Nicolaj Schweitz

nicolaj.schweitz@gmail.com if you would like to read my thesis. Otherwise, read on and get an overview of my thoughts behind.

With a vantage point in the term Game Polish, I have proposed a simple method for designing games independently from any specific production methodologies.

The study was made in the spring of 2009 through correspondences with members of the International IGDA Game Design SIG and other forums dedicated to game design.

The main cornerstones of the study is Polish, Appeal, and Measures – all elaborated in the report.

The conclusion of the thesis proposes a simple methodology of designing games that is independent of software production methodologies.

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Well, ain”t that a rant…

I”m writing this post because I recently read a paper seeking to define the term casual in relation to video games (check the presentation slides that comes with it). Then I found a post on indiegamer.com discussing this very question.

My approach is grounded in the academia but moving towards the real deal, the practical implementation, or you might say, the geeky know-a-lot-but-haven”t-really-tried-it-properly-yet approach. That is except for my experimenting in my spare time and at the university not to mention my recent internship in a game company called Titoonic in Copenhagen.

In short the paper categorizes terms of “casual” in relation to games into the following:

• Casual Games:
  The games that are casual or designed to belong to a subset of games, meant to be played casually. Mostly defined as having “generally appealing content, simple controls, easy-to-learn gameplay, fast rewards, or support short play sessions” [Kuitinen et al.].
• Casual Game Player:
  A person that plays games labeled or designed to be Casual Games. The stay-at-home wife 35+.
  
• Casual Gamer:
  A person who play ANY games casually (notice the difference from above).
• Casual Gaming:
  The general attitude or approach towards gaming. (Hardcore gamers do not play for leisure).
• Casual Playing:
  Describes the way a casual gamer would play a game. “… in small time bursts or in a low cognitive state” [Kuitinen et al.]. Playing without effort.

In my humble oppinion it is nice to have a clear definition eventhough some people think it is waste of time and goes “no speak – make game”. I wonder where the cultural and technical evolution would be if everyone thought like that when they discovered the wheel.

Anyway… I want to give my support to the guys in Tampere that like to explain the buzz. Kudos!