A hyper-casual game is a smartphone game that is easy to play and usually free. The user interfaces are also simple. In 2017, game companies like “Kwalee, Ketchapp, and Voodoo” helped make these games popular. They can be downloaded quickly and played immediately, often without a tutorial or instructions.
They usually have a simple color scheme and a 2D design, making them even easier to understand. Most games have mechanics that can be played repeatedly indefinitely, making them very addicting. Some think it is more of a business model than a genre.
These games are often played while doing other things, so they must be easy to use. Most hyper-casual games don’t have a robust in-game economy and are free to download, so most of their money comes from ads.
Hyper games are easy to pick up and play immediately. Players return to them often because they don’t take long to play and have fun game mechanics. With simple game mechanics and clear goals, it is becoming increasingly popular among players who want quick and easy ways to have fun. In Q1 2024, this mobile game made up nearly half (49%) of all US and 41% of all downloads in the UK.
What is a Casual Mobile Game?
Casual games are a type of mobile game that anyone can play. They have simple rules, short sessions, and a low entry barrier. Casual games can make money in several ways, but they usually use a free-to-play model that makes money through in-app purchases and in-game ads.
Along with hardcore games, many casual games have been made and released over the history of video games. In the 1990s and 2000s, more and more developers and publishers tried to make money from casual games. They did this by branding themselves as everyday game companies and making games for PCs, web browsers, and, after 2007, smartphones.
What is a Hyper-Casual Game?
“Hyper-casual” games are easy to play right away. Players often return to them because they don’t take long to play and have fun game mechanics. Most games have single-core mechanics, like parking a car or dunking a basketball, but they are still challenging and fun for everyone. In short, this game is easy to learn but hard to master, making people want to play them repeatedly.
What is the difference between casual and hyper-casual games?
The main differences between casual games and hyper-casual are the simplicity of playing, graphics, and game mechanics. Casual games are fun, easy to get hooked on, and take up much time. However, if you compare them to the other one, you’ll find that the latter is more straightforward, lighter, and easier to understand.
Gamers of This Game
We’ve already talked about how simple hyper games are. When people play the game, they feel a lot at ease: kids and older people like simple games—also, a more significant number of women worldwide play very casual games when they have time. But people don’t stick with a particular audience for these games.
Men also enjoy playing elementary games. About 45% of men in the US play “hyper” games. If we look at the most popular elementary games, like Angry Birds, almost everyone has had fun playing them.
The 20 Best Hyper-Casual Games
Many elementary games have become very popular and are undoubtedly the best. If we choose a few from among many, they will be the best 20 games in 2024, which we are going to discuss in this article below:
1. Blob Runner 3D
Leave the other blob games behind. This isn’t just another game of running! This game is a life-or-death run! If you can’t get past the hazardous obstacles and lose a limb or more, don’t worry. Our friendly jelly can keep running for you, so there’s no need to hurry. Just smash all the jelly pieces together and make your Blob from scratch. Blob is one of the funniest or most addicting games because of its funny animations.
2. Catch and shoot
Just throw the ball to your teammate; that’s too simple. Let’s try it from the roof: throw the ball at your catcher on a different building. If you add a few bad guys from the other team who try to tackle you, you have a fast-paced reaction game that will keep you on your toes.
3. Helix Jump
Voodoo was a massive hit from one of the best mobile game companies. Hundreds of millions of downloads tell you everything you need to know. To let the ball fall, turn the axis. It sounds effortless, but that’s how things are. The idea is so simple, but at the same time, it is challenging. It’s hard to stop playing sometimes, and you always want to play one more time. So don’t be late for your stop!
4. Rise Up
Who doesn’t like balloons? Using your finger to protect your balloon from different things would be best. Move other items out so the balloon can fly as high as possible. This game has a feature you rarely see in mobile games: it’s almost like meditating. Even though the game is challenging and fast-paced, there is something relaxing about it. Some people might not like the simple graphics and pale colors, but they fit the game perfectly.
5. Jelly Jump
You are jelly, and you can jump. So, that’s it. But this jelly science is so cool! This jelly moves more like a real gummy than the real ones. You will only like this game because of how it works. Because of the game’s appearances, it might be hard to see the danger, making players angry when losing. But you don’t have to stay away from this game because of that.
