Inside the Casual Game Revolution: Page 2 of 4
Submitted by Chris James on 02/13/2013 - 22:31. Category: Articles
This article was originally published in:
The Problems
#1: Board games are marketed in either the toy industry or the hobby game industry, and there is a chasm between the two.
The interests of the toy and hobby game industries are vastly different. Generally, a game must fall squarely in one of these two industries in order to see success among the established audiences — that is, it must be intended for children or for more hardcore gamers. Games that fall in between, which are intended for a casual gamer audience, are often seen as too difficult for the toy industry, yet too simple for the hobby industry. However, a few games in the “in between” category have figured out how to reach the chasm of casual gamers and have absolutely exploded.
Established publishers on both sides are seeing the untapped potential and are trending towards the middle ground. However, it is not uncommon for smaller publishers who focus on the middle ground to be required to shift one way or the other to stay afloat due to an underdeveloped market in this area.
#2: Casual gamers are very difficult to reach directly.
The toy industry pays very close attention to the games that are great for children because of their educational value. Scores of toy industry awards abound that focus on child development and play. The hobby game industry, on the other hand, pays very close attention to the games that scratch a specific gamer itch, such as the latest trends in game design or theme. Therefore, a product that meets the needs of either group perfectly has a very captive audience.
But who is paying attention to lighter games for casual gamers and highlighting them so they can be found by those who are seeking them? There is some passing interest for these games in the hobby, but mainly for their effectiveness at converting family or friends to heavier games (“gateway” games) or filling the gaps between heavier gaming sessions (“filler” games). This interest is only secondary for the majority of board game reviewers and media members.
What’s missing is a central place for casual gamers to learn about the latest offerings intended for them and where retailers and publishers can interact with them directly. The fact that such an audience has not been previously gathered is at least partially due to a lack of commitment to gaming as a serious hobby, though many casual gamers are very ready to go out and buy a great new game when it finally reaches their radar. But has there been a real attempt to gather an audience of casual gamers on a large scale? Have we as an industry created an environment in which casual gamers feel welcome? Does our message resonate with casual gamers?
#3: Content about board games makes assumptions about the readers.
The content, reviews, and buzz around board games that can be found online and in other media can typically be categorized into one of the following groups:
- Gamer-oriented. You know everything about the gaming hobby. News, reviews, and even rule books assume that you’re familiar with all mechanics, designers, and companies of note. “This is a pick-up and deliver game similar to X but with elements of Y.” “A Knizia-style Eurogame with area control and hand management.” Reviews of lighter games come with disclaimers that they’re not really what you should want to play but they’re okay for your kids and non-gamer friends.
- Geek-oriented. You’re also interested in comic books, science fiction, role playing, and cosplay.
- Family-oriented. You want to buy board games for your children. Content in this category may have some interesting aspects for adults, though the focus is on playing with children.
- Video gamer-oriented. You’re a hardcore video gamer with a passing interest in tabletop games that scratch a hardcore gamer itch. There is usually an emphasis on board games with a licensed theme from a popular video game.
Where is the content for casual gamers that makes no assumptions about previous knowledge, experience, or culture? What about the groups of teenagers or adults who don’t fit into the above categories but like to play light games socially?
#4: Getting into board gaming requires too much commitment.
Jumping into board gaming is a huge commitment. It’s one thing to learn how to play a game, but there are tools like video tutorials to assist with that. For a casual gamer who has discovered a “gateway” game, the task of finding more games that share similar qualities is a huge undertaking. The hobby market and culture of board gaming is just not intended for casual gamers. The message everywhere is conversion into a new way of life, almost a commitment as it were into a new religion. The true path into board gaming is by invitation only — a gamer must teach you your new lifestyle and guide and coach you into the games you must enjoy in order to be a true gamer. Does it really have to be this way?
As a casual gamer myself, I know of this challenge first hand. I learned about board games years ago through a friend who happened to have a common “gateway” game, which I enjoyed and immediately bought. I thought I could really get into this fun, social, face-to-face form of entertainment on a regular basis. But I was met with disappointment in my search for more games I would enjoy. I had no idea how to describe what I liked or why. I didn’t have a “gamer” friend to teach me the ropes. I didn’t have the desire to convert to heavier games. I simply wanted simple and fun games to play. I didn’t feel like my local game store was welcoming to me. I didn’t know what to search for online and anything I did find was too overwhelming. The highest rated board games on the most relevant websites I could find were consistently far beyond my level of interest or commitment.
Even as a full-time professional with years of experience in the industry, I am still learning new terminology and concepts surrounding the hobby gaming culture, a culture that I don’t exactly share yet am immersed in. But what I have always been interested in, and what I continually keep my eye on, is the casual gaming scene. There are companies out there producing great games for a casual audience, but it requires time and commitment to learn what games to look for, where to look, and how to weed through all of the noise — far too much work for most casual gamers.
#5: The wrong audience is the gatekeeper.
Hobby gamers are usually the gatekeepers of games for casual gamers. The lighter games that find a way into the hands of casual gamers can be extremely successful. But to do this, a game must be continually marketed to the wrong audience in hopes that they will share these games with their friends and families, generating enough sales to earn greater exposure.
