Android developers, stop making casual games

#1

Post by fearless » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 12:53 AM UTC

Android developers, stop making casual games
blog.mixrank.com

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#2

Post by lucb1e » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 1:48 AM UTC

As far as I know "casual games" are games that are very easy and very rewarding, thus great for pretty much everyone that just wants to pass some time (a huge audience obviously). This article somehow manages to use "casual games" as separate category besides, say, "Cards & Casino". What's the difference? Almost all games I've tried from the Play Store are casual games, even all racing and almost all arcade games, and I gave up on mobile gaming because of that.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#3

Post by will_work4tears » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 1:59 AM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #2

As far as I know "casual games" are games that are very easy and very rewarding, thus great for pretty much everyone that just wants to pass some time (a huge audience obviously). This article somehow manages to use "casual games" as separate category besides, say, "Cards & Casino". What's the difference? Almost all games I've tried from the Play Store are casual games, even all racing and almost all arcade games, an…

Totally agree. I'm entirely a casual game player and I exclusively play card and casino games. I'd play strategy and MMO type games if I had time, but a quick poker game or even solitare takes a few minutes. MMO and strategy is a huge commitment.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#4

Post by braco_alva » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 2:03 AM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #2

As far as I know "casual games" are games that are very easy and very rewarding, thus great for pretty much everyone that just wants to pass some time (a huge audience obviously). This article somehow manages to use "casual games" as separate category besides, say, "Cards & Casino". What's the difference? Almost all games I've tried from the Play Store are casual games, even all racing and almost all arcade games, an…

I think they're just referring to the subcategory in the Play Store, but yeah, almost any mobile game could be labeled as Casual.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#5

Post by feifan » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 2:13 AM UTC

It's not really about being in the charts, or even downloads, unless developers can make money from them. Unfortunately, there is more piracy on Android; ads can only bring in so much and break the experience of a game. Also, given the wide range in device performance, specs, and software, you really have to wonder if it's worth the time and money investment.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#6

Post by lnanek2 » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 2:27 AM UTC

Yeah, but they are so much easier/cheaper to write and produce. 2D is par for the course for casual. Action and adventure much less so.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#7

Post by jjsz » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 2:54 AM UTC

braco_alva wrote: post #4

lucb1e wrote: post #2

As far as I know "casual games" are games that are very easy and very rewarding, thus great for pretty much everyone that just wants to pass some time (a huge audience obviously). This article somehow manages to use "casual games" as separate category besides, say, "Cards & Casino". What's the difference? Almost all games I've tried from the Play Store are casual games, even all racing and almost all arcade games, an…

I think they're just referring to the subcategory in the Play Store, but yeah, almost any mobile game could be labeled as Casual.

Well, almost: Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Chaos Rings, Chaos Rings II, Chaos Rings Ω, Ingress, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice Cities wouldn't be 'casual'.

Then there's also: SMS, N, SG, SD, NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBA, DS, PSX, GC, Wii and PSV emulators that contain 'non casual' games.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#8

Post by yareally » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 3:00 AM UTC

jjsz wrote: post #7

braco_alva wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're just referring to the subcategory in the Play Store, but yeah, almost any mobile game could be labeled as Casual.

Well, almost: Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Chaos Rings, Chaos Rings II, Chaos Rings Ω, Ingress, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice Cities wouldn't be 'casual'. Then there's also: SMS, N, SG, SD, NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBA, DS, PSX, GC, Wii and PSV emulators that contain 'non casual' games.

Many of those games lose a great deal of interactivity and control when ported to a touch only interface though. Turn based games like Final Fantasy fair well though on touch interface, but real time games like GTA not as much. I wouldn't call games like GTA III casual on mobile, but I don't think they quite appeal to the exact same audience they did on consoles or PC.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#9

Post by kevincrane » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 3:41 AM UTC

yareally wrote: post #8

jjsz wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, almost: Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Chaos Rings, Chaos Rings II, Chaos Rings Ω, Ingress, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice Cities wouldn't be 'casual'. Then there's also: SMS, N, SG, SD, NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBA, DS, PSX, GC, Wii and PSV emulators that contain 'non casual' games.

Many of those games lose a great deal of interactivity and control when ported to a touch only interface though. Turn based games like Final Fantasy fair well though on touch interface, but real time games like GTA not as much. I wouldn't call games like GTA III casual on mobile, but I don't think they quite appeal to the exact same audience they did on consoles or PC.

GTA III and Vice City are actually surprisingly good on mobile. I bought GTA III on a whim when I got my Nexus 7 last year with the Play store credit that came with it, and I actually loved it. It took me probably 20 minutes to get a feel for the controls and ended up playing the game all the way through after a while (halfway through Vice City now). Rockstar really nailed the controls for the touch interface, at least on a tablet.

Re: Android developers, stop making casual games

#10

Post by jjsz » Wed, Jul 31, 2013, 4:18 AM UTC

yareally wrote: post #8

jjsz wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, almost: Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Chaos Rings, Chaos Rings II, Chaos Rings Ω, Ingress, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice Cities wouldn't be 'casual'. Then there's also: SMS, N, SG, SD, NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBA, DS, PSX, GC, Wii and PSV emulators that contain 'non casual' games.

Many of those games lose a great deal of interactivity and control when ported to a touch only interface though. Turn based games like Final Fantasy fair well though on touch interface, but real time games like GTA not as much. I wouldn't call games like GTA III casual on mobile, but I don't think they quite appeal to the exact same audience they did on consoles or PC.

I have no problem with this because I use the GameKlip [0] with my I9300 and a Dualshock 3 controller.

[0] http://buy.thegameklip.com/products/gameklip-galaxy-siii