All Features List

Chocolatier is in the running for Best Strategy Game of 2007 at the upcoming Zeeby Awards. We chatted with Michael Thornton Wyman, CEO of Big Splash Games, about what makes Chocolatier special and why it deserves to get your vote. Read more»

Build-a-lot is in the running for Best Strategy Game and Best Game of 2007 at the upcoming Zeeby Awards. We chatted with Brian Goble of HipSoft about what makes Build-a-lot special and why it deserves to get your vote. Read more»

Burger Shop is in the running for Best Time Management Game of 2007 at the upcoming Zeeby Awards. We chatted with developer Gobit Games about what makes Burger Shop special and why it deserves to get your vote.

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In a previous life, the folks at Texas-based Alamofire created web sites under the banner of Firewheel Design. One such creation was IconBuffet, a website that supplies icons to web designers and geeks. When a community started to form around collecting and trading these icons, the idea for a game was born. The result was PackRat, a card-collecting game that has quickly gained a fanatical following on Facebook.

We caught up with Alamofire's Urban Cowboy Fashion Consultant / CEO Josh Williams to talk about social gaming, Facebook, and of course PackRat.

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When Viqua Games launched Tommy and the Magic Words a few years ago, two thoughts popped into my mind. One, how can I meet this Thai developer who came up with such an innovative word game? Two, how can I leverage the fact I own Gamezebo to get a free trip to meet the developer in Thailand, my favorite place in the world. Well, I have never achieved the latter goal, but I did talk to Chanon Sajjamanochai of Viqua Games. And since that time, Viqua launched numerous casual games, including Sandscript, Cindy's Sundaes, Doggie Dash, and their latest hit game, First Class Flurry. We talked to Chanon about First Class Flurry, community-based social games, and how a good Thai boy grows up to become a successful casual games developer. Read more»

Game developer and toy maker, Scott Balaban of Gameblend Studios is the Geppetto of casual games. And, he and his team of game developers and Israeli scientists have just released Hidato, a web-based game updated daily that we think could become the next Sudoku. Bold words, but it's quite an addictive game.

We talked with Scott about the unique story behind Hidato, insights into game development over a wide variety of platforms, and the merging of the toy and games industries. Read more»

Programmer Michelle McKelvey recently met two very important deadlines: the launch of her latest game, Slingo Quest Hawaii, and the birth of her son Elijah, both of which happened right around the same time.

Michelle spoke to Gamezebo about the unique experience of developing a game while pregnant, and shares some insight into how to maintain the all-important balance between work and family.

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Dave Gilbert wasn't intending to make games for casual audiences when he created The Shivah, The Blackwell Legacy and Blackwell Unbound in the style of the classic adventure games of the late 80s, but as it turns out, casual gamers love their point-and-click adventures too. Gilbert recently spoke to Gamezebo about the renaissance of adventure games, his early days as an indie developer, and his recent deal with PlayFirst. Read more»

Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate was one of those games that raised the bar for production values in hidden object games, thanks in no small part to the contributions of SomaTone Interactive Audio. (Who could forget Madame Fate's distinctive lilt, or the ambient sounds that brought the carnival atmosphere to life?) SomaTone's co-founder Kane Minkus takes us through the process of creating the game's distinctive soundtrack in Gamezebo's first audio post-mortem. Read more»

In the beginning there was Bejeweled... and the world of casual games would be changed forever. Since launching Bejeweled in 2000, PopCap has consistently released great casual games, such as Bookworm, Zuma, and Chuzzle. If any company can be considered the "Godfather" of casual games, it is PopCap. And it is this reason Gamezebo has picked PopCap as first of many game developers to interview. Read more»

Under the banner of Hanako Games, U.K.-based game designer Georgina Bensley crafts unique adventures inspired by a passion for anime and the love of a good story. We sat down with the creator of Cute Knight and Fatal Hearts to chat about making games from her position as an indie developer. Read more»

Founded in 2007 by two Hitman programmers, The Game Equation is the latest example of hardcore game-makers jumping ship to develop casual games. The company's first official release is the underwater puzzler Deep Blue Sea. Gamezebo spoke to co-founder Brian Meidell Andersen about what it was like going from Hitman to match-three. Read more»

In the casual game world, Big Blue Bubble is best known for creating the home improvement-themed strategy puzzler Home Sweet Home. There's much more to the Canadian developer than that, however, as we discovered when we spoke with Big Blue Bubble CEO Damir Slogar. Read more»

Welcome to the fifth instalment of our Women in Gaming series, where we introduce you to some of the women who are working behind the scenes to create the games you love to play. As an associate producer at PlayFirst, Angel Inokon's most recent project was the well-received Diner Dash spin-off, Wedding Dash. Read more»

Oberon Media is the largest casual games company you do not know much about. That is because Oberon has been so busy creating games, developing partnerships, and acquiring companies (just today, they announced the acquisition of 2 Russian game studios, Kenjitsu and Friends Games), they have not had the time to talk to anyone -- until now! We sat down with Ofer Leidner, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Oberon, to talk about their numerous acquisitions, the Russian casual games market, and Shakespeare. Read more»

