A hypercasual game is a

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

(typically a

mobile video game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game conso ...

) which is easy-to-play and usually

free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

; hypercasual games also feature very minimalistic

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

s. Popularized in 2017 by game makers such as Kwalee, Ketchapp and Voodoo, these games can be quickly played after downloading, usually without any tutorial or instructions. They also often use a 2D design with a simple color scheme, easy mechanics adding to their simplicity. Usually featuring infinite looped mechanics, hypercasual games are playable for an infinite amount of time, leading to their addictive nature. Some argue hypercasuals are a business model, rather than a genre. These games are often played while multitasking, which is why their simple user interface is essential. Because of the lack of a robust in-game economy and free download cost of most hyper-causal games, revenue is mostly generated from ads. Most of these ads come in the form of: * Rewarded videos (when these ad videos are watched, the player is rewarded with extra time, extra lives, or other in-game rewards) * Banner ads (ads that appear at the bottom of the user's screen) * Interstitial ads (advertisements that show between sessions)

History

Hypercasual games gained traction in 2017 in mobile gaming, but are often seen as a genre similar to the 1970s video games that lacked detailed design and gameplay. The first hypercasual game that gained wide popularity was ''

Flappy Bird ''Flappy Bird'' is a 2013 casual mobile game developed by Vietnamese video game artist and programmer Dong Nguyen (), under his game development company .Gears. The game is a side-scroller where the player controls a bird, Faby, attempting t ...

'', which saw over 50 million downloads and generated around $50,000 a day in its prime. Since then, hypercasual games have dominated top-charts in multiple mobile game stores such as the

Google Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

and the

App Store (iOS) The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be downlo ...

. According to the EEDAR, the majority of mobile video-game users play while multitasking, and because of their simplicity, hypercasual games have become increasingly popular among these users. In 2016, popular gaming company,

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

, bought Ketchapp (one of the hypercasual gaming company pioneers). In 2017, Goldman Sachs invested $200 million in hypercasual gaming company Voodoo.

Examples

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References

{{Video game genre, state=collapsed * Video game genres

History

Examples

See also

References