6. Meteors Attack
Imagine you are a powerful asteroid that has just entered the Earth’s atmosphere, turned into a meteor, and is on a mission to do the most damage in human history. You are on a mission to blow up everything and destroy cities, monuments, and even the whole planet. The more significant the damage you do, the bigger and stronger you’ll become. Set clear goals, then attack and destroy them. In this game about crashing into things in space, your ultimate goal is to blow up the planet. Are you good enough to break up the world? Well, this is an exciting challenge!
7. Fun Race 3D
Have you seen the TV show American Ninja Warrior? You understand what I mean. You have to be the first one to cross the finish line. The race will have massive obstacles, but it’s easy to control your character: tap to make them run and let go to stop. Playing against rivals makes the game competitive, but you feel many different emotions every time you win.
8. Crowd City
Voodoo’s publishing masters put out a massive hit on the market. In this game, you will be in charge of a crowd that runs all over the city. You can get other people to join your group to make it bigger. It sounds like a lot. But, surprisingly, the way the game is played fits the genre perfectly. All you have to do is to control the way the crowd moves. It’s an exciting idea, but the way it looks is not even close to “good.” Also, the graphics and hyper-casual game art are similar to what the publisher has done in other games.
9. Grass Cut
Finally, someone made a lawn mow enjoyable! With only a finger tap, you can control the saw with the rope on a field full of grass. In this game, the cutting process is so pleasant to watch, and the grass comes apart very nicely. The visual style is okay, but unfortunately, the game has no diversity in this aspect, and you can quickly get tired of only the same picture during the whole game.
10. Crossy Road
The game came out in 2014, and it’s still popular. Even after eight years, this game is still among the most popular mobile game and is often listed in the charts. A character must go through roads full of cars, rivers with floating boards, etc. The game mechanics are simple and very casual, but it’s gold! Give it a try, and you’ll soon be trying to beat the record you set just a few minutes ago.
11. Base Attack
This game is an explosive winner because it has excellent graphics and visuals that look real. Fire rockets and cannons at enemy bases and watch them get destroyed and blown to pieces. Find the men hiding in buildings and get rid of them all.
12. City Takeover
Join your little cities together to make them as tall as possible. Send your men out to destroy your enemy’s cities and grow bigger than them so you can win the big world takeover.
13. Giant Rush
Giant Rush is a fast-paced, casual fighting game with giants, monsters, a dangerous arena, and duels between monsters. In offline fight games, you can hop on a ship, run through an obstacle course, combine blobs to make them more robust, and fight giant monsters. In brawl games, you use a sword to fight with a giant monster, avoid getting hit and kill the enemy. Choose your strategy and help your stickman hero win the epic battle! In offline fight games, you can build a strong blob runner warrior and crush your enemy.
14. Going balls
It’s all about controlling the ball! With simple swipe controls, you can move your ball along dangerous roads and platforms full of obstacles. Be careful that you should not roll off the edge of the game until will be over.
15. Tricky Track 3D
You can be friendly and play fair by completing your obstacle run, or you can play dirty and do everything you can to sabotage your opponents’ efforts to win the race. Either way, you should win the race. It’s a challenge!
16. Lumbercraft
Weld your lumberjack’s axe and cut down trees quickly to build defense towers before the enemy shows up. Build your lumberjack town, but don’t let that wood pile run out!
17. High Heels
Prepare for the best high heels game ever there. This shoe game is fun, the runway is fantastic, and this shoe race is for bad guys. The walls will be easier to remove if your heels are higher. Each time you do parkour, you will face a different obstacle. There are rails on the roof where you have to spread your legs and slide through, walls to jump, a stick to keep your balance, and a big podium at the end of the road.
18. Harvest It
Let’s farm! Scythe in hand, run around,d and gather your crops to sell. Upgrade your harvesting tools, build a barn, get access to more land, and do everything else a good farmer would do to grow their empire.
19. Guess Their Answer
Some people can read minds, which is a fantastic skill. They seem to know what people think before they say it themselves. This game is perfect for you and your partners if you are like that.
