Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Creating the Color Drop Casual Puzzle
Game
Although game developers need to make sure they do not use other people's graphics, sounds, or
words without permission, the rules for borrowing game ideas are a lot less clear-cut, and in the
next chapter, we will take a short looks at the legalities around using content that is not your own in
the games you make. As a game designer, a good rule is that you should try to change up an idea
enough to make it your own. However, this does not mean that you cannot be inspired by other
games or use that inspiration as a building block for your work. Ideas for games exist not in a
vacuum but on a continuum. There is no better example of this than the evolution of casual games.
In this chapter, we will start a two-game, two-chapter discussion of modern casual style puzzle
games and build a simple casual puzzle game named Color Drop. In the next chapter, we'll finish
up our casual gaming discussion by talking a bit about intellectual property before jump into a
second casual style gamed named Dice Battle.
Understanding the Evolution of Casual Games
Most of the original video games from the 1970s, like Pong and Breakout, could be described in
today's terms as
casual games
, but at the time they were just video games, with no real
distinction of genre or style. With so few games at the time, there really was no reason to
segment the offerings into well-known buckets. In fact, nearly every new game was a genre unto
itself. At the same time, a good percentage of video games were designed to be played by two
players. Their contest-like design belied the pool, darts, and pinball heritage of the bars and
arcades where they could be played. However, somewhere around the time Space Invaders was
released into the arcades in 1978, things started to change. Single-player games with high scores
emerged, with the emphasis on beating the machine overtaking an emphasis on beating the other
player. This trend continued with games like Tempest and Defender, which ramped up the
difficulty and intensity to very high levels, creating the first wisps of what would one-day be known
as hardcore games. This domination of single-player arcade contests transferred to home video
games as well. By 1982, most home video games for major systems were arcade game