The most effective way currently to accomplish this is to publish a game in Germany that wins the Spiel des Jahres award so that the gaming community at large will consider it to be a worthwhile conversion tool and therefore evangelize it to their friends. I, for one, am perplexed why a game published in the U.S., by a U.S. publisher, and for a U.S. audience should have to follow this roundabout path through Germany in order to effectively reach the intended audience and be a smash hit in the U.S.
Consider the video game industry. Are casual titles like Angry Birds first marketed to Call of Duty addicts? Or perhaps FarmVille to Mass Effect fans? And if they aren’t embraced by those groups, are they deemed failures and discarded, never to be presented to their true intended audience? Obviously not. It doesn’t make any sense to do so. These games may have never surfaced if they hadn’t gone directly to the intended audience; but because they did, the target market had the opportunity to decide on their own if they would embrace these games, and they have become smash hits. Why should it be any different for board games?
#6: The hobby industry is more concerned with making people for the games than games for the people.
I believe that the most elite hobby gamers hold gaming as a treasured part of their culture that must not be corrupted by a more mainstream crowd of casual gamers. Perhaps the difficult initiation process into gaming, whether intentional or unintentional, has been perpetuated by this perspective.
The question that seems to be on most people’s mind in the industry is how to convert more people to hobby gaming. Instead, the question should be how to create accessible games that more people will enjoy, and a means to market these games directly to their intended audience.
Next Page: The Solutions
I am so pleased that you have begun the process of trying to reach this growing and eager crowd of casual gamers, which I feel more connected to than the traditional, typically closed, gaming crowd.
I was just talking about this "middle ground" of gamers with my husband the other day.
While we consider ourselves a little bit more involved with games than the average casual gamer, (we have been dabbling with designing some games, we are pretty familiar with game terminology, we are BGG trollers), our usual preference is for games that would likely fit in this middle ground, if you included in your "casual game definition" elements of randomness, (luck, chance) and light-to-medium strategic depth (as opposed to analysis-paralysis heavy strategy) :
Stone Age, Village, Vikings, Dice Town, Settlers, Catan Dice, Egizia, A Castle for all Seasons, Roll Through the Ages, Time's Up, Wits and Wagers, Aton, Archaeology, Carcassonne, Survive!, Kingsburg, Last Will, Scrabble, Mille Borne, Flinch, etc.
Some of our games skirt the line:
Caylus, Belfort, Castles of Burgundy, Troyes
Several of these games are highly ranked/awarded, which is why we found them. Others we found through digging and filtering our searches on BGG, because so many of the top-ranked games are for the "hardcore gamer, serious-and-difficult-games-only, we-thumb-our-noses-as-casual-games club".
We are fortunate that our local game store, Madness Games and Comics, in Plano TX, carries an extraordinary mix of games, for all levels of gamers, and they have been welcoming and friendly to us non-heavy gaming types. We are excited they will soon be expanding from 5000sf to 20000sf next month! I am definitely going to let them know about your amazing efforts and wonderful magazine and your other plans.
Good luck with your venture, thanks for being a voice for those of us out there who love board games.
Thank you for sharing this. We are very fortunate to have you on our site.
I think we're definitely on the same page. I am a designer of many games and have been in the industry for years, yet consider myself a casual gamer because of the types of games I enjoy most (casual games). It is, indeed, difficult to find good casual games on sites like BGG because you have to know exactly what characteristics identify them (such as a lower rating than the hardcore games). This is why we hope to gather a community of casual gamers who prefer the same types of games that we do. We hope to make it easier to discover and share games and articles that are better suited to casual gamers.
A few thoughts on this article:
1. I prefer casual games. Watch people play a casual game, then watch people play a hobby game. Which table is smiling? Casual almost every time.
2. Perhaps the Revolution should take advantage of the explosion of mobile gaming by making apps of its games? Days of Wonder has led the way here. Strangely, I would consider "casual board games" to be much more "hobby game apps" than "casual game apps." I feel like playing Ticket to Ride on my phone is much differen than pulling out some Angry birds for 4 minutes.
3. Amazon, Target or someone big like that should create a website that easily and clearly classifies game types for casual gamers. All hobby gamers have seen the "What game should I play?" decision flows, but it's not hobby gamers that need such things.
Great article Chris.
So, well into 2015, how is the Casual Game Revolution doing?
Has there been specific issues or breakthroughs that you'd want to share?
How about your views on international markets (like Mexico for example)? Have you tried venturing outside the US?
Hi Alfonso,
Slowly but surely we're seeing our message resonate with people. However, I think the market is so saturated with new games that it can be hard for casual gamers to keep up — we often see casual gamers stick to familiar games like Settlers of Catan rather than venture into new territory. Our goal is to continually highlight what is new (in addition to classic titles), so they can expand their casual game collections.
No new breakthroughs to share (other than our recent expansion into Barnes & Noble), just continuing to provide the best content we can and share our message.
We haven't done much international expansion in terms of distribution, though we do fulfill several subscriptions to international retailers. The game market in Mexico remains slow, in my opinion — I don't see much activity at all south of the border. The Russian market seems to be doing quite well, with a lot of expansion, and the Canadian and European markets seem strong as always. Game distribution companies would have a better idea of these markets, but these are my 2 cents based on my observations.