Casual games are in the rage nowadays. Diner Dash, Bejewelled and those mini-games shunned by ‘hardcore’ gamers but embraced by a majority of the demographics. They cost half, or perhaps one-quarter (or even less) of the normal development time of mainstream games but have so much return.
I think there is a certain confusion about casual games and the people who play them. Intuitively, by the word ‘casual’, it means ‘no committement’, something you do ‘as an aside’. But what happens when there are people who are addicted to casual games? Are they hardcore casual gamers, and is that something of an oxymoron?
