Wagenheimer's Game Development Blog

Why “Casual” Doesn’t Mean “Easy”

“Casual” games have been all the rage in the games industry over the past few years.  From the explosive growth of online games to the major First-Party support of the Wii, the “casual gamer” and the entire supposed market space has become a great buzzword and mainstay in game development.  Entire divisions of large companies have cropped up solely around the idea of casual, and smaller companies and developers striking it rich in this wild west of an audience.

But seriously.  What does “casual” really mean?

Of course anyone can point out games that are casual versus hardcore.  Wii Sports and Farmville are casual games, sure.  Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are not.  But what does that actually signify?  And if you’re going to base independent or corporate projects and future sales figures on these genres, doesn’t it make sense to understand what they are and how they work?

By using the Game Design Canvas, we can break down both casual and hardcore games and find out what really makes them tick.  When we contrast them as you’ll see in a moment, there aren’t as many differences as one would assume.  However, one major difference betrays a casual game as a casual game, and that one difference influences the game’s audience, the viable platforms, sales methods, everything.  It is the difference that sets it apart from the hardcore titles and gives it its soul.

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