Hidden Object games continued to dominate the Casual Game portals’ top 10 lists throughout Q2 and Q3 of 2007. Games like Little Shop of Treasures, Mortimer Beckett, Dream Day Wedding, and The Magician’s Handbook continue the success of this core play mechanic that was made popular by I Spy and Mystery Case Files. The click management mechanic that was made popular by Diner Dash is still very popular on many portals thanks to new variations demonstrated in games such as Turbo Pizza, Sally's Salon, Nanny Mania, Posh Shop and Diner Dash: Flo on the Go. Games like Virtual Villagers 2 and Alice Greenfingers kept the sim core mechanic among the top five most popular casual game mechanics. Match-3 games like Bejeweled 2, Burger Rush, and Cradle of Rome were still fairly popular on some portals in Q2, but by Q3 the match-3 games barely showed up in any portal top 10 lists. The up and coming star seems to be adventure games. Games such as Dream Chronicles, Nancy Drew and Return to Mysterious Island have brought this classic game genre to the casual space. It is a bit of a stretch to call Azada an adventure game, but this recent hit in the casual space has more in common with adventure games than it does with other casual games.
It is possible to estimate which are the most popular downloadable games by keeping track of which games have appeared most often in the top-10 lists on many casual games portals. In each issue of the IGDA Casual Games Quarterly we summarize the top-10 lists for the quarter. Since this issue is a little late, we are bringing you two quarters worth of data. Games are ranked on each portal using a simple scoring system that awards points for each day a game is in a site’s top10 list. Ranking #1 in the list is worth more points than #10.
Games are categorized by their core play mechanic. We estimate the relative sales percentage of each mechanic on each portal by comparing the Top-10 lists ranking of each game. In the table below, the 33% next to the Hidden Objects means that we estimated that 33% of the game units sold in Real Arcade in Q2 were hidden object games. In Q2 Real listed six different hidden object games in their weekly Top-10 list. In Q3 that number increased to eight different hidden object games. But our unit sales estimate for hidden object games decreased from 33% in Q2 to 30% in Q3 because those eight games didn’t appear in the Top-10 lists as often or didn’t ranked as highly as the previous quarter.
Real
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
33% |
Little Shop of Treasures, Big City Adventure: SF, |
|
Match 3 |
26% |
Burger Rush, Cradle of Rome, Jewel Quest II, Rainforest Cascade, Rise of Atlantis, Jewel Match, Monarch Butterfly King, Puzzle Detective, Jewels of Cleopatra |
|
Click Management |
18% |
Burger Rush, Nanny Mania, Belle's Beauty Boutique, The Apprentice: LA, Snowy: Lunch Rush, Stand O'Food |
|
Sim |
11% |
Fairy Godmother Tycoon, Monopoly Here & Now Edition |
|
Other |
23% |
Peggle Deluxe, Fairy Treasure, Magic Ball 3, Yahtzee, Profitville, … |
Real
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
30% |
Mortimer Beckett, Mystery PI: Lottery, The Magician’s Handbook, Interpol Dr. Chaos, Mysteryville 2, GHOST Hunters: Majesty Manor, Mysteryville, Big City Adventure: SF |
|
Click Management |
26% |
Sally's Salon, Delicious 2, Posh Shop, |
|
Sim |
10% |
Alice Greenfingers, Virtual Villagers 2, Monopoly by Parker Brothers, Nanny Mania |
|
Match 3 |
9% |
7 Wonders II, Rise of Atlantis, Secrets of |
|
Adventure |
7% |
Dream Chronicles, Nancy Drew: Danger on |
|
Mahjong |
6% |
Liong: The Dragon
Dance, Mah Jong Quest II,
|
|
Other |
17% |
Chocolatier, Risk, Liong: The Dragon Dance, Gemsweeper, Ricochet Infinity, … |
MSN 2007 Q2
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
45% |
Dream Day Wedding, MCF Ravenhearst, Agatha Christie: Nile, Big City Adventure: SF, MCF Prime Suspects, Little Shop of Treasures, Hide & Secret, Mystery of Shark Island |
