The Rise of the Casual Hybrid Game

BATTLEJACK

We all have our favorite food and, often, we wonder how it must taste with something a little extra. Sometimes, these new creations can taste quite nice; other times, they taste so horrid that they give us nightmares. Either way, combining two things we love ensures that life never gets boring.

It’s no different with video games. There are so many ingredients available and developers have come to learn that, not unlike cooking, certain ones make for better combinations than others. Sometimes, a studio decides to mix and match with great bravado. Let’s look at some of the bravest and most significant casual hybrid games on the market.

The Games

Tiny Dice Dungeon

Combining dice throwing mechanics with dungeon crawl gameplay, Tiny Dice Dungeon is a free RPG (role-playing game) that is fraught with danger, along with wizards, warriors, and loot. For those who love a taste for adventure, it’s here in spades, through its darkened dungeons full of ultimate treasure and giant monsters. Players tame evil creatures to fight right alongside them, as they build an army powerful enough to take over the fantasy universe. While the game is free, there’s an opportunity to buy in-game items from the App Store to amplify the gaming experience. It’s also a game that the developers have been keen to update, based on user feedback, which is always nice to hear.

Battlejack

A combination of Blackjack and RPG, Battlejack allows players to create, evolve, and upgrade a group of fantasy characters to pit against other characters in card battles. Rather than traditional card suits, however, the game’s deck comprises the elements light/dark, fire, water, and earth. These elements charge up the onslaught from creatures with matching elemental affinity. Players draw cards in a bid to get as close as possible to 21 without scoring higher. They then hit ‘attack’, and it’s time to deal the damage.

Video Poker

One of the more intriguing hybrid games in recent years is video poker, which combines classic 5-draw poker with slots-style gameplay. The game, which was introduced into Las Vegas casinos in 1975, tends to appeal to those with poker experience, though the fact that it’s now playable online means that it has attracted its fair share of casual players too. You’ll need to have a deep knowledge of strategy, however, to get the best returns. Seeing as this variant offers the highest return from all casino games, it’s worth putting in the time to learn it.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Puzzle Quest is the game that began the puzzle RPG hybrid genre. Users can match gems, build their own hero, and go on to experience a fantasy adventure of epic proportions. It really took the traditional puzzle game up a few notches by integrating persistent storyline, role-playing elements, and strategy. The game asks players to rescue the land of Etheria from Lord Bane by engaging in battles through head-to-head style puzzles in either multi-player, instant action, or single-player format. Victory rewards the player at almost every turn, deepening their involvement in this rich and diverse world. The incredible combination of traditional puzzle gameplay and numerous characters, companions, spells, taxable monsters, customizations and more offers a fresh approach to the puzzle genre that provides endless replayability.

The Evolution

While hybrid games are all the rage at the moment, make no mistake: they have been around for a very, very long time. Since the dawn of electricity, in fact, there has been a fascination with the idea of games that merge the social and tactile activity of tabletop games with the wonder of electronics. Hybrid games differed from pure electronic games, in that they aimed to establish a unified playing experience between the game mechanics, electronic/analog parts, and overall experience. They succeeded in doing just that.

In 1978, we saw the introduction of perhaps the most popular hybrid game ever: Simon, a game that went on to achieve millions of sales. The game sees Simon lighting up a pattern of buttons while playing an accompanying tone. Players would try to repeat the pattern, with a single mistake eliminating them.

Just three years later, we saw the introduction of a game that went on to achieve legendary status: Dark Tower. Part of the reason for that is because it was only released in a single year. Adding to the legend was the fact that it tried to use the game’s computer to simplify the complicated Dungeons and Dragons.

Transitioning to the modern era, among the more popular titles is XCOM: The Board Game. While it isn’t technically a video game, it’s effective in using an app to teach the rules, as well as run the game with three difficulty settings.

Mobile mashing

The mobile gaming charts are a good place to identify recent innovations and trends when it comes to mobile gaming. One particular trend that continues to make waves in this area is, again, hybrid gaming. Developers combine various styles of multi-play gaming into one mobile game. Although its popularity is increasing, mobile hybrid gaming isn’t a new concept. We saw GungHo’s Puzzles and Dragons become a worldwide phenomenon in 2012. Many regard it as the ‘godfather’ of puzzle RPGs on mobile.

Other casual hybrid games having quite an impact in the marketplace include such titles as Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure and RollerCoaster Tycoon, which may soon grace Nintendo’s Switch console. Gaming chocolate, meet gaming peanut butter.

2 Comments

  1. I really hope this trend continues, some of my favorite mobile games right now include match 3/RPG , Dice/RPG, and cards/RPG. Makes for a great challenge, sadly most of them are free to play and you typically can only get to a certain level of playing before you almost have to buy something to keep playing.

  2. Hybrid games may be favored by many people because they provide a lot of joy and gaming opportunities. I like betway casino mobile service because I can play slots whenever I want and this is convenient.

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