5000 Games of
Solitaire
The Casual Gaming Revolution,
Narrative, and Pleasure.

How Many?!

Pleasant Diversions
“Solitaire is the only thing in life
that demands absolute honesty.”
-Hugh Wheeler
A Game of Patience, Meredith Frampton, 1937.
http://www.artrenewal.org

Wasted Time?
“…playing a game is the voluntary attempt to
overcome unnecessary obstacles.”
-Bernard Suits,
The Grasshopper: Games, Life
and Utopia

Step One: Delimit
=
× (∞)

But What About
Narrative?
“These fictions, however weak, thematically unify
a level.”
-Chaim Gingold, “What WarioWare Can Teach Us about Game Design,”
http://gamestudies.org vol. 5 no. 1

Heroic Narratives FTW

Step Two: Personalize

We Crave Stories
“The lightest dusting of narrative will cause
adults to devote countless hours to ‘unworthy’
causes.”
-J-P Voillequé, Ignite Portland 9

Story Matters
I hate puzzles like this.
I am bad at puzzles like this.
Will I solve this puzzle to
move forward?
Yes. Yes I will.

Click Here to Win
Corian Slabb:
• 170 Double Fanucci Cards
• Level 50 (maxed)
• 1.7M Zorkmids
• 68 Coconuts (~$20 US)
• Zero Skill Required

"In some ways, if a developer wants a
player to gain an emotional attachment
to something in their game, a location is
a much safer bet than an NPC."
-Quintin Smith, “Azeroth is Burning”
Image
from
h+p://farmvillefreak.com/

Step Three: Socialize

Safe Interactions
“More than one-third of the comments
described how social game play enabled them to
reconnect with [folks] while the remaining third
focus on how social games enable them to
[meet new folks].”
-Information Solutions Group
“2010 PopCap Social Gaming Research”

Farmville Otaku
“Beyond the social interaction, social game
players like the friendly competition including
leader boards and achievements (59%), followed
by the interactive game play (49%) and the
opportunity to win prizes (35%).”
-Information Solutions Group
“2010 PopCap Social Gaming Research”

The New Business Plan
1. ???
2. Achievements and Badges
3. Profit

We are All of us Gamers
Hey guys, I owe you money. Call me!

Rock
“Casual” “Hardcore”
Band

Next Levels
1. Multiplayer – historical/new “board games”
2. Interface/mobility as central mechanic of play
3. Collaborative modeling – Sims-esque
4. Indie development within “casual” channels

Press Play to Continue
As always, comments, critiques and
conversations welcome:
@lawduck
jvoilleque@gmail.com
http://voilleque.com