|
Match 3 |
35% |
The Treasures Of Montezuma, Cradle of Rome, Jewel Quest II, Burger Rush, Rise of Atlantis, The Legend of El Dorado, Monarch Butterfly King, Big Kahuna Reef 2, Magic Match: The Genie's Journey, Amazonia |
|
Sim |
11% |
Virtual Villagers 2, Monopoly Here & Now Edition |
|
Click Management |
6% |
Diner Dash: Flo on the Go,
Carrie the Caregiver, Burger Rush, Nanny Mania, Cathy's |
|
Other |
4% |
|
MSN 2007 Q3
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
18% |
The Magician’s Handbook, Agatha Christie: Nile, Mystery PI: Lottery, Big City Adventure: SF, MCF Ravenhearst, Hidden Expedition: Everest, Little Shop of Treasures |
|
Click Management |
18% |
Turbo Pizza, Cake Mania 2, |
|
Sim |
16% |
Alice Greenfingers, Monopoly Here & Now Edition, Virtual Villagers 2, Grimm's Hatchery |
|
Adventure |
15% |
Dream Chronicles, Escape From |
|
Match 3 |
13% |
Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, The Treasures Of Montezuma, Zen Gems, Cradle of Rome, Rise of Atlantis, 7 Wonders II, Big Kahuna Reef 2 |
|
Strategy |
12% |
Chocolatier, Battleship Fleet Command, Risk |
|
Other |
11% |
SCRABBLE Blast!, Yahtzee, Peggle Deluxe |
Yahoo 2007 Q2
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Click Management |
42% |
Diner Dash: Flo on the Go, |
|
Sim |
23% |
Monopoly Here & Now Edition, Fairy Godmother Tycoon, Virtual Villagers 2, Grimm's Hatchery, Ciao Bella |
|
Match 3 |
14% |
Jewel Quest II, Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, Burger Rush |
|
Hidden Objects |
14% |
MCF Ravenhearst, Mystery of |
|
word |
9% |
Scrabble Deluxe, Scrabble, Text Twist, Wheel of Fortune 2 |
|
Other |
7% |
Chicken Chase, Chocolatier,
Escape From |
Yahoo 2007 Q3
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Click Management |
49% |
Diner Dash: Flo on the Go, Burger Island, Delicious 2, Miss Management, Nanny Mania, Wedding Dash, Daycare Nightmare, Cake Mania 2, Birdies, Belle's Beauty Boutique, Cake Mania |
|
Sim |
23% |
Monopoly Here & Now Edition, Alice Greenfingers, Ice Cream Tycoon |
|
Match 3 |
11% |
Jewel Quest II, Bejeweled 2 Deluxe |
|
word |
11% |
Scrabble Deluxe, Text Twist, Wheel of Fortune 2 |
|
Hidden Objects |
8% |
Dream Day Honeymoon, GHOST Hunters: Majesty Manor, Dream Day Bundle, Mystery PI: Lottery, MCF Ravenhearst, Secrets of Great Art, Big City Adventure: SF |
|
Adventure |
3% |
Azada, Dream
Chronicles, Escape From |
|
Other |
1% |
Chocolatier, Myth Match, Profitville, Family Feud |
Big Fish 2007 Q2
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
63% |
Big City Adventure: SF, MCF Ravenhearst, Agatha Christie: Nile, Magic Academy, Hidden Expedition: Everest, Private Eye: Greatest Unsolved Mysteries, Abra Academy, The Magician’s Handbook, Hide & Secret, GHOST Hunters: Majesty Manor, Travelogue 360: Rome, Mystery of Shark Island, Hidden Expedition: Titanic, Secrets of Great Art, MCF Prime Suspects, Dream Day Wedding |
|
Adventure |
15% |
Escape From Paradise, Grimm's Hatchery, Sherlock Holmes:
Mummy, Nancy Drew: Danger on |
|
Sim |
14% |
Grimm's Hatchery, Virtual Villagers 2, Fairy Godmother Tycoon, Restaurant Empire |
|
Click Management |
9% |
The Apprentice: LA, Nanny Mania, Cathy's Caribbean
Club, |
|
Match 3 |
35% |
Secrets of Olympus, Cradle of |
|
Other |
5% |
Chocolatier, Wonderland Adventures, Gemsweeper, Inca Ball, … |
Big Fish 2007 Q3
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
43% |
Hidden Expedition: Everest, Interpol Dr. Chaos, Mystery PI: Lottery, The Stone of Destiny, GHOST Hunters: Majesty Manor, Secrets of Great Art, Forgotten Riddles - The Mayan Princess, Travelogue 360: Rome, Dream Day Honeymoon, The Magician’s Handbook, MCF Ravenhearst, Big City Adventure: SF |
|
Adventure |
25% |
Azada, Dream
Chronicles, Return to Mysterious Island, Escape From |
|
Click Management |
12% |
Turbo Pizza, Wedding Dash, Paradise Pet Salon, Cake
Mania 2, Miss Management, Jane's Hotel, Fever Frenzy, Daycare Nightmare, |
