Community Online Games

Do you prefer playing casual online games (more often than not via a web browser) as opposed to casual downloadable games?

Do you enjoy the social aspects of gaming - that is, being able to interact with others such as family members, relatives, friends or maybe even strangers while playing your favorite casual online games?

Perhaps you're one of those people who derives great pleasure from competing against other gamers?

If so, you're in luck. Why? Because many casual games web-sites, such as Big Fish Games, offer a special type of online computer game incorporating several community-related features that have been built into or around the game itself.

Such games are commonly referred to as community online games or, more accurately, community web games, since they are usually played via a web browser.

What are Community Online Games?

Casual community online games can be loosely defined as online games, with certain internal (in-game) and external (post-game) community-related features, played by groups of gamers sharing common interests. The vast majority of these games have been specifically created for true online game play and comprise both single-player and multi-player games.

For example, you and a group of your friends, or perhaps members of your family, may enjoy playing one or more online games on a regular basis; either with or against each other. Of course, you're not restricted to playing online games with game players you know.

If you're the competitive type, you can choose to challenge and play against gamers you've never met and, most likely, will never meet (in person, that is). This is the beauty of online gaming; you can play any online game, against anyone, located anywhere in the world, at anytime!

Community Online Game Features

What do we mean by community features? Moreover, what sort of community features are available? According to an International Game Developers Association (IGDA) White Paper, the term "community" in the context of community online gaming has come to include any or, indeed, all of the following internal (in-game) features and external (post-game) features.

Internal or In-Game Community Features

Internal or, more precisely, in-game community features:

• Allow you to play with or against other players in the same "virtual game room". A virtual game room is the equivalent of, for example, a bingo room or bingo hall in the offline world. Rooms can easily be set up according to geographic areas, special interest groups or some other common factor that is shared by a group of players. Obviously, the purpose of a game room is to ensure that players with similar interests are grouped together.
• Allow you to play self-paced games in the same room as other players. Chill while playing your favorite games at your own leisurely pace.
• Publicize your and/or other player scores to all players in the same room during game play.
• Allow you to interact with other players in the same room during game play. For example, using an online chat facility, you can send messages to other players in the room while playing a game.
• Broadcast your and/or other player achievements during game play (e.g. amazing feats or events of extraordinary rarity).

External or Post-Game Community Features

External, or post-game, community features might include some or all of the following:

• The posting of your and other player's game scores to a leader or high score board. This will keep you informed on your own personal progress, as well as provide you with an indication on how you are performing in comparison to others playing the same game.
• The ranking of you and other players. This is accomplished via an online ranking facility, usually based on a complicated mathematical algorithm. The objective of such a system is to guage your level of skill for a particular online game to another player’s level of skill. Player skill levels are generally used to set up head-to-head (or one-on-one) game play.
• The archiving and displaying of your and other player's best scores for different periods of time (e.g. day, week, month, lifetime, etc.).
• An online message board (now more commonly referred to as an online forum) or blogging (acronym for web logging) area allowing you and other players to chat to each other about your and their favorite casual community online games.
• The ability for you and other players to invite one another to compete in one or more specific online games.
• A hall of fame application recognizing your and other player's long term or outstanding achievements.
• A rewards system in which you and other players are rewarded for spending extended periods of time playing games.
• The opportunity for you and other players to win coins, points, tokens, trophies, talismans, badges, dots or some other kind of award during the course of game play.

Most of the in-game and post-game community features utilize a range of different methods for capturing and displaying player-related information. For example, information such as player scores, achievements, time spent playing online games and the like can be presented to you and your fellow gamers via a web-site.

Many casual games web-sites, such as Big Fish Games, offer community online games and generally employ some combination of the above-mentioned community features.

Community Online Game Genres

What types of casual community online games are on offer? Like their casual downloadable counterpart, most of the well known casual games web-sites offer a wide range of single-player and multi-player community web game genres. For instance, Big Fish Games offer the following genres (with some examples of games in each genre):

1. Bingo games (Team Bingo, Lightning Bingo, Badda Bingo).
2. Card games (Oz Video Poker, Thunderbolt 21, Deuces Wild).
3. Dice games (Rolloing Thunder, Golden Dice Poker, Take 2).
4. Puzzle games (Mahjong Towers Eternity, Plunder, Jewel Quest - one of my personal favorites).
5. Slots (SnowGlobe, Looking Glass, Fruit Loop).
6. Solitaire (Fairway Solitaire, Suits Me Tripeaks, Suits Me Yukon).
7. Strategy games (Farm 21, Flip It, Switch).
8. Word games (Madame Libra, FlipWords, Dive!).

Community Online Game Subscription Services

Recall that most reputable casual gaming portals allow you to play their community online games for free. Why? Sponsorship and advertising - meaning you are continually bombarded by advertising messages. Some casual gamers may find this frustrating, others not.

If you would like to play Big Fish Games' community online games without being inundated by advertisements, click here to learn more about their ad-free subscription services. Here is more information on Big Fish Games’ subscription packages.

Why not give Big Fish Games' community online games a try? Guaranteed, you'll have an absolute ball.