enough items on each level, the player is presented with another puzzle, such as a jigsaw or word search, which must be completed in order to retrieve the clue item and move on to the next level. With 25 clues total to find, there are many, many seek and find areas for the player to tackle.
Jardinains!
Do not let the evil lawn gnomes taunt you.A classic Breakout game called Jardinains! features the well-known play style of a paddle being used to bounce a ball into tiles to break them, only with evil lawn gnomes who are bent on destroying you. The gnomes will pop out of tiles throughout each level and throw flower pots to stun your paddle. Hitting one with the ball will cause it to fall, thus allowing you to bounce it off of your paddle to obtain special items that can either help or hinder your progress. For example, there are lasers available to let you shoot through tiles, but there are also speed-ups that can make the ball move uncontrollably fast. There are more helpful than harmful items however, so there is nothing to fear. Well, except for those lawn gnomes.
Xiao Xiao
Xiao Xiao Game #4 is a 3-D shooter complete with a Matrix-resembling boss fight.Like Orisinal, Xiao Xiao is a site containing a collection of four games, but also five movies. These flash games and videos are from the old school days of the Internet and feature stick men doing kung fu. The games are each very different from one another: one is a shooter, another a 2-D fighter, and the remaining two are button mashers. In each game the player controls the hero who is also featured in each movie, and he is always fighting someone for an unknown reason. The flash-programmed kung fu feels like it came straight out of a movie, and there is no doubt that some of it did. Matrix anyone? The 3-D visuals in the later games and movies are excellent and make them much more fun to play.
Recently, certain casual games have been moved into a genre called “indie games.” Essentially, that is what the elitist gamers call casual games that they consider appropriate games for them to play, or rather a step-above what the general public might play. That could be because they are harder to find or not as publicly marketed, even a slightly bit more awkward or unique, and sometimes they require an extra step or some strategic thought that might drive a “casual gamer” away. Either way, we are talking about the same games here. These lighter games are what you play while waiting for your next Gamefly rental to arrive, your raid to tackle the next boss, or even as just a break at the office. They make the perfect gaming snacks throughout the day to keep our gaming desires satiated until we pick up the next controller.