|
Sim |
12% |
Alice Greenfingers,
Build-a-lot, Plant Tycoon, Restaurant Empire, |
|
Other |
9% |
Safecracker, Lottso! Deluxe, |
Reflexive 2007 Q2
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
48% |
Little Shop of Treasures, MCF: Ravenhearst,
Agatha Christie: Nile, Dream Day Wedding, Big City Adventure: SF, Hide &
Secret, |
|
Sim |
31% |
Virtual Villagers 2, Fairy Godmother Tycoon, Alice Greenfingers, Virtual Villagers, Grimm's Hatchery |
|
Strategy |
8% |
Risk II, Chocolatier |
|
Click Management |
8% |
Burger Rush, Nanny Mania, The Apprentice: LA |
|
Match 3 |
8% |
Burger Rush, Monarch Butterfly King, Cradle of |
|
Other |
5% |
Peggle Deluxe, Escape
From |
Reflexive 2007 Q3
|
Mechanic |
Sales |
Game Names (from most to least popular) |
|
Hidden Objects |
33% |
Mortimer Beckett, The Magician’s Handbook, Hidden Expedition: Everest, Mysteryville 2, Secrets of Great Art, Mystery PI: Lottery, Interpol Dr. Chaos, Big City Adventure: SF, Agatha Christie: Nile, GHOST Hunters: Majesty Manor, MCF Ravenhearst, Little Shop of Treasures |
|
Sim |
17% |
Alice Greenfingers, Virtual Villagers 2, Plant Tycoon |
|
Adventure |
17% |
Escape From |
|
Click Management |
15% |
Sally's Salon, Delicious 2, Wedding Dash, Turbo Pizza, |
|
Breakout |
11% |
Ricochet Infinity |
|
Strategy |
6% |
Risk II, Chocolatier |
Although many of the casual game portals sell the same games, and many of the same games and same mechanics are popular across all the portals, there are still many differences worth noting. Hidden object games are very popular everywhere, but they seem to do better on Big Fish than on any other portal. We estimate that in Q2, 63% of the unit sales at Big Fish were for hidden object games. In Q3 this dropped down to 43% to make room for the 25% of sales that were adventure games.
Like most portals, MSN favored hidden object games in Q2 and Q3. But in Q2 MSN also sold a lot of match 3 games (estimated 35%) which is somewhat rare in 2007. Q3 was much more balanced on MSN with virtually a three-way tie between hidden object, click management and sim games, with match-3 falling down to 5th place and adventure games making their first strong showing on MSN.
Yahoo was the only major casual portal that didn’t seem to favor hidden object games in Q2 and Q3. Yahoo’s top 10 lists were dominated by click management games (nearly 50%) for both quarters followed by sim, match 3, and word games. Word games accounted for approximately 10% of Yahoo’s sales which is much higher than any other portal’s ranking of word games.
Real
Reflexive’s Q2 was dominated by hidden object games (48%) and became somewhat more balanced in Q3. Reflexive constantly ranks sim games higher than most portals do.
All of these rankings are estimates based on combining data from public Top-10 lists collected from the portals’ web sites and archived on www.game-sales-charts.com. This article lists data from five web sites but the GameSalesCharts web site tracks 20 different portals’ Top-10 lists for downloadable casual games. More detailed information can be found using the Top Games chart on GameSalesCharts. This will allow you to see additional portals, more than just the top 20 games, and more data about each game such as the first and last time it appeared in a portal’s Top-10 list. The Day by Day chart will also make it easier to visualize trends over time on any given casual games portal. The Tag’s Performance chart will show data similar to the format in this article which a different relative score for each core play mechanic or other tags assigned to each game.
About the Author: James C. Smith is one of the founders of Reflexive Entertainment. Tracking the history of the Top-10 lists is a part time hobby he started back in 2002. In 2005 James launched www.game-sales-charts.com to make interactive queries of his Top-10 database accessible to everyone. You can reach James at James@game-sales-charts.com
