| Overview: |
With the explosive release of 2005's Diner Dash, casual games graduated from bubble popping and jewelry swapping to a new world of characters and story. By 2006, the Mystery Case Files series invigorated the industry with the introduction of narrative-driven Hidden Object Games (HOGs) a genre that has been gradually morphing consumer expectations, showcasing puzzle adventure gameplay interwoven with richer story lines, and narrative themes borrowing largely from prime time television or paperback bestsellers. 2009 saw the release of Dire Grove, Drawn, Avenue Flo, Princess Isabella, and other casual blockbusters perplexingly comparable to the graphic adventure games of the mid 90s. In this talk, Kenny Shea Dinkin, Chief Creative Officer at PlayFirst explores this alluring trend: Why is this happening? What does it mean? Where will it take us over the coming year or two? If storytelling and popular character IP development are maturing in the downloadable arena with meaningful results, what implications does that have for other mass market game categories like online, iphone and social?
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