The kinder, gentler world of casual gaming
From Tetris to Solitaire to Angry Birds to Candy Crush Saga, there’s a fun little game for everyone out there
For many people, the world of video gaming is one populated by mostly young males who engage in hours of mayhem and violence in post-apocalyptic worlds.
The games have been labeled as anti-social, misogynistic, and excessively violent in publications such as the WashFington Post (https://tinyurl.com/ ycds9jtl), with Grand Theft Auto singled out as one of the vilest in terms of violent sexism. However, hidden away behind the scenes there is another gaming culture that is kinder, gentler, family-friendly, and catering mostly to women.
It’s called casual gaming. The signpost of a casual game is that it's simple and quick to learn, can be played for a short time, such as on a lunch break, and involves puzzles, word games, or nonviolent, family-friendly action.
You may not have heard of casual games before, but you’ve probably played at least one. One of the original casual games was Solitaire, which was part of a collection of games including Minesweeper, Backgammon, and Mahjong that came with every version of Windows.
For some unknown reason Solitaire and the others were removed from Windows 8 and had to be downloaded for free as the Microsoft Solitaire Collection at the Windows Store. Fortunately the Microsoft Solitaire Collection is included in Windows 10 and you’ll find it in the list of programs when you click the Start button.
Other casual games of the past will ring a bell, such as Tetris, Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers, which were played on a game console connected to a television.
The advent of the internet ushered in a whole new generation of casual games that could be played online or downloaded. Casual games played on a laptop or desktop computer usually involve one of two methods of play.
In one version you visit a site and play a game within a browser window without downloading anything, although these games usually display advertising.
The other method is called freemium, wherein you download a game which is usually a free trial version with limited features and then pay to upgrade to a full version which is much more enjoyable to play. However, the vast majority of downloadable casual games are less than $10.
There are tons of casual gaming sites you can access on your computer or by downloading an app for your tablet or smartphone. A small selection of the most popular sites with the largest collections are Microsoft’s casual gaming site (http:// zone.msn.com/en-us/home), Big Fish Games (www.bigfishgames.com), Skunk Studios (http://games.skunkstudios.com), Wild Tangent (http:// www.wildtangent.ca) and Pogo (http://www.pogo.com/).
However, the emergence of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones created an avalanche of casual games such as Candy Crush Saga, Words With Friends, and Angry Birds. A mobile device is perfect for playing a casual game because its touch screen is so responsive and you can play anywhere an internet signal is available.
Internet users who want digital games which require thinking skills and less violence run counter to the stereotype of the online gamer.
Of the estimated 200 million people playing casual games, an astounding 70 per cent of them are women of whom 55 percent are older than 30.
Games played on mobile devices have also changed the financing model.
Game apps are free to download from the Apple Store and Google Play but the games will ask for in-app purchases, which are small payments to get more lives or add features, or they will display advertising.
These small in-app payments add up. Candy Crush Saga, which is now included on Windows 10 tablets, computers, and smart phones, grants you a small number of lives per day but for a dollar or so you can purchase more lives or bonuses to help you in conquering the 2000 levels.
In 2016, King Industries of Ireland, the game's creator, made over $775,000 US every day of the year. Global income from mobile gaming downloads, advertising, and in-app purchases is estimated to exceed $40 billion US per year.
You may not spend much on a casual game, but you can lose an enormous amount of time.