Casual Gaming in India

Casual Gaming is a category of gaming which is very popular in India. Appealing themes, little learning curve, and easy controls have attracted the wide audience from world over to this fascinating concept of Casual games. The Indian gaming developers have thrived on this concept as they can use low cost of production, quick turnaround time and access to portals which host these games.

In this article we will share the concept of casual gaming, why it is so popular across the world, share some of the Indian gaming companies which bring out very “DESI” games to us.

There are several characteristics that most casual games share;

• Low barrier to entry – easy to learn game play.
• Simple controls. For example, most hit PC casual games feature a simple point and left‐mouse‐click control scheme.
• Gameplay that is addictive, but still able to be consumed in short increments. In fact, most casual games are played in 5‐20 minute increments either during lunch or after dinner.
• Forgiving, non‐punishing game play. For example, most hidden object games allow you to make several false clicks before any penalty occurs.
• Carefully‐crafted ramp in game play complexity. For example, you are guided through the first level and then graduallyintroduced to more depth in the game play.
• Casual Games tend to speak to a player’s desire for fun and relaxation, rather than the desire for adrenaline or sensual stimulation typically served by hardcore games.
• Casual Games typically require a lower production budget than traditional hardcore games, although this gap is narrowing.

However, it can’t be stated enough that most of the characteristics. Casual Games typically require a lower production budget than traditional hardcore games, although this gap is narrowing.

Though there is no definite research on how many casual gamers are in India, the popularity of the online gaming portal like show that there is a growing population of casual gamers in India. Some of the very popular gaming portals in India are zapak.com , games2win , India games and Gamez India . This is in addition of Microsoft, Yahoo and other International players. Readers are welcome to add more names to this list.

While playing the games on these sites in an official capacity (wow, I love this job), my moto was to feature out some the real “DESI” games.  Some of these games were integral part of childhood and some of them are now lost amongst the numerous options we have today for young adults – XBOX360, Play station family of consoles and PC based gaming.

However these casual gaming sites give a new identity to the classic “DESI “games and add a very Indian flavor to the gaming. Who would not love to play the likes of “Galli Cricket” or “Kancha” online? You can also add your own insults (Galis) and make the other player go bonkers. Try out the famous “Teen Patti“ and the thrill to drive an autorickshaw in the rickshaw rampage. Desi games are gone now bolder with wacky and slightly adult themes. Check out Games2win‘s Boys Channel. The games are on this channel are naughty, based on adult themes. Try out the Great Indian Honeymoon game.

Given the popularity of Cricket there are at least 20 games catering the cricket enthusiast right from the IPL T2) to World cup T20 and India Pak series, you can pick up the flavor of your cricket. Personally I love the Mumbai flavor of Galli Cricket which is played on the streets and bi lanes and often end up in fist fights (Check the game and you will know it). There is another version of Galli Cricket which has a dedicated site to it and claims to be the official site of Galli Cricket.

Gaming sites such as Indiagames and Zapak provide a quite a collection of games for all ages and also encourage the games to create communities and collaborate online.

Worldwide there are many casual gaming sites which attract gamers. Few of the popular casual gaming portals are miniclip, popcap , Yahoo Games , MSN games , Real arcade , shockwave games. It is believed that the casual gaming business is touching USD 2 Billion and I am sure we all be a part of it some way or other – either playing the games or making money making them. Cheers and Happy “CASUAL” gaming