Category Observation — How to Plan a Casual Action Game?

Action games have always been a classic and popular category, with their satisfying fighting gameplay, the freedom of attack combos, a variety of classes, and rivalries. But a lot of successful action games on the market are considered hard core. Through communicating with other developers at industry events held all over China, Ohayoo discovered that a lot of developers were interested in casual action games, and were hoping to understand more on how to create one. Therefore, we have analyzed and summarized our findings toward the situation of casual action games in China. We hope this report will be of assistance on the matters of project initiation directions and game components.

Category Overview

I. Category Characteristics

Casual action games have 3 major characteristics: having a broad user base, an advantage in player retention and monetization, and large room for development.

1. Having a Broad User Base

Casual action games that focus on fighting elements such as hits and combos as well as attack differences have a strong advantage in providing instant satisfaction to the player. This creates resonance among players, thus creating a high and steady player participation rate. At the same time, this category covers a wide age range, therefore the user demand is relatively steady.

2. An Advantage in Player Retention and Monetization

Action games can easily fuel long-term growth and retention with user’s desire to improve their stats. Having high retention rates also makes it easier to design advertisements to match the user base, which can lead to a higher view rate.

3. Few Casual and Mid-core Games, More Room for Improvement

There are an excess amount of hardcore action games on the market, while casual and mid-core are harder to come by. Games like Combat of Hero have done some experimentation in simplifying action games and have proven themselves successful as a casual action game, displaying the potential for this category.

II. Subcategories

There are a lot of subcategories under the action category, and for players, the point of view (POV) may be one of the main factors for the differences they experience in-game. If we look at the subcategories from their POV, we can summarize them into the following subcategories, each with their own characteristics and potential.

Reference

Isometric — Hades

Scroller — Dungeon & Fighter Mobile

Platform — Phantom Blade

Third Person POV — Punishing: Gray Raven

If we merely look at their POV and not specific control designs of each game, all action games’ basic controls can be summed up into 4 types: “movement”, “attack”, “dodge”, and “skill”. For casual action games, the difference in gameplay is focused on simplifying and merging these 4 types of controls, with the ultimate goal to make it easier for casual players to pick up.

III. Conclusion

1. There are few exceptional casual action games on the market at the moment and there is still a lot of room for improvement. The market needs more simplified action games to satisfy the demand of these casual players.

2. Isometric and platform POV games dominate the casual action game market. Developers can consider experimenting with scroller and third person POV.

3. The key to a successful casual action game is simplified controls, controls that are easy to learn yet require a certain amount of skill and have room for improvement at the same time. Developers can achieve this by simplifying or merging the 4 basic controls.

Creating the Game

I. Planning

1. Controls

Portrait orientation, one-handed or two-handed controls are all acceptable.

2. Art and Theme

The art and theme should be light-hearted and humorous in general, avoid serious and dark themes. Aiming for a nostalgic retro gaming style can also create a resonance with the players.

3. Interesting Gameplay

Create something easy to pick up with satisfying gameplay. Allow the player to feel a sense of achievement through the upgrade of skills and stats.

II. Focusing on Different Aspects

When planning a casual action game, developers can try to explore the following aspects:

1. One-handed Control + Multiple POVs

• A single joystick is the easiest control to pick up, combine it with different POVs to create a unique gaming experience.
• Add a suitable amount of extra control elements to the basic single joystick to spice things up.
• Examples: Archero (Isometric), I’m Not Invincible (Scroller), Machinal Instinct (Third Person POV)

2. Two-handed Control + Multiple POVs

• A portrait orientation with simplified two-handed controls, combine it with different POVs to create a refreshing new gaming experience as opposed to traditional landscape orientation two-handed control games.
• There is more room for exploration with two-handed controls, try out different buttons, joystick, and gesture combinations.
• Examples: Combat of Hero (Two-handed Button Controls + Platform), The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot (Two-handed Joystick and Button Controls + Isometric)

3. Fighting Gameplay + Platform POV

• There are currently no portrait orientation fighting games in existence, let alone casual ones, so there is a lot left to be explored.
• Fighting gameplay + platform POVs perform well in attracting players. Players are more interested in platform fighting games in 3D with exquisite artwork.
• The core question is how to make portrait orientation fighting games satisfying through simplifying its controls. At the same time, developers need to look into different modes and stage designs to prevent feelings of redundancy.
• Examples: Shadow Fight 3 (Landscape Orientation, refer to gameplay only), Gado Fight (Landscape Orientation, refer to gameplay only)

4. Simplify Controls + Third Person POV

• There are many third person POV hardcore games on the market. As none of them are casual games, there is lots of room for experimentation.
• Third person POV games have an advantage in graphics compared to other POVs, giving them an edge in user experience. It can attract many players when combined with exquisite 3D artwork.
• Third person POV games can simplify control types to simplify commands. For example, removing the X-axis and only allowing free movement on the Y-axis will allow the player to focus on the attack and dodge controls.
• Example: Knight Hood (Non-action Game, refer to visual representation only)

Conclusion

We think that the casual action game has a lot of potential and wish to share some of our experiences with developers. At the same time, we hope to be able to discover the possibilities of casual action games together with our fellow developers. Let’s “unlock creativity and create happiness!”

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