Bejeweled or Halflife: The Growing Dominance of Casual Games

Casual games are those smaller games such as Bejeweled which are marketed to the masses. These are the games anyone can pick up for a short session and enjoy. These types of games are growing rapidly in popularity. The common qualities in these games are that they are highly addictive, provide instant satisfaction, and are easy to learn. The majority of these type of games are puzzle or word games. Examples of huge grossing casual games include Virtual Villagers, Diner Dash, and Mystery Case Files to name a few. The major players in the casual games industry include names such as PopCap, Reflexive, and BigFish. Whether you run into them on your trip to Yahoo or on XBOX Live between your Halo sessions, you have undoubtedly been marketed games by these companies at one point in your life.
Publishers who create casual games have very low production costs compared to publishers who produce big budget titles such as the Halflife games. However, the prices of casual games usually do not reflect the reduced production costs. A casual game which cost 5% to produce when compared to a big budget game would be sold for a third of the price. The margins in the business are very lucrative. Not only are production costs lower than with casual games, there are also plenty of independent game developers submitting their casual games to publishers everyday, providing the publishers a constant pool of potential products. Anyone with a good idea can get a small team together and pump out a quality game on a very limited budget.
The key to the success of casual games is that they target a broad demographic. These games are not targeted towards hardcore gamers or teenagers. You probably would not see a middle aged mother playing a game of Halo but they can pick up a quick session of Bookworm Adventures just in time for dinner. These games provide a short burst of instant gratification. The casual games industry will continue to grow and provide an alternative for the general public who do not have hundreds of hours to devote to games.
Tony James is an author and webmaster. You can pick up a free game from his website FreewareGames.net