Reflexive's Carroll: Casual Games Starting To 'Bloat'

Author: by Mathew Kumar, Staff

Talking to Gamasutra as part of a new 'state of casual games' article, Reflexive's Russell Carroll has suggested that PC casual games "have started to feel some of that bloat of traditional games", thanks to increased competition and need for differentiation. In particular, Carroll, who is Director Of Marketing for Reflexive, which both develops games (Ricochet series, Wik & The Fable Of Souls) and runs a syndicated casual game portal, quipped of the increasing complexity of casual games: "Tetris wouldn't be released today in the casual games space unless it had a story mode about you working your way across the world looking for clues about your missing uncle, one Tetris round at a time. Sadly I think casual games have started to feel some of that bloat of traditional games; adding features and fluff to the point of obscuring the core gameplay." Elsewhere in the article, PlayFirst CEO John Welch, publisher and IP owner of the Diner Dash series, also commented from an alternate perspective on the issue of increasingly complex 'casual' games, noting: "Match-3 [games such as Bejeweled] will never die... however, the casual consumer is becoming more sophisticated in their tastes. A simple match-3 game might do well on a cell phone, where you're looking for a few minutes of fun in between other things, but that's not what you're going to seek out to download for 'me-time'." That's why time-management, hidden object, simulation and adventure games are the big winners today. They're immersive experiences, rather than amusing momentary distractions." You can now read the full Gamasutra article on the state of casual games, including lots more perspective from Carroll, Welch and PopCap's Jason Kapalka on where PC casual games are, and more importantly, where they're going.