Title: L4 - Game Challenge INFO
Course: RITA MC - VIDEO GAME DESIGN HYBRID > Section: Module 4

Converting Digital to Physical

Non-digital design is very exposed and tends to reveal bad gameplay mechanics rather quickly.  Non-digital versions of popular games make for very good portfolio pieces, and may even impress an interviewer if the game is based on one of his IPs.

There are multiple places to start a non-digital version of a digital game.

Literal conversions attempt to re-create the gameplay experience as closely as possible in a non-digital medium for which it is ideally suited.

Thematic conversions take the basic theme of the digital game and apply that to a traditional style of non-digital game. An example would be to take Super Mario Brothers and adapt it to a Dungeons and Dragons format. For example use the storyline but not the mechanics. Players might get pre-selected characters, and search for a princess hidden in a castle.

Mechanic conversions take a common mechanic in the digital game and use it as the basis for a non-digital game.

Casual Games

What is a casual game?  Primary players are the 30+ female crowd.  It is a lucrative and growing market. The IGDA’s Casual Games SIG defines casual games as “games that generally involve less complicated game controls and overall complexity in terms of gameplay or investment required to get through the game. The Casual Game Association defines casual games as those “developed for the general public and families” and that are “fun and easy to learn and play”. Still there are exceptions to the story:

- Casual Games tend to be slower paced and not as frantic as the more hard-core action games, but Diner Dash and Tetris eventually end by overwhelming and overloading the player with too many tasks that happen too quickly.
- Causal games tend to have simple rules, but Virtual Villagers is quite complicated.
- Casual games don’t require a large time commitment, but Yohoho Puzzle Pirates! And Puzzle Quest give players incentive to play for many hours to advance their characters.
- Casual games tend to have a low difficulty level and be forgiving, bust some of the puzzles in Eets and Professor Fizzwizzle are enough to make experienced gamers pull their hair out in frustration.

To understand  Casual Games, play them. Play a variety of them.  Dissect their mechanics.  Parody them. Consider their code.  Learn them and emulate the Casual Game experience you most enjoy.