I’ve spoken at length about the topic of difficult video games as I’m a big proponent that difficulty can often add to the experience rather than take away. However, this doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate games that are simpler and easier, casual if you will. Therefore, I thought it would be a nice change of pace today to take a look at some of my favourite casual video games and why they’re worth playing.
We should probably start by defining what a casual video game is for anyone unfamiliar with the term. While the term can be somewhat vague, the typical criteria for a game to be considered “Casual” is that the rules and goals are clear to the player, that the skill required to play the game can be achieved relatively quickly, that the game doesn’t require a big commitment in time each session and that the gameplay incorporates various aspects from everyday life. However, even this attempt to define what a casual game is often falls short as I can think of many games that I would consider to be casual that do not manage to fulfill all of these criteria. Nonetheless, it is somewhat helpful in explaining the concept at the very least even if there are many exceptions.
A superb casual game series that I really enjoy are the three Rock of Ages games. In each game, you control a historical figure who manages to gain control of a giant boulder and travels throughout time, facing off in boulder battles against other historical figures. This takes the form of developing defenses along the path to the fort that your character is in, similarly to a tower defense, and then rolling your boulder down an obstacle course filled with sharp turns, jumps and traps placed by your opponent in order to damage the gate of the opposing force. Once the gate has been destroyed, you can roll your boulder onto your opponent and claim victory. The gameplay feels incredibly fresh, at least in the first game, and matches are completed quite quickly.
A wonderful game that I ended up really liking is Path of Giants, a game that sees you controlling three characters who must help each other solve puzzles by activating switches, helping each other to climb, providing counterweights etc. in order to climb a mountain in search of treasure. The visual style and music is delightful while the puzzles are cleverly designed that provides a decent amount of challenge without becoming too difficult. I was truly surprised at how much I ended up enjoying Path of Giants and it’s definitely a strong recommendation.
Another excellent casual video game is Puyo Puyo Tetris, the first crossover game between the Tetris and Puyo Puyo franchises. The game is wonderfully colourful with a very pleasing visual aesthetic and comes with a wide variety of gameplay options ranging from a single-player storyline mode which tells a charming story and introduces you to the basics of Puyo Puyo Tetris gameplay to game modes like Puyo Puyo, Tetris, Party, Fusion, Big Bang etc. which can be played against the AI or other players either locally or online. While it can take a while to learn all of the rules, it’s great fun and a fantastic game to play with friends.
The final game that I’d like to recommend is a true classic that I think deserves to be played, that being Plants vs. Zombies. Controlling an unseen resident of a house, you must prevent zombies from getting into your house and eating your brain by using a wide variety of plants that assist in defense. The humour in the game is sharp and, once you’ve finished playing through the fantastic story mode, there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of minigames that prove to be surprisingly diverse and distinct from each other. While some of the technical aspects of the game are a bit aged now, the game has an aspect ratio of 4:3 and a max resolution of 1024×768, it’s still great value and a game that deserves all of the praise that it gets.
Let me know your thoughts on some of my favourite casual video games, what some of your favourites are, what you think defines a casual video game and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.