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Casual Gamer: A Relaxed Person Playing For Fun
Do you fancy occasional games like Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Animal Crossing, or simple games in general?
Then maybe, you are already a part of the casual gamer community.
Nowadays, simple games are prominent, and more and more games are being developed to target part-time gamers.
Due to the trend, video games with serious challenges are less numerous to be released on the market.
They are also less likely to be chosen by everyday gamers, who only want to relax from work, have fun and enjoy easy-to-understand video games.
But is that really a bad thing?
Shouldn't video games be accessible for all, right?
This article will introduce what a casual gamer means, what they are looking for and how they mix daily life limits with gaming relaxing time.
Casual Gamer Meaning
A casual gamer is someone who plays easy-to-understand video games to relax but isn't especially looking for challenges.
There are likely to play games to pass the time instead of making this activity a habit.
According to the Kantar and Google study about mobile gamer behaviors, 63% of casual gamers play video games to pass the time.
They don't put in many efforts to win competitive gameplays, even if most of them fancy reaching high scores in their favorite games.
In comfortable gaming, the purpose is not even related to achieving end-game goals like having the best stuff possible, being the number one in his specialization, or being the first player to complete something.
It's just for fun, and it's usually a social activity rather than a solo one.
Indeed, light players are constantly looking to share their gaming experiences with others or communicate with other players.
They transform a simple game session with other players into an authentic social life experience.
Playing video games like a hobby, relaxing away from work or daily stress.
However, they are not always called casual gamers.
They can also be named video game enthusiasts or light video game players.
Play Time Per Day
Occasional gamers play video games an average of 1 hour per weekday, most of the time in the evening or night.
They don't usually play on a daily basis and will only play when their schedules allow them to do so.
Instead, they play easy games on weekends or occasionally after work.
During the weekdays, their game sessions are between 1 to 2 hours per day.
It only adds up to an average of 1 hour per day, which is significantly less video gaming than a video game enthusiast.
Leading Gamer Type Community
About more than half of gamers from 18+ years old consider themself as casual gamers.
It means that light players make up about 56.6% of the whole video gamer community, surpassing even aspiring professional gamers, hardcore gamers, and novices.
Favorite Platforms
Most relaxed video gamers prefer playing video games on a mobile phone.
They aren't the fanciest gadgets, but they're easier to carry around and can be used anywhere.
Mobile phones also have the advantage of having app stores, which are the primary way to discover soft games for enthusiasts.
According to Kantar's study, 60% of casual gamers discover new games via the app stores like Apple Arcade and Google Play Store, far ahead of the followings word of mouth (38%) and social networks (29%).
With more options available for phone users, the popularity of video games on smartphones is also increasing dramatically.
Preferred Game Types
Periodic players enjoy simple video games, easy to learn, and have a short learning curve.
Most game enthusiasts prefer to play them with specific goals usually achieved by completing easy and short quests or challenges in-game.
They also like video games that don't require any advanced skills.
They must be playable even for new users.
They aren't comfortable if game mechanics require previous experience or video games are too challenging like hardcore gamers desire.
But they don't mind repetitive video games at all.
They enjoy video games with a kind of random event generation each time they play them, like characters addition or daily loot boxes.
This is why occasional video gamers prefer playing video games in short sessions instead of continued hours.
They particularly enjoy video games that provide social interactions instead of competitive ones, playing and interacting with their friends or even playing against them.
Play With Real-Life Limitations
Soft gamers seek help from guides and walkthroughs to complete complex video games, especially when these ones are asking for advanced skills.
They tend to prefer games that can be solved using online walkthroughs instead of printed guidebooks.
Due to their daily life limitations, video game enthusiasts are looking for simple games suitable to their real-life schedules.
If they have to take away for whatever reason -like when a mom calls her son to lunch right now- they don't want to lose all progression made in-game because they can't save or put their game on pause.
They don't mind video games lacking in realism and graphics and also don't really care about video gaming genres.
They enjoy all kinds of video games as long as they match with their daily behaviors.
Casual gamers are players looking for relaxing, social, and accessible games to pass their time on.
They learned to manage their gaming needs with their schedule to fit with real-life expectations.
They may not be the most loyal players, though.
They like to try out new games and even progress in several ones simultaneously while waiting for daily rewards like loot boxes.
However, many occasional gamers also fancy more advanced genres like FPS, MOBA, management, or even strategy games.
And it's not surprising to see them even on these kinds of games.
The term should not only apply to those loving only easy-to-understand games but also refer to those playing advanced games requiring skills.
They still differentiate from hardcore gamers by their gaming experience expectations.
And you, what do you think about it?
Do you consider yourself a lite video gamer?
Let us know on Discord :)
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