Soylent Farmville is Sheeple . . . SHEEPLE!!!

Addictive fads requesting credit card access

My mom is overjoyed. Me, eh...

Shovelware for incredibly dumb people masses.

Boring games you can not lose.

Simple fun that's easy to pause.

Just need three:



Monetized thumb twiddling.

Thinking too much gives you wrinkles.

Yes, it does seem that some people have social networking games in mind specifically. Not all casual games are so mindless (nor are all free-to-play).

Addictive time-killing simple good-looking games.



Still, personaly I do not like them )

The Zombies, They're Coming! Brrraaahhh!

ok, here goes;



"Don't take your fun too seriously"

Cynical view:



Unhappy developers attempting to make money



Positive view:



Happy developers attempting to feed themselves

a boot stamping on a human face — forever

My mother is now a gamer.

Elitist few sneering at uncultured peasants?

Core gaming minus elitism and arrogance.

My Time Is Short. Play Quick

Good times! Had fun. Thanks. Next!

Repackaging the quotidian with miraculous success.

Everyone plays games. Everyone.

smaller time investment, larger audience reach. I am a " traditional " hard core gamer I play those games the average human being hasn't heard of and play everything from RPG's to the mostp ure platforms. the appeal of casual games is that they tend to take a real-world concept that is streamlined and packaged ot be interesting yet a manageable for the typical human being.



it's like comparing clue and chess, chess has a deeper experience and is overall a much stronger and timeless game, however clue is overall a much simpler to attach to and hence tends to be more popular in the commercial sense.

Simple, hook(s), time-based, rinse/repeat. --- Games available on social networks.



An explanation in case anyone feels they should be offended for the "little guy":-



1. Simple: one basic interface operation that does everything - so in Farmville, Cityville etc (and all their clones), it's a single left-click to plow land/place a piece of road/plant something/build something (and on and on that list goes). The difficulty level never changes and remains as easy and as accessible as possible to even the simplest of users.



2. Hook(s): this will either be one hook or many hooks, so if you're into "pets" then you can buy virtual pets that you "must look after" and come back to do so. Or collect "rent", or clean your "pet", or build your "empire", compete in a VERY passive way with friends and so forth. It can also just be that you prefer building structures and roads over planting seeds.



3. Time-based: where a user will be required to come back to the "game" after a few minutes to a few days to perform basic maintenance tasks or accept "gifts" from their friends. Also known as the "come back"/"repeated visit" factor when it comes to website content.



4. Rinse/repeat: this will mean slightly different things to different people so: to a user, its doing the same mechanic over and over again. To the developer: change the "skin" of the game and repackage it as something "new".



Simple to play; hard to master. --- Pretty much everything else. A real game, in my opinion, is one where you can win AND you can lose (or at least get stuck with a puzzle without some pay-for option to skip that one puzzle, note: I'm not talking about unlocking the rest of a game) based on your own ability, although challenge is something that will change from player to player.



It will be easy to comprehend (be it walking about in a 3D world, using the mouse to change the perspective etc) but hard to master (some will only be mastering the interface at first, let alone the few rules or guidelines of play) and may or may not require the player (again, depending on their ability and also on their experience level) to develop themselves just that little bit in order to play and then the "challenge" aspect comes in...which, if the game is well made, will remain throughout until the game's conclusion.

Social games != Casual games.

Less challenging for entertainment and relaxation

Fewer choices for entertainment and relaxation

Simple puzzles for entertainment and relaxation

Less challenging, fewer choices, simple puzzles