Jason Preston
Writing

August Round Table: Casual and Hardcore Games

Jason Preston · 2 min read ·

[Image: hardcore gamer]Even though I rarely get around to writing an entry for Corvus Elrod’s monthly Round Table discussions, they’re always thoroughly good reads, and interesting topics.

This month, the discussion surrounds the growing split between “casual” and “hardcore” games. What can be done to bridge these two worlds that seem to be drifting apart?

I find myself in the middle of it, actually. Moving from a school-based life (WoW in the morning, class in the afternoon, Counter-Strike at night, followed by midnight food runs..) to a real-life based lifestyle (get up early, work, work, see friends for an hour, sleep, wait, wasn’t I going to play Bioshock?), has been an odd transition for me.

I still make time for games. I probably make more time for games that a lot of people do, but there’s no question that I have a lot less time than I have ever had before.

Corvus hit some really important points in this post, the one that comes to mind being:

Might casual gameplay be defined merely by short play sessions and simple interfaces? Perhaps it doesn’t matter how challenging the game is, or how long it is overall, as long as it’s satisfying to play in short sessions and doesn’t require elaborate key-mappings or bewildering menu navigation.

Yes. I think that is exactly what defines casual gameplay.

And in that sense I’ve always been a casual gamer. I think the best and most successful games, with a few notable RPG exceptions, have always been games that take 15 minutes to learn, and countless hours of gameplay to perfect — gameplay that can be easily chunked into 30-minute segments. The manual transmission of gaming, if you will.

Let’s list a few games that fit that description for me:

  • Half-Life

  • Halo

  • Diablo, Diablo II

  • Lego Star Wars

Notice something? These are all “hardcore” games. If you’re sitting in front of Halo, nobody’s likely to accuse you of being a casual gamer, unless you’re asking questions like “what button shoots?”

(Incidentally I think one of the pitfalls many developers fall into is adding unnecessary complexity to sequels under the guise of “new content.” But that’s another post entirely)

I think that many genres have the ability to bridge the casual-hardcore gap. In the end, it comes down to the user interface. In my mind, if you make a “hardcore” game that also hits the following, you’ve got a winner in both spaces:

  • Save anytime. No checkpoints.

  • Keep all actions to three keystrokes/button pushes (use established control schemes wherever possible)

  • Be able to explain the premise of the game in two sentences

Now, I don’t make games. I play them. So technically, I don’t know what I’m talking about. But I dare you to find me a game that meets those three marks, and isn’t played in both the “casual” and “hardcore” style.

Please visit the Round Table’s Main Hall for links to all entries.