Psychological effects on Casual Gamers!!

[sparkyboy]

From a post in Indie Business:-

You don't have to be a genius to figure out underwater themes work well with the casual audience, but still - nobody knows for sure if this trend of success (Emmanuel's Atlantis, Mike's Water Bots, Bricks of Atlantis, etc) is because of the theme, or just plain coincidence?

Though, I can already foresee 2006 will probably be a year of underwater indie games!

Hmm, "Cletus goes Scuba Diving"... what do you say? :eek:


Well I've been thinking about this myself and here's my theory from a psychological point of view.

First off, one of the premises for casual games is relaxation no? So I pose the question....
Why is Water Bugs selling better than cosmo bots, Bricks of Atlantis selling better than Bricks of Camelot and Big Kahuna Reef selling well?

I believe it's not only because of the underwater theme i.e. rising bubbles, little fish swimming back and forth, coral reef etc, but the colour BLUE.

I mean, who comes home from work and relaxes in a nice soothing bath only to look up and the bathroom is painted FIRE RED!!!!!!! :eek:

A relaxed mind has just left the building!!! :D

It is well known that certain colours provoke certain reactions in the brain chemistry.
Blue is a nice soothing,cooling and relaxing colour.
Another thing, how many people have fish tanks? I remember when I did, it was very therapeutic to watch those little critters swim around!!MMMMMM....relaxing.

Of course, this could all be just supposition on my part and, how can I put this........a crock of ****?

However, it certainly works nicely for me. So who else agrees or disagrees with my theory? Share your thoughts!! :)


All the best


Mark.

[simonh]

There's nothing relaxing about being underwater, especially without breathing apparatus :D

But yes, you do make a good point. It does seem these underwater games do give players that extra sense of being soothed which can make the difference between a casual game being no. 2 and no. 1.

The question is though, if we now get a flood of underwater games, when will the bubble burst? :o

[mahlzeit]

You were underwater the first nine months of your life. Most relaxed time you ever had. ;)

[tentons]

At least for the examples you cited, I would say it's the "theme" more than anything (if we're talking about predominantly female customers). Not that they are under water, but rather Cosmic Bugs was "scifi" (which probably more boys like), Camelot is medieval (again, probably more boys like it), etc. Who can say for sure though, and I'm not saying your observations are wrong by any means. Likely a blend of all those together.

[Christian]

Mhh, i belive that the graphical part of the game is PART of its succes.

I ask myself "Why people choose this game and not the other?", its because they enjoy them more, and to this end, the game design must be fun and addecuate for its target, and, the graphic design must also support this. If both dont reach this objectives, then, the game will be in a disadvantage between others who do reach this objectives.

I also think that the subjects of games also is important, maybe the target doesnt identify well with too strange things. Things like "Atlantis" are too alien to a casual target, too much fantasy for that kind of people.
But "Water" and "Reef" can be related to a trip to the caribean, vacations, fun, people understand the concept inmediatelly. So i agree with tentons.

So, its not that the color BLUE is an important factor for the succes of the game, but the graphics must support what the game is supossed to deliver. Graphic design is an important factor in the succes of the game, better said, communication is important, have in mind to who are you communicating, what to communicate, how, etc.

[soniCron]

First, you can make many themes relaxing — a snowy bluff, a Carribean island, even space nebulae — so don’t make the mistake of writing up “underwater” as the universal relaxing theme. And blue does have a relaxing effect on the psyche. But does a relaxing, underwater theme sell a game? Zuma and Luxor were huge hits; both had highly energetic Egyptian themes. And those outsold all the examples by magnitudes. What about Bejeweled’s quasi-space theme? Sci-fi and techno, but it’s still a huge seller. I think theme is a very narrow scope to be analyzing, especially if you think that’s what’s selling the game. Read more... (http://sonicron.solaristudios.com/2005/10/01/do-themes-sell-games/)

[sparkyboy]

All good points so far guys.
It is, in my opinion ALL of the above and more probably. Taking all these factors into consideration then, are they 'CONSCIOUS' thoughts i.e.'mmm I like this game it looks good and relaxes me.......ohhh Hawaii' or is it 'SUBCONSCIOUS' i.e. just a natural chemical reaction in the brain that provokes those feelings of relaxation and well being?

Once again it may well be a combination of these factors, and if indeed the gamers are predominantly female, then we all know that women are a complex concoction of chemicals (especially at a certain time of the month.. ;) ).No offence ladies.

I for one anyway would prefer to sit down and relax in a BLUE painted room rather than a RED painted room for example.


All the best


Mark.

[arcadetown]

Interesting idea. Think any mood setting that appeals to more gamers is good. Camelot or Cosmo Bots connotes male game which think explains that.

