Casual games – take it serious July 23, 2010
Posted by scuscu in : Computer Games , add a commentComputer games has always been popular. More and more people play games all over the world. A new kind of games, such as casual games, has become widespread besides console and large games, distributed on CD/DVD. The difference is in the fact that a user can download them freely from the Internet due to their small size and start playing. A small size doesn’t mean that these games are not of of good quality as, for example, games for play stations. They excite gamers. The difference is only in gamers audience. Classic games are intended for so-called hard-core gamers, who are ready to spend long hours playing and perfecting their game-playing skills. They are usually teenagers; however they can be adults as well and vice versa, casual games is intended for people who can play during lunch, a break, after school or work and in their spare time. An increasing amount of adult people enjoy playing these games.
A number of companies producing casual games is increasing constantly. As a rule, it is small companies with small budgets who makes casual games in comparison with companies, producing large games. But in spite of their budgets, they produce high quality casual games, and new interesting ideas can be seen in them. In short, it is simply another market/trend with a life of it’s own.
The Internet is the principal way of distributing casual games. Having downloaded a game and installed it, you can start playing immediately. It’s the “shareware” principle, or “try before buy”. You can check it out before buying and decide if you want it or not. It’s an advantage in comparison with classic games, when one buys a game on a basis of indirect information about it. Purchasing of casual games is simple as well and could be done on-line. After that the user receives fully functional game without any restrictions.
As a rule, dedicated game portals deal with game distribution in the Internet. Developers themselves can distribute their products, but it takes a lot of time and efforts. The smartest way is to entrust it to professionals.
Our company Fenomen Games is dealing with distribution of casual games, thoroughly chosen all over the Internet, and is a striking example of a game portal. Our collection has been sorted and games put into genres, so that you can find what you want in an easy way. We follow new ideas in casual games industry, and try to provide users with the newest and interesting games.
We invite you to have a look around our site as we feel confident that we have many games that will interest you and worth your time.
At least you will get some idea about what Casual Games are.
Find Out More: http://www.fenomen-games.com/
Kongregate – Savvy Twist on Online Games June 26, 2010
Posted by scuscu in : Console Games , add a commentCasual games make up a large part of the games played on the Internet nowadays. One of the more recent and more popular game portals puts a fresh twist on existing game portals with their excellent use of competition and collaboration incentives built into their portal. I want to share with you in this article the features that make Kongregate stand out as one of the best game portals out there.
Achievements and Challenges
Through the use of achievements or “badges” players are encouraged to complete challenges based on the free games available on the website. There are numerous badges and it is a point of honor for users to collect as many as possible. Also to interest returning visitors, Kongregate holds weekly challenges where prizes, points and raffle entries can be won. On top of the achievement badges you can win, you can also collect game cards which can be used in their built in game called Kongai. As with most standard game portals there is also a leader board where the highest scores are posted.
Game Categories
The popular game categories featured on Kongregate are range from traditional Tower Defense games, first person shooters, RPG’s to a wide variety of puzzle games online. Beside each game title you can see not only the developer information but how many plays it has received and the overall rating aggregation.
Chat, Community, Compete
While offering some of the most popular online web games for free, Kongregate also puts every player in a chat room with other people from all over the world playing the same game regardless of it’s a single player or multi-player game. This is a very interesting and unique feature that I have not seen on many other game websites which holds a dual purpose. Firstly it expands a largely single player experience in a sense of a community, hence the name Kongregate. Secondly, this acts as an informal help desk for any players suffering any sort of game play or technical issues. Wisely, they also display high scores in the chat room which build on a sense of competition which is another important driving force in any game.
Building an Developer Base
Independent game developers are encouraged to submit their games to Kongregate which can be entered in a contest in which the best voted games win cash prizes. First prize for winning the monthly challenges could win a developer 1500 dollars. I applaud Kongregate for encouraging independent small game developers a way to be rewarded for their hard work. In addition, there is also a developer “Tip Jar” which people can actually donate money to the developers themselves.
Kongregate has used some very savvy and sophisticated approaches to hosting online casual games and is a shining example of what can be done to stand out in a very crowded field of competition.