Last week, Sean Ryan of Meez invited me to his office to give me a sneak peak at the company's new casual game section, quietly released last week. More importantly, he also showed me a really cool demo of how Meez plans to integrate avatars within casual games themselves. So cool, in fact, I had to ask Sean to sit down with us for an interview so we could share with you all the details as well as screen shots of their new offering. Read more»

I am always fascinated by how "old school" game and software developers end up in the casual game space and find tremendous success. Take The Article 19 Group, for example. Started 12 years ago as an education software company in Montreal, Canada, The Article 19 Group is now a leading developer of casual games, having released with Shockwave Carrie the Caregiver and just recently, Carrie the Caregiver 2. We spoke with Robert Gordon of The Article 19 about the making of the Carrie series, his unique background in psychology, as well as ask the question: Is Montreal the New Seattle? Read more»

Most casual gamers may have only heard of Blue Tea Games with the recent release of Forbidden Riddles: The Mayan Princess, the #1 game on Big Fish Games as we speak. But not me, I've been a fan ever since I discovered an indie gem of a game called Cactus Bruce and The Corporate Monkeys, which I wasted countless days and nights playing (what can I say, I'm a sucker for games with coconuts and angry monkeys). We sat down and talked to Steven Zhao (but not over blue tea) to talk about his current projects, his experience as an independent game developer, and corporate monkeys. Read more»

Welcome to the third installment of our Women in Gaming series, where we introduce you to some of the women who are working behind the scenes to create the games you love to play. Carla Humphrey is the co-founder of Last Day of Work, the folks responsible for the Virtual Villagers series, Fish Tycoon, and, most recently, Plant Tycoon. Read more»

When Gamezebo published our Why We Need Women editorial back in January, it hit a nerve. Why aren't there more women in the casual games industry? What can the industry do to attract more women? The truth is, there are women working in the casual games industry, and we thought it was time to start giving them the attention they deserve. And so, welcome to the first installment of our new series, entitled Women in Gaming, where we'll introduce you to some of women who are working behind the scenes to create the games you love to play. Read more»

For an industry that is so focused on the mass-market consumer, there are very few game development shops run by business guys. That is why George Donovan of Gogii Games is unique. That, and the fact that he's launched 3 hit casual games in the past 2 months (Private Eye, Escape from Paradise, and Nanny Mania) and he releases more games in a month than most developers release in a year. We talked to George about the secret to his success, his unique way of thinking, and the importance of history in the context of casual games. Read more»

While the industry continues to debate the question of how to attract more girls to gaming, the actions of one particular developer have been speaking louder than words. Her Interactive has been creating quality "girl games" for more than 10 years, and is best known for its long-running Nancy Drew PC adventure game series. We spoke with Jessica Chiang, Marketing Producer, to learn more about the unique perspective that Her Interactive brings to gaming. Read more»

As Microsoft's in-house casual games studio, Carbonated Games does everything from rebuilding classic Windows games like Hearts for the MSN Games portal to creating original content like Solitaire in Motion and Hexic. The studio's newest project, UNO, is currently the #1 download on Xbox Live Arcade and will also be the first Live Anywhere casual game playable across Xbox 360, PC, Windows Live Messenger, and mobile devices. Joshua Howard, head of production at Carbonated Games, walked us through UNO's development and shared his thoughts on what Live Anywhere means for casual gaming. (And, because we couldn't resist, he also tells us what it was like to work with Tetris's creator Alexey Pajitnov on Hexic.) Read more»

Most game studios start small and gradually work their way up, but California-based Gamenauts isn't one of them. After debuting with the critically-acclaimed Spacebound, the company scored a #1 hit with just their second title, Burger Rush. With only two games under their belts, the folks at Gamenauts have hit the ground running. We spoke with Gamenaut Stanley Adrianus, the company's founder, to learn more about what makes these game-makers tick. Read more»

You might not have heard of SomaTone's Kane Minkus or Nick Thomas, but chances are you've listened to their work. From Mystery Case Files to Diner Dash, the California-based duo, SomaTone has crafted music, audio effects and voiceovers for dozens of casual games. Join us as we sit down with Minkus to dig into what makes the company tick and find out what they have in store for you, in the future. Read more»

If you play casual games, chances are you have played more than few games developed in Russia. Aside from the US, Russia is the top nation for casual games development, and the top casual games company in Russia is Alawar Entertainment. We spoke with Andrew Postnikov, Director of Publishing, to learn all about Alawar Entertainment, and secret behind the Magic Ball series, and why Russian companies are so successful at creating casual games. Read more»

For the longest time, we (as in, people who work in casual games) have been talking about going multiplayer, adding avatars, offering virtual goods, and the like. Everyone who is anyone is working on it behind closed doors (or so they say...) but finally, someone has actually launched a product. Last week, Boonty officially launched Cafe.com. We chatted with Co-founder and President Mathieu Nouzareth to learn more and to share with you what could be the next big thing in casual games. Read more»

