Hyper Casual Games

Hyper casual games are a subcategory of casual games and are extremely simple, minimal, and accessible. These hyper-casual games have become highly popular in recent times and are enjoyed by a wide population across the world.

What are Hyper Casual Games?

Hyper-casual games are a subgenre of casual video games known for their extreme simplicity, minimalistic design, and accessibility.

Hypercasual games are going one step further in simplifying casual games and giving them a larger appeal. They only have a single-core gameplay mechanic. There isn’t much to the game apart from the core gameplay. The gameplay is very easy to master and can be understood by anyone. However, they are endless in nature, meaning the players keep coming back to beat their own or someone else’s high score.

The simple mechanic, endless gameplay, and short gaming sessions (around 1 minute) mean that the players keep on coming back to the game in their small free time around the clock like waiting for a bus, standing in a queue, etc.

Additionally, the free-to-play ad-based monetisation model has made the games even more accessible to the masses.

How are Casual and Hyper-casual Games Different?

There is no clear demarcation between casual and hyper-casual games, and one can never give a clear definition for either. However, there are a few characteristics for each category:

Hyper-Casual Games have absolutely no gameplay outside of their core gameplay, for casual games, they might have multiple small games.
Hyper Casual Games usually have no character or story. They are just tap-to-play and are very focused on getting the user to play. However, Casual Games borrow features from mid-core games and have characters and a storyline.
Hyper-Casual Games are endless with no fixed session. You just have a single life and the game ends instantly after a single miss. However, casual games might have lives or levels. While the levels themselves might be endless, or nearly endless (like Candy Crush), they have a fixed or suggested gameplay time.

Hyper-casual games are monetized strictly via ads or a paid premium version with no ads. While casual games are largely monetised via in-app purchases.

Difference Between Casual and Hyper Casual Game

To summarize, the following are the primary differences between casual games and hypercasual games:

Factor	Casual Games	Hyper-Casual Games
Complexity and Gameplay Depth	More depth and complexity with multiple levels and varied mechanics.	Extremely simple and minimalist, with a single, repetitive action.
Duration of Play Sessions	Varies in length; designed for longer play sessions.	Very short play sessions, ideal for quick entertainment.
Graphics and Design	Can have diverse graphics and design styles.	Minimalist and visually simple with a focus on clarity.
Target Audience	Appeals to a broad audience, including dedicated gamers.	Targets a wide audience, including non-gamers.
Monetization	Various monetization models like paid downloads, in-app purchases, and ads.	Primarily relies on ad-based monetization; games are often free to play.
Examples	Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Chess, Puzzle Games, etc.	Candy Crush, Flappy Bird, etc.

History of Hypercasual Games

Flappy Birds can be said to be the first truly hyper-casual game. It took the mobile gaming market by storm. It was a very simple game and exposed people to the brilliance that is “hyper-casual gaming”. The game made $50,000 per day at its peak only via in-app advertising. This opened up the world to yet another genre in gaming: hyper-casual gaming.

The Popularity of Hypercasual Games

The popularity of hyper-casual gaming is rising and it can be attributed to several key factors that have made them stand out in the gaming industry. Some top factors that contribute to the growth of hypercasual games are:

Accessibility and Simplicity
Wide and Global Appeal
Online Ads
Innovation & Easy to Develop

Accessibility and Simplicity

Hyper-casual games have a very minimal learning curve and thus, it is very easy to pick up and play. The rules and gameplay are extremely simple to understand, making it highly accessible to players of all age groups and skill levels.

Wide and Global Appeal

Since hyper-casual games are simple and highly accessible, they appeal to a broad audience. They can be enjoyed by casual gamers, non-gamers, and even children, making them suitable for family and social gaming.

Also, globally, everyone is moving towards shorter and juicer content. Movies are becoming shorter, 8-second videos are all the rage, and even songs skipping the bridge to get more plays and become viral. The gaming industry is also following the same trend. Since Hyper-casual games are very easy to understand, players from different social-cultural backgrounds can easily understand the game in just their first gameplay.

Online Ads: Higher Installation Rate via Ads

A major source of game installation is in-app advertisements. It is measured in IPM (Installs per mille i.e. app installs per thousand ad impressions). In simpler terms, this means that a greater percentage of people install a hyper-casual game on seeing the ad. This again is linked to the fact that hyper-casual apps can get to the interesting part very easily. This means that even before actually playing the game, by just looking at a short ad, players can understand the game and become interested. Thus, it leads to a higher number of installs for hyper-casual games.

Innovation & Easy to Develop

Hyper Casual Games take very little time to develop. This means developers can quickly churn out a large number of hyper-casual games. Also, these games promote innovation by allowing developers to easily experiment with new ideas and game mechanics.

Additionally, the market is very lucrative right now (with very high returns for relatively smaller investments), which means that more and more developers are entering this market. This just means that there is a greater number of hypercasual games in the market and that the top of the charts is always occupied by hypercasual games.

How Do Hypercasual Games Make Money?

Gaming mobile apps usually have two major revenue sources: in-app purchases and in-app advertisements. However, hyper-casual games are made very fast. This means that the developers do not have the time to come up with elaborate economies and use in-app purchases.

Therefore, hyper-casual games are largely monetised by in-app advertisements. The ads can be reward videos, full-screen advertisements between levels or games, banners, etc.

Hyper Casual gaming rose to prominence in 2017 and since then has been an ever-increasing market. From the looks of it, it is only going to increase further and is here to stay.

Also Read: Is Playing Ludo Online Safe

Is Ludo a Hyper Casual Game?

While the ludo game is a casual game, it cannot be categorised under hyper-casual games. Ludo is a casual game due to its simple gameplay mechanics and accessibility but it does not fit the criteria of a hyper-casual game.

Ludo is a classic board game that involves dice rolling, piece movement, and strategy. It may be considered a casual game, but it has more complexity and depth compared to the ultra-simplified nature of hyper-casual games.

Play Online Ludo Casually and Win Money

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