Hyper-Casual Games: The Latest Addiction in Gaming

Gamers are just going batshit crazy (pardon my uhh... excitement, but I blame it on the festive season!) for a new entrant in top game charts dubbed hyper-casual games. This genre of games is highly addictive and you would concur if you have played Flappy Birds. The game is lightweight and has a short storyline, but the temptation to play it repeatedly is still irresistible, isn’t it?

Where does hyper-casual come from?

Hyper-casual games are currently trending but they are not completely new and actually a sort of revival of the arcade games from the 70s and 80s. However, it’s indeed the first time they top the game charts since App Store was launched a decade ago. The monetization is mostly done through ads, but come 2019 is likely to see in-app purchases increasing its share in ROI as well.

Let’s unfold the secret that makes hyper-casual games so addictive. For this article, I’ll just focus on the two most well-known games in this category - Flappy Bird and Color Switch. No point in writing a complex article about simple games, is there ;).

Simple Interface and Game Mechanics

Hyper-casual games have a simple interface and gamers simply tap or swipe their phone’s screen to play them. We just tap tap our phone’s screen to play Flappy Bird or Color Switch, don’t we? So, no multiple controls and dealing with complex factors. Besides, game mechanics are so simple that gamers don’t even need to go through a long set of instructions to get onboard.

Single World Gameplay

Most hyper-casual games have a single world that players interact with to build their score. But that doesn’t mean these “worlds” are fixed and you get the same sequence of obstacles when you replay them. Color Switch fans never get the same pattern of color obstacles that they got in the previous attempts.

A Perfect Blend of Ease and Difficulty

Gamers don’t find hyper-casual games so easy that they get bored after playing it 20-30 times and neither that difficult that frustration takes them to exit doors. Yes, difficulty level steps up as you proceed, but then you master the skills easily with time. Millions of players across the world are doing the same as I am writing this post.

Short Gameplay Sessions

Game sessions of most hyper-casual games are short lasting from 30 secs to 2 minutes. Short game sessions are a big reason why gamers feel tempted to play hyper-casual titles even when they have five minutes of spare time. These games are not just instantly playable but infinitely replayable as well. Remember the score of 100 in Flappy Bird, how frequently we played and how many hours we spent to hit that score.

Visuals

Simple geometric graphics and solid colors are mostly used in hyper-casual games. Some basic categories of graphics used in these games are Isometric, Neon and flat designs. So, no burden on your eyes to see more clearly or squint to have a good control over NPCs.

Conclusion

Hyper-casual games are rapidly rising in popularity, and so does the competition. Zynga’s recent acquisition of hyper-casual studio Gram Games for $250 million and a $200 million investment in hyper-casual studio Voodoo by Goldman Sachs show that the race for building hyper-casual titles has already begun. In fact, some game app developers have already made over $100,000 in a matter of few months by building these highly addictive games.

Do you also want to catch the rising waves of hyper-casual games? If yes, the game designers and developers at Logic Simplified hold experience in minimalist designs concepts and UX strategies, intuitive controls and simple or complex gameplay-logic can help you develop your next fun, addictive hyper-casual game(s).