The folks at HipSoft, makers of Flip Words 1 and 2 and a variety of other best-selling and fun casual games, were one of the first video game developers to jump ship to the casual games space back in 2002 and they have not looked back since. We spoke with Brian Goble at HipSoft to learn about what makes HipSoft tick as well as what new tricks they have up their sleeve. Read more»

The story of Amanda Fitch (also known as Amanda Fae) and Aveyond is as unlikely as any in casual games. A female (if you have ever been to a game conference, you will understand this is a rarity) with a college degree in English creates a role-playing game (RPG) that becomes one of the most popular casual games of 2006 so far. How'd she do it? The answer: by creating a RPG accessible to everyone with great depth and storyline (with over 250 pages worth, in fact!). Read more»

In Part 1 of our Interview with Michael Schutzler, senior vice president, Games Division at RealNetworks, we discussed about how how RealArcade got started in casual games and how a game gets picked to be offered to its millions of users. Today, we talk about what's new coming from RealArcade in the future, casual games on multiple platforms, and most importantly --- how casual games will save the world. That's right, the WORLD. Read on. Read more»

In the world of casual games, RealArcade is huge. Since pioneering the space back in 2001 (RealNetworks was one of the first companies to sell casual games as downloads), RealArcade has evolved from a distribution channel into developer, publisher, and distributor of games across multiple platforms (PC and mobile) and worldwide. Every day, over 700,000 games are downloaded through the RealArcade network, including RealArcade, GameHouse, and Zylom. We sat down to talk with Michael Schutzler, senior vice president, Games Division at RealNetworks, about everything related to casual games --- how RealArcade started, how a game gets picked to be offered to its millions of users, even how casual games will change the world (for the better of course). Read more»

If there is a "Cinderella" story in casual games, it would be Last Day of Work ("LDW"). Starting with handheld games, LDW have launched not one, but two PC casual game hits, Fish Tycoon and Virtual Villagers, in the past year. And no one can accuse LDW of creating clones. Fish Tycoon and Virtual Villagers are both based on LDW's proprietary real-time game environment, so the game plays even when you are not there. We walked the 12 blocks to LDW's office (literally, Gamezebo and LDW's offices are that close) to talk to Arthur Humphrey, CEO and Lead Designer, to discover their secret of their success, the inspiration behind their games, and what future tricks they have up their sleeve. Read more»

When PlayFirst first launched in 2004, they did two things to raise the bar for casual games. One, PlayFirst was the first company introduce the traditional publishing model to the burgeoning casual game space. Two, they hired Kenny Dinkin to run this publishing arm. Painter, musician, and executive producer to a wide variety of games, including classic children's fare (remember Carmen Sandiego, anyone?) to the Diner Dash series, Kenny is truly the Da Vinci of casual games. We talked to him recently to learn about the philosophy of PlayFirst, as well as the code that makes this Renaissance Man tick. Read more»

Since 2002, Daniel Bernstein and his team at Sandlot have been creating some of the most innovative and addictive casual games around, from the hit trading and adventure Tradewinds series (my personal favorite casual games of all time) to Cake Mania, among the most popular and sweet-tasting casual games of the year. Read more»

A couple years ago, when I worked at Yahoo! Games, I used to meet once a month for breakfast with the top folks at other major game companies. Ostensibly we were there to discuss forming a trade association for casual games, but to be honest, we ended up achieving little (bummer) and eating a lot free scrumptious omelets (nice). Then about a year ago, Jessica Tams, Vice President, Product Planning at Skilljam / FUN Technologies, launched the Casual Games Association. In the process, she also started Casuality, a conference taking place in Seattle next week for those who create and distribute casual games in both the United States and Europe. Recently I sat down with Jessica to learn more. Read more»

When I first met Paul Thelen (founder of Big Fish Games) four years ago, it was on his office boat on Lake Union in Seattle with his full-time staff of three. Since then, Big Fish Games has expanded to 100+ employees, released one of the most popular casual game series (Mystery Case Files) and grown its Web site into one of the largest distributors of casual games on the Internet (they must have gotten a bigger boat). We sat down to talk to Paul Thelen to learn the secret of their success and the future of casual games. Read more»

In the world of casual games, there are those developers that lead and those that follow. The folks at gamelab definitely fall in the first category. Whether they are breaking the rules of casual game design (BLiX, Diner Dash, Plantasia) or changing the business model of casual games (see below for more information), gamelab is on the forefront. If you want to look into a crystal ball and see the future of casual games, your first step should be to skip the psychic and talk to Eric Zimmerman. And that's exactly what Gamezebo has done, in this interview. Read more»

Dave Walls has been creating casual games before the term "casual games" was created or even before Gamezebo existed. In 2001, Dave left his cushy job producing games for Hasbro to launch his own company Funkitron. Funkitron has released numerous hit games based on popular licenses, such as Scrabble, Slingo, and the Poker Superstars Series (1 & 2). We sat down with this veteran to discuss the past, present, and future of casual games. Read more»