Interestingly seeing opposite on a game series right now. I expected Deep Sea Tycoon 2 (http://www.arcadetown.com/deepseatycoon2/game.asp) to far outsell Moon Tycoon (http://www.arcadetown.com/moontycoon/game.asp) because of the underwater versus space theme thing. Instead MT is doing better by far. Very perplexing. Well that's why always let users decide.

[Vorax]

I think theme is somewhat important, but color and style are much more so. I recently spent days reading user reviews on Real and various other sites on top selling games for the last year - color and style used comes up time and time again.

For example, many people liked the colors and style used in Zuma. I would describe them as soft, yet solid. Several people commented on Luxor's colors and style, noting they are basically the same as Zuma and that this instantly drewn them to it. I also noticed several people turned off by the colors used in Atlantis. The style is the same, but the colors are much darker. It's interesting to me, becuase all of the Zuma clones have have great (and similar) game play - it's really the color that set them apart.

Another game where color and style came up alot was Turtle Odessey. The game itself has very limited (boring) gameplay, yet it sells well. From the reviews, this game is truly living and breathing based on it's color and style. People love the cuteness and color scheme. Several even noted that the game play was basically a sleeping pill, but it was "so beautiful I had to buy it!"

PS: I was so convinced, I re-did the entire color scheme for my game. Not the space sim on on my site, but a casual game I am working on.

[Anthony Flack]

Interesting, I can see the calming appeal of an underwater setting, but I never considered that it might just be a simple matter of colour scheme.

I've long been one to go on about the importance of a good colour palette. If you look at Lexaloffle's games - to take one good example - it's the well-chosen colour set that really makes the difference between beautiful graphics and mediocre ones.

As for me, I've always liked to use a big, juicy blue sky, and build the levels around natural colours. The palette I used in Cletus Clay was very deliberately chosen - the levels are predominantly green, brown and grey, against this blue sky. Cletus himself is bright primary blue and red, which works well against this background because he is small and there is nothing else the same colour as him - the bright primaries help him to stand out and also work well as a small splash of bright colour to give the scene a bit of zing.

Every other element in the game, from the enemies to the fonts, have had a lot of consideration put in to how their colours will complement the scene as a whole. But I've never really considered the psychological impact of the colours - I just go with what looks good, and I think that people naturally respond well to the colours of nature. I also try to use interesting tertiary colours where I can - I'd usually rather use a really zingy burnt red-orange rather than a plain red, for example.

As far as themes go, I've would personally never choose an underwater setting myself. It may be nice and relaxing, and you can have fun with fish and bubble particles, and it always looks great to see a giant blue whale cruising silently past in the background. But once you get past that, you don't have an awful lot to work with. Some rocks and sand, maybe a cave, a bit of coral, seaweed and anenomies... once you've put in the sunken ship, your theme is pretty much tapped out. I don't go for space themes either, for similar reasons.

One of the things I find most evocative is a scene of natural splendour, with some really impressively large and strange piece of architecture sticking out of it. A lush, deep thirsty green forest, with a huge building of a delicate grey shade. Deep blue sky, with a big moon - or several. Enormous orange dunes, with the rusting debris of a forgotten civilisation poking out of the sand. A mix of the familiar and the alien, played out on a grand scale. A hint of purple in the shadows. That sort of thing.

[Davaris]

I don't get it. I think Cosmobots looks better and has better music than Water Bugs. I'm starting to think that what ever I don't like is what sells.

[PoV]

I mean, who comes home from work and relaxes in a nice soothing bath only to look up and the bathroom is painted FIRE RED!!!!!!! :eek:
Crap, I knew I was doing something (http://www.puffbomb.com/) wrong. ;)

[Black Hydra]

"Water" theme? "Egyptian" theme?

Are we becoming so damn lazy as designers that you can simply fit any game into a catagory of preset themes. Or is that just an overzealous attempt of us trying to catagorize things that really are on a continuum?

Why can't we see something with a unique theme? I'm not saying an oddball or weird theme, but rather something that a potential buyer doesn't instantly go "water" or "egypt" from looking at the cover? Look at Platypus. That is living (err... electronic) proof that a beautiful and unique style can add a lot to a game.

I think there is something to be said about a more passive blue tones than the dark space tones, but really? If this somehow means we should go out to make water-themed games I'm feeling a bit disillusioned...

[Christian]

Pay attention to this, from this article on gamasutra http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050426/hejdenberg_02.shtml

"We have to look at the specific interests of our target audience and what they can relate to. If the game's setting or style is not something they find appealing – or if it is something they do not understand – then they can easily be put off by it, regardless of whatever other qualities it has. Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time, is an example of a game that was very good in many ways, but sold less than expected because it turned out that many people had trouble relating to the main character. In the sequel, one of the large changes made was to change the appearance of the main character into something that people would find more appealing."

