Casual Game Genre evolving?

I tried out but was never interested in playing Match 3 or TM/Strategy Games or Solitaire or the other genres. I just enjoy the Hidden Object/Adventure genre. There have always been plenty to choose from and I've bought hundreds of HOPAs over the years. I plan to continue to do so.

Lately, it seemed that the percentage of new HOPA games being issued had declined, in comparison to those other genres. I was curious, and so I did a rough tally of the last three or four days worth of announcements of new games on this Forum (excluding general discussion threads on games in progress and focusing on new game Announcements only). There were ten new HOPA games and there were 25 new Match 3, TM/Strategy, Solitaire and "other" types.

Has there always been a ratio like this and I never noticed or is there a gradual move toward more non-HOPA games versus HOPA? Are the other genre more popular than HOPA?

I think that it sometimes comes in bursts where there are more CE HOPAs released than anything else, and at other times there are quite a few CE TMs released. I don't think that this is indicative of a particular trend in casual gaming; I think it probably has more to do with development cycles and scheduling. If you look at CE betas on YouTube, there are plenty of HOPA CEs that will be coming out in the next few months. It definitely does not appear that they are going to be diminishing in number.

I've sort of noticed that too Reenie. Seems like I see a lot more Time Management, Match 3, or other types. It could just be though that I'm paying more attention to all the postings than I used to.

Yes, oldbroad, that is what I wondered about. Maybe I just didn't notice before.

One thing that is more scarce now than it used to be are HOPA releases that are not CEs, and this may help explain why the prevalence of match 3's and solitaire, etc., on the days when there is not a CE HOPA release. There used to be more standard-price HOG/HOPA releases.

They used to release Standard Editions of HOPA's a few weeks after they released the Collector's Editions. Are they only releasing the Collector's Editions now and not releasing the Standard Editions of the same title?

HOPA's that only came in a Standard Edition have been rare for a long while now.

I've seen CE's of Time Management games, but I don't know how that worked out since I don't play that genre.

With so many bo/go and discount sales, I've been purchasing a lot of HOPA CE's. As a member, I end up paying $6.99 per game, which is the usual price for game club members for standard versions. It does seem that the time from release of a CE and the release of the SE is longer. Likely some sort of sales strategy. I too don't buy from any of the other casual game categories.

Jenny, games that start out as CEs still get released as standard editions about four weeks later, although sometimes it takes longer than that. I can remember a few TMs where it seemed like the time between the CE version and the SE version was more like two months.

A recent HOPA release that was released as a standard-version only on Big Fish can be found here. Such releases still happen, but certainly not as frequently as they once did.

Glad you mentioned your observation about the decline of HOPA games Renee! I too have come to the same conclusion and was going to post my thoughts on the subject as well.
I check GameBoomers and Big Fish daily for the newest HOPA games to play, but it appears to me the lack of HOPA more often than I remember in the past several years whether it's CE or SE.

My relax time is to play for a couple of hours in the afternoons, but have noticed good interesting HOPA games seem to dwindling. Sure hope not, because I don’t play the other genres either.
Perhaps, the game makers will notice our interest in the HOPA games instead of Match 3, TM/Strategy, Solitaire and "other" types.

I am pretty sure that this year we will be seeing on average a couple of CE HOPAs released per week, followed by the standard version several weeks later. As I said before, YouTube as well as other sources can give you a good idea of what is upcoming. Since it has been two CE HOPAs a week for quite some time now, I don't really understand why anyone would think they are dwindling. It is true that there have been several CE TMs released since the first of the year, but I don't think that is going to be the new normal.

For me, all I know is that I have managed to accumulate more CE HOPAs than I know what to do with. And in the last few years have very seldom paid more than $6.99 for any of them, being as there are so many good sales.

And nice to see you posting, spankie!

Thanks Marian,
Am glad to hear we haven't lost our HOPAs. Sometimes it's hard to find a SE HOPA game to select before my BF coupon expires.
I also check the sales and seldom pay more than $6.99 for CEs.

Guess I should post more often, but do read all the posts even though I don't respond. Good to see all the same Boomers here!