[These NSA articles will be more interesting to read the smaller they are. Personally I can handle a 300-500 word wall of text. So I'll assume everyone else in the world is exactly the same (that seems like a fair assumption). I'll keep them short.]

A Casual game can afford to offer style over substance, an experience rather than a story. Strong characters and plotlines are not expected, or needed, to make a good Casual game. However art design, atmosphere and music definitely are.  Think Peggle. 

Boiled down to the essentials there are 3 rules that make a Casual game great. They aren't groundbreaking rules, in fact they've been in place in some form since players first faced each other paddle to paddle. What makes them so applicable to Casual games is that they follow the Casual philosophy and eschew any deeper more 'hardcore' ideals:

• Collect

• Customise

• Compete
  

PART ONE

Collect:

Ruppees, coins, stars, potions, rings, spells, loot. Whether players are happy to walk through a level grabbing the items that come their way, or are obsessively compulsed to explore every goddamn pixel. Collecting stuff makes games better. This is, obviously, an age-old mechanic. Collection draws games out, it drives gamers to return just one more time. Collection can guide to new areas, or through levels that would otherwise be mazes.      

The current-gen extension of this mechanic is the mighty Achievement Point, a statistic intrinsically locked to a profile and hence unconsciously lurking in a gamers brain every time they switch on their console. No matter your opinion of them, and whether they affect your playing style, the Achievement Point's embellishment of the gaming experience is hard to deny.  The Xbox's clunk/bleep Achievement sound effect throws as much endorphin into my system as a sprint around the block.

In a Casual game, which are normally played in short bursts but are returned to again and again, collection is key. It will drive players to one up themselves, and others and lead to repeated playthroughs.

Come back soon for more on Customisation and Competition