[Andy]

Why can't we see something with a unique theme? I'm not saying an oddball or weird theme, but rather something that a potential buyer doesn't instantly go "water" or "egypt" from looking at the cover?

I'd say this is because of one single guy seating somewhere in the portal's swamps who believes he alone can consider what is better appealing to their audience.
Check this by simple test - imagine if you would propose to him today something from Atlantis theme or something Zombie related ;) - how do you think what would be his choice?

[Leper]

I'm delighted to read up on these posts that almost spell out what makes a good theme, almost to a science in some.

Here's what has always attracted me to games:

(1) - Mystery and Exploration
A game that has some sort of mystery to it. Deep in the blue sea has a sense of mystery to it, so does deep in space, and do ancient civilizations. What about bugs? What if living bugs had a civilization we didn't know about? (Obviously they dont, but think about the imagination and mystery of it) Then there is Fantasy! Then you can mix bugs with Fantasy! Like Spell Casting bugs in a Pseudo-fantasy world in the kingdom of ants deep in your backyard where the chronicles of the kingdom play out on your monitor. OR spooky stuff, haunted stuff.. All of this, invokes imagination in our brains. Combining "Ancient Civilization" and "Sci-Fi" (like Stargate, or Homeworld 2) works too. How about a portal to a 4th dimension in the deep blue sea which lets you travel back in time to ancient egypt and then way into the future on a far distant planet. haha.. fun stuff. Thinking about these things brings my imagination away from the regular daily stuff.

(2) - Balanced Colors, Balanced Music, Decent Graphics
If all the colors look good as a whole, the game looks well. If the "polish" is the same on all objects, it seems to make the game's "picture" look seemless, and realistic in its own way.
The graphics and sound never have to be OUTSTANDING for me. If I was into games for just graphics, believe me, I'd be playing the $20 million dollar games.. If they just have a decent balance to them, and nothing STANDS OUT all the sudden, then it is perfection!

(3) - Responsive Control, Ease of play, low learning curve
IF I want to sit for an hour and figure something out it better not be a video game. As a seasoned adult and one who works more than 40 hours a week, if I want to relax and play a casual game, I'd like to be able to learn how to play within the first 3 minutes or less. If I want to use my noggin' I'll be making a game myself, making music, or managing my finances.


(4) - Giving the Player Creative Freedom
This goes beyond point (1) as mentioned above. This is where I can personalize something in the game itself. Whether I can change the colors, the character, or make my own maps! (especially my own maps!)

Whenever a game gives me creative freedom, I am first to buy it. If Oasis had a map editor where I could make custom maps for it to play, I'd probably still play it.. I wish Iggle Pop had a map editor! Oh and I just LOVED Richochet Lost worlds for 2 months!!! JUST because the map editor! I even had one of my map packs on the reflexive site. How proud I was :) The SIMS lets you be VERY creative, and it was the Number ONE selling game in America for God knows how long (and he knows everything :))


(5) - Competition
Nexic posted something somewhere about how his games do well and he sees people compete to get the top score on his website. Giving someone an incentive to compete with another person always adds REPLAY value. The more replay value you have, the more of this game will sell. If someone loves your game and plays it for one month straight, that person is going to get many people playing that game too. It's just that simple. I for one dont care much about "Competition" - but I see it work its wonders. I see it bring people together, and I see it working well as a means for escape as people can focus on competing in something friendly, rather then the woes of the real world.




Yeah so, Try to keep your minds off of just "themes" because whether the theme is nice or not, if the game doesnt have room for imagination I'm not for it.

[Greg Squire]

While I believe that color, theme, and style do have an effect one's initial impression of a game, I also believe that too much emphasis is placed on it sometimes. A water theme doesn't neccessarily have a calming effect; I don't remember the movie "Jaws" being that "tranquil". :D It's how all the elements combine to create the final product. When done right, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". If done wrong, you just end up with a mess. Sometimes these elements play a big part, and sometimes not. But even the smaller elements can be important. Just like the small spices can transform "pasta with white sauce" into "Fettuccine Alfredo".

[soniCron]

As if on cue, Gamasutra has a new article on this very topic!

In the Gamasutra article, Style and Substance in Game Design (http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051004/slyvester_01.shtml), Tynan Slyvester explores the differences between aesthetic and function in interactive systems. Not that there’s much to discuss. Except, perhaps, his definition of substance:

…substance is defined by semi-unpredictable interaction and dynamic generation of decision points…
All opinions aside, the article — apparently an excerpt from a book, though I’m not quite sure which — doesn’t provide much else than to state the patently obvious differences between style and substance. I’ll sum it up for you: Substance makes the game, style makes it real. Why he’d go on for two lengthy pages about this, I’m not sure. Read more... (http://sonicron.solaristudios.com/2005/10/04/substance-and-style-in-game-design/)