Here, you must determine what the other players said in response to a question. Speak the first word that comes to your mind. It could be anything. Then type your answer as quickly as possible and compare it to what everyone else has written.
20. Flappy Dunk
Flappy Dunk is another masterpiece from, Voodoo. Tap the screen to jump through as many hoops as you can. Collect skins and complete increasingly insanity-inducing challenges.
Most Common FAQs
Why are Hyper-Casual games successful?
One of the “simplest” types of games is the type called “hyper-casual.” They reach the most people and keep people’s attention the best, and they can be made quickly and cheaply. Because of how easy they are to use and how small they are, many different kinds of people can use them.
How much does the game make?
By 2022, 11.8 billion of these games had been downloaded. Some estimates say that the money made from these games is more than $3 billion annually.
How do you come up with a game?
Hyper-casual games are defined by how simple, fun, and easy they are. This enjoyment is because it has simple goals, few mechanics, simple controls, and repetitive gameplay that lets users start playing in seconds. So, it would be best if you remember these things when making a different game.
How to Make:
When making a hyper-casual game, consider who you want to play it with. The best games do well because they appeal to many people. You want to focus on the many, not the few. The best thing to do is play for no more than 5 seconds. If a player can’t click on an app to open it and start a game within 5 seconds, you’re already moving too slowly.
The focus of the game is on being effortless. A simple game is clear from the first time you play it, and as you play longer, it doesn’t change much in terms of features, form, or controls. The skill of making this game is to find a balance between being easy to learn and hard to master.
What makes a casual game?
“Casual Games” is a video game that doesn’t take much time to play, win, and enjoy. A “casual gamer,” on the contrary, wants any video game but doesn’t spend a lot of amount of time playing it randomly, irregularly, or rarely.
How do you market a casual game?
Here is what you should know about branding a casual mobile game.
- Get to know casual gamers.
- Find out how to make great creatives.
- Cross-promote your casual mobile game by advertising it in other apps.
- Casual mobile games need to be optimized for the App Store.
- Check and keep track of everything.
How long does it take to make a casual game?
A very casual game can also be made in Unity in a short time, about 1-2 months. Keeping these particular things in mind, we think developing a game for $10,00 is possible0. If you add some extras, it will take more time and cost more money.
How big is the casual gaming market?
In 2022, the Casual Games segment is expected to make a total of US$18.02bn in sales. The annual growth rate (CAGR 2022-2026) for total revenue is expected to be 6.89%, which means the market will be worth US$23.52bn by 2026.
Is Subway Surfers hyper-casual?
Subway Surfers is a very casual game. A lot of people still download it and pay attention to it. It is one of the most downloaded games of all time.
Is Temple Run a casual game?
Yes, temple run is a casual game. Players knew they had to avoid pits, fire, and low-hanging trees, but developer “Imangi” made it even easier by using the device’s touchscreen interface and giving the player swipe- and accelerometer-based controls.
What is a casual playthrough?
Casual playthrough means games that can be played for a short time. Most of the time, casual games can be played in short amounts of time. Casual games usually don’t take as long to end as “hardcore” games.
What are hybrid casual games? “hybrid-casual” refers to mobile games that combine simple gameplay with mid-core mechanics. For example, a game’s core loop can be simple and easy to learn. Anyone can figure out how to play the game right away. It can also have mid-core meta layers and features for making money.
How much money do Voodoo games make?
In 2020, “Voodoo” saw revenues of “€380” million, up from €1 million in 2016. The company also announced an investment in Istanbul-based developer “Fabrika Games” in September 2020 and acquired Parisian developer OHM Games in December.
Why do people stop playing hyper-casual games?
People usually stop playing games that are too easy for them for various reasons. Most of the time, they stop playing because they get bored, the game gets too dull, players will find a new match, or they don’t have time.
Conclusion
Hyper games are more likely to go viral and overgrow than other games. The games in this genre are known for being short and easy to play. They are a return to the simple arcade games of the 1970s and 1980s.
Recently, games that are easy to play have become very popular, and they often rise to the top in the charts for free games in app stores. The short, fascinating gameplay of hyper-casual games makes them more likely to go viral, and how they make money through ads makes them appealing to a broad audience.
