PopCap Manifesto

A Whole New Ball Game 

Casual games redefine the computer gaming market

Think computer games consist only of highly competitive, shoot-’em-up games enjoyed by males under the age of 25? Not any longer. Over the past few years, a whole new category of games has emerged — called casual games — and it’s transforming the market.
 
Casual games are the deceptively simple games found throughout the Web and on many mobile devices; they include puzzle games, word games, simple action games, trivia games, and card games. Casual games are distinctive for being small in size, easy to learn and play, inexpensive, and irresistibly fun, even addictive. Most are single player, though multi-player games aren’t unheard of. And unlike traditional video games, casual games appeal to men and women of all ages and interests. According to leading industry research firms, more than 50 percent of casual gamers are women, more than 75 percent are 35 to 60 years of age, and nearly 50 percent are married with kids.
With the potential to reach a mass consumer audience and with the burgeoning proliferation of high-tech mobile phones, which are ideal platforms for casual games, the category is the next big thing in digital entertainment. International Data Group expects the downloadable casual games market will exceed $1 billion by 2008, and that figure doesn’t reflect the growth in mobile phones.

As the undisputed leader in the casual games category, PopCap Games has been at the forefront of market innovation, ushering in new approaches to product and market development that have become industry-wide standards. In this paper, we share the key tenets of PopCap’s casual games philosophy and discuss how they guide the company’s approach to game design and distribution.

GAMEPLAY: It’s about discovery — not conquest. 

Why do people play games? Because they’re fun, of course. But where hardcore games are appealing because they’re exciting and aggressive and about conquering obstacles, casual games are instead about relaxation, delight, and, at its essence, discovery. 
Like traditional hardcore games, quality casual games immerse you in a distinctive world of colors, sights, sounds, and patterns. But with a game like Bejeweled, PopCap’s flagship product, the fun is in figuring out how to swap gems in order to create a row of three or more identical jewels. The game depends on organization, not destruction, and players are focused on finding a solution to a problem, not obliterating the opposition. With Zuma, a more action-oriented puzzle game, it’s firing balls at a certain moment, with a certain degree of accuracy, to make sets of three. With Bookworm, which is part cross-word, part word jumble, and part arcade puzzler, it’s about finding patterns in seemingly disparate groupings of letters and moving letters around strategically to form words.

When playing these games, a user isn’t consciously analyzing what makes certain actions produce certain effects. It’s much more intuitive than that. And because the games require skills-based strategy, the “aha” moment of discovery is very rewarding. The best casual games are designed with hidden complexities that make them timeless and infinitely replayable, so that just when people think they’ve mastered a game, they’re presented with tantalizing new challenges.

ACCESSIBILITY: Learn it quickly — play it anywhere.

People can spend hours, even weeks, trying to understand the basic gameplay of a complex traditional action or strategy game. Casual games are much more accessible. New players can be up and running in just a few clicks, and detailed instructions are never required. 

While traditional games can be immersive, complex, and photo-realistic, those attributes can be a handicap to accessibility. In contrast, casual games can easily be purchased and downloaded online, instead of needing to be installed from a CD or DVD. What’s more, casual games can be adapted to virtually any device, including cell phones and PDAs. That makes it easy to enjoy casual games anywhere, any time —at home, at work, or on the go. 

AUDIENCE: Girls just want to have fun, too. And women. And men over 25. And seniors.

Like many blockbuster Hollywood movies, traditional hardcore games are targeted to young men. They’re designed for them, they’re marketed to them, and they’re played almost exclusively by them.
Casual games don’t have that limitation. While no one game will appeal to everyone — some people prefer to look for visual patterns and explore spatial relations where others would rather do word games, and some enjoy card games more than trivia games — casual games in general have an extremely broad consumer demographic, including:
 An office worker looking for a fun diversion while on break.
 A stay-at-home mother relaxing on her computer while the baby naps.
 A grade-school student who’s earned a reward for finishing his homework.
 An adult, whose cell phone is loaded up with games, waiting in an airport or coffee shop or somewhere standing in a line 
 A senior citizen whiling the time away on a leisurely afternoon 

While PopCap’s games are not designed specifically for older individuals, approximately 75 percent are 35 or older. And nearly 60% of PopCap’s customers are female (Media Metrix). 

AESTHETICS: Quality is often imitated, but never duplicated. 

What accounts for quality in casual games? It starts with the core game mechanic, that is, the basic rules of the game. With Bejeweled, for example, there’s something inherently captivating about the process of swapping out gems to create matched sets. But just as a movie remake usually can’t compare to the original, so Bejeweled’s imitators, all of whom have copied its basic game mechanic, have failed to capture audience interest. 
That’s because the real magic in a game isn’t based only on the mechanics — but also on how the mechanics are implemented. It involves myriad subtle yet tangible experiences. It’s things like the rate at which gems fall on the screen. The sound they make when they fall. The timing of transitions. The speed at which the user is rewarded. PopCap lavishes exquisite attention on such details, and it is this unwavering commitment to quality that makes their games universally popular.

Developers of casual games focus more on aesthetic aspects of quality than on harnessing computer horsepower to the greatest technological extent, such as mapping animated videos onto 3D objects and inundating the screen with as much visual and strategic complexity as possible. What’s more, casual games are much less expensive to create than traditional games. As a result, PopCap has the luxury to take risks and experiment with game concepts, releasing products to market only if they meet the team’s collective standards for quality. 

BENEFITS: Just because it’s fun, doesn’t mean it’s bad for you.

While PopCap hasn’t commissioned any scientific studies on the subject, customers and medical and academic researchers alike identify many benefits that come from playing casual games. 
According to Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a psychologist in Stony Brook, New York, “Casual word and puzzle computer games, such as Bookworm and Bejeweled, can help people exercise and enhance their concentration and focusing skills; develop new cellular brain connections, thereby helping to keep the healthy brain active and vital; and, by seriously attending to the word and puzzle games, people can control stress by cognitively ‘blocking out’ the negative stresses of the day, at least temporarily.”
Anecdotal evidence indicates that casual games can:
 Reinforce mental sharpness and skills like spelling, pattern recognition, and quick decision-making.
 Help older individuals maintain manual dexterity.
 Give people a much-needed break from everyday stresses.
 Provide inspiration for problem solving or other creative tasks.

 Build self-confidence by developing the skills and/or strategies to play a game successfully. 

BUSINESS MODEL: The games really have to sell themselves. 

PopCap pioneered the “try it for free, then buy it” sales strategy that has been successfully adopted throughout the industry. One thing about this business model — it won’t work unless the customer is satisfied. In other words, expensive advertising campaigns and movie tie-ins and dazzling Flash animations won’t compel customers to purchase a casual game unless they’re still having fun once the 60-minute trial version expires. 
PopCap’s sales figures attest to the company’s success. In 2004 alone, they sold more than 2,500,000 Deluxe versions of their games, making them one of the most successful companies in the business. And free trial versions of PopCap products are perennial favorites at popular gaming sites like AOL, MSN, Yahoo!, and RealArcade. PopCap.com alone has hosted more than 150 million downloads since the company’s founding in 2000.
To ensure that they keep delivering what customers want, PopCap continues to be at the forefront of market innovation. At the moment, they are developing breakthrough concepts for micro games, which can be enjoyed for just a few minutes at a time, as well as introducing more multi-player games into the casual market. The company is also beginning to export games around the world, with offices opening in Europe and Asia. 
One thing is certain. Customers can expect that, for a long time to come, PopCap will continue to make the most innovative, most broadly appealing, and most enjoyable casual games available anywhere.