Sequel-Mania Hits Casual Games
One of the things I like about this business is the emphasis on originality. Unlike most other areas of gaming, Casual Games have not been hit be sequel-itis or dependency on licensed games.
That may be changing. Here’s Gamehouse’s current top-10:
1. Super Collapse! 3
2. Diner Dash 2: Restaurant Rescue
3. Mystery Case Files: Huntsville
4. Scrabble®
5. Tropix
6. Cake Mania
7. Mah Jong Medley
8. Mahjong Escape: Ancient China
9. Pirate Poppers
10. Luxor: Amun Rising
1, 2, 3, and 10 are sequels (and possibly 7 and 8 ), and 4 is a license.
Yes, I know I just posted a positive personal reaction to one of these sequels. I certainly don’t have a problem with sequels per-se, but I’d hate to see them dominate this genre as they do for say, console games, where typically 80%-90% of the top 10 games are sequels or license.
[Edit: #7, Mah Jong Medley, is in fact a sequel. #3, MCS: Huntsville, is NOT a sequel, but has a sequel that’s currently on top of Big Fish’s top 10 list and will probably be high on this list, once GameHouse starts carrying it]
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Technically, Mystery Case Files: Huntsville is an original title – though it now boasts a sequel (Prime Suspects).
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Ahh – you’re correct. I wasn’t paying attention to the subtitle. Probably the only reason the original is up there as opposed to the sequel is that GameHouse doesn’t yet have rights to distribute the sequel?
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Mah Jong Medley is in fact a sequel.
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:15 pm
I’ve also noticed there’s an increase in the number of licensed games: Scrabble, Dinner Dash: Spongebob Squarepants Edition, The Da Vinci Code game, etc. I wish it doesn’t become a trend.
June 12th, 2006 at 8:03 am
Interesting article. In my opinion, the sequel mania will increase as the casual game market is getting more and more professional and business. Creativity is very often poorly rewarded, as for the poor creator of Tetris who only earned glory. Nowadays, the game websites are runed by business men. A developer, a friend of mine, told me this story : When they see an interesting game on his website, they send him an email to say this : sell us your sources and we relook your game for us, otherwise we’ll develop from scratch and copy your game. We do games for fun, creation, passion. They do games for money. Thus a sequel is much easier to sell for many obvious reasons, the same reasons why the fast foods are so popular.