High commitment and long
total time investment seem to contradict the very idea of casual
games. The IGDA whitepaper authors even admit that “casual” is a
somewhat inappropriate appelation: “Without a doubt, the term
‘casual games’ is sometimes an awkward and ill-fitting term...
the term ‘casual’ doesn’t accurately depict that these games
can be quite addictive, often delivering hours of entertainment
similar to that provided by more traditional console games.” What,
then, is the true meaning of casual in casual games?
I’d suggest that the
genre’s current conception of “casualness” suggests
informality. If core or hardcore games are “formal” in the
sense that they require adherence to complex gameplay and social
conventions, then casual games are “informal” in the sense that
they do not require such strict adherence. Informality is a kind of
“dressing down” of an otherwise more “proper” gaming
practice. But informality also underscores the likelihood of regular,
repetitive engagement with that practice. This is the casual of
casual dress or casual Friday, both of which articulate
a respite from the formality of business or social attire and
mannerisms. Casual Friday is a repetitive, habitual casualness: come
as you are, but expect to do it every week.
Applied to games, casual as
informality characterizes the notions of pick-up play common in
casual games while still calling for repetition and mastery. This is
why casual games can value both short session duration and high
replayability or addictiveness. Casual games may allow short session
play time, but they demand high total playtime, and therefore high
total time commitment on the part of the player. Low commitment
represents the primary unexplored design space in the casual games
market.
To understand what other
design opportunities might exist for casual games, or what other
kinds of games this sector of the industry may have ignored, it is
worth asking what other meanings the term casual possesses in
ordinary parlance, outside the domain of videogames.
Casual as Indifferent
We sometimes casual
to refer to a lack of concern, or even a feeling of indifference. In
this sense, casual conjures notions of apathy, insouciance,
and nonchalance.
Casual as Spontaneous
We also use casual to
refer to spontaneity or offhandedness. In this sense, casual
raises notions of unpremeditated action, doing something
off-the-cuff.
Casual as Fleeting
We also sometimes use casual
to refer to something short-lived and momentary, something
superficial, like a temporary or part-time commitment, or an
irregular activity.
These senses of casual all
contain properties of freedom, superficiality, and even flippancy.
Such properties correspond well with the notion of low commitment
left unexplored in casual games. If Casual Friday is the
metaphor that drives casual games as we know them now, then Casual
Sex might offer a metaphor to summarize the field’s unexplored
territory. If casual games (as in Friday) focus on simplicity and
short individual play sessions that contribute to long-term mastery
and repetition, then casual games (as in sex) focus on simplicity and
short play that might not ever be repeated—or even remembered.
Newsgames
Newsgames are one possible
example of such games. Newsgames are videogames created in response
to specific, real-world events that recount or comment upon them;
they are the videogame equivalent of editorial cartoons. Gonzalo
Frasca launched the concept on Newsgaming.com with an example,
September 12: A Toy World, a commentary about Western
retaliation, in particular the U.S. response to September 11, 2001.
Gonzalo
Frasca's newsgame, September 12: A Toy World
September 12 was not
necessarily intended to be played over and over again. The game’s
mechanics reveal its commentary through revelation rather than
mastery. Still, September 12 is not as fleeting as it might
be; it is loosely coupled to the events it comments upon. The game
was released in October 2003, so timeliness wasn’t its guiding
design principle, and admittedly the game more attention and response
as a political game than as a newsgame. The game refers to an entire
era of U.S. foreign policy.
Other newsgames use the
genre’s coupling to current events to create more specific, more
disposable experiences.