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PopCap Games, the guys responsible for multitudes of office hour distraction games like Zuma and Super Collapse, has revealed the results of what they claim to be the largest survey ever of "casual" computer/videogame players.
Among the many surprising (or so they claim) results, is that most casual game players view playing simple non-violent puzzle games as a form of leisure time that is more important than time with family, or reading, or watching TV.
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of the 2,191 respondents say that they derived stress relief from playing.
Over half the respondents play casual games on a daily basis.
Seventy-one percent of casual gamers are over the age of 40; fully 47% are 50 and older.
“We’ve never set out to make a ‘healthy’ game or a ‘game for women’ – we simply try to make high quality, broadly appealing, FUN games for everyone,” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of PopCap. “We know from the many emails and letters we receive that some portion of our customers derives health benefits from the games, and that many view playing our games as a major source of fun in their lives, but these survey results are surprising even to us!”
Other motives for playing their puzzle games, as the survey reveals, include the derived mental exercise and the fact that the games can be run from mobile devices.
Those who chose "relaxation" as a motivation state that the simple games provide them distraction from chronic pain and fatigue.
Here's a quick composition of what they say is the Casual Player Makeup:
- 76% of players are female;
- 71% are 40 or older and 47% are 50 or older;
- 46% are college graduates with 14% holding a master’s or PhD; 53% have an annual household income of $50,000 or more;
- 67% are married
- 53% have at least one child.
Something like this has been done before by other casual game developers, and they pretty much came up with almost the same results.
What we find interesting about this is that this make-up describes the typical sub-urban working mother. So folks, the next time your elders give you a long lecture about playing too much games, be sure to tell them that they're probably already as much a gamer as you are.
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