History Main / CasualVideoGame

Another reason game companies are increasingly targeting more of these customers instead of their historical main customer base may be due to software piracy. As home computers become more powerful and capable of emulating more consoles, the more tech-savvy consumers will increasingly refuse to pay up. The casual crowd, on the other hand, is less likely to be aware of how easy it is to get games for free and if they are, they can usually be counted on to have more respect for the law.

A lot of casual gaming companies see their target audience's unfamiliarity with the standards of gaming as an invitation to abuse them by pumping out masses of shallow games lacking in replay value, or [[FollowTheLeader ripoffs of better games from the past]] loaded with cute window-dressing, in lieu of doing legitimate work that contributes real progress to the field of game design. This irritates [[HardCore dedicated gamers]] to no end, since it means that they can lower their standards and fall into a rut in [[LowestCommonDenominator an environment free of criticism]]. [[CapcomSequelStagnation As if this never happened before]].

* ''[[VideoGame/CarrieTheCaregiver Carrie the Caregiver]]''

* ''Videogame/DarkParables''

* ''{{Petz}}''

** One could say ''PuzzleBobble'' falls under this.

* ''[=Skyrates=]'', designed with sporadic play form of gameplay in mind.

* ''{{Skyrates}}'', designed with sporadic play form of gameplay in mind.

* HiddenObjectGame: ''MysteryCaseFiles'', ''Travelogue 360°'', ''Hidden Expedition'', etc.

* ''MysteryCaseFiles''

* ''Videogame/{{Tetris}}''
* ''TheWager''

Casual Video Games are video games that are primarily aimed at [[GatewaySeries people who don't tend to game much]]. These games are usually distributed online and come with a free hour-long trial. If they're lucky, these games could get a boxed version available for purchase at retail stores. Others are made specifically for consoles rather than [=PCs=], or are made for non-gaming devices like cellular telephones and distributed over a telco's data service. Still more are Flash or Java in browser, meaning they can be played anywhere with a web browser that has the necessary plug-ins installed. Surprisingly, perhaps (at least to younger gamers), many of these games are the [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual descendants]] of what was cutting edge in the 1980s, during the era of the great stand-up arcade games, proving that an immersive world, hardware-stretching graphics, and complex AI don't inherently mean great gameplay. Most of these games ''would'' be arcade games if there was still a viable arcade market.

The ideal Casual Video Game should be simple and intuitive in its controls. It should also be something you can pick up, play for ten minutes, put back down again, and replay for years. Casual Games are designed to relieve boredom during short breaks, not occupy hours of time.

Another reason game companies are increasingly targeting more "respectable" customers instead of their historical main customer base of adolescent geeks may be due to software piracy. As home computers become more powerful and capable of emulating more consoles, the more tech-savvy consumers will increasingly refuse to pay up. The casual crowd, on the other hand, is less likely to be aware of how easy it is to get games for free and if they are, they can usually be counted on to have more respect for the law than iconoclastic HighSchoolRejects.

* Cooking Game : ''VideoGame/CookingMama'' comes to mind. (''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' is a cookbook, dammit.)

* ''DinerDash''

** One could say ''Puzzle Bobble'' falls under this.

* ''{{Luxor}}''

* ''Videogame/Reveries''

Casual Video Games are video games that are primarily aimed at [[GatewaySeries people who don't tend to game much]]. These games are usually distributed online and come with a free hour-long trial. If they're lucky, these games could get a boxed version available for purchase at retail stores. Others are made specifically for consoles rather than [=PCs=], or are made for non-gaming devices like cellular telephones and distributed over a telco's data service. Still more are Flash or Java in browser, meaning they can be played anywhere with a web browser that has the necessary plug-ins installed. Surprisingly, perhaps (at least to younger gamers), many of these games are the [[SpritualSuccessor spiritual descendants]] of what was cutting edge in the 1980s, during the era of the great stand-up arcade games, proving that an immersive world, hardware-stretching graphics, and complex AI don't inherently mean great gameplay. Most of these games ''would'' be arcade games if there was still a viable arcade market.

Casual Video Games are video games that are primarily aimed at [[GatewaySeries people who don't tend to game much]]. These games are usually distributed online and come with a free hour-long trial. If they're lucky, these games could get a boxed version available for purchase at retail stores. Others are made specifically for consoles rather than [=PCs=], or are made for non-gaming devices like cellular telephones and distributed over a telco's data service. Still more are Flash or Java in browser, meaning they can be played anywhere with a web browser that has the necessary plug-ins installed. Surprisingly, perhaps (at least to younger gamers), many of these games are the spiritual descendants of what was cutting edge in the 1980s, during the era of the great stand-up arcade games, proving that an immersive world, hardware-stretching graphics, and complex AI don't inherently mean great gameplay.

* ''DoodleJump''

* ''DarkParables''