Yesterday I posted an ActiveRain Crossword Puzzle.
Today I'm hosting The ActiveRain Word Search.
Why am I doing this?
Because casual games are sticky. And whether you know it right now or not, you want sticky. You want people to come back to your site over and over, even when they aren't looking for a home and you'd like them to stay for long time, if possible. Casual games provide a way to do that.
"Casual games are tapping into a Middle American audience like few services on the Web do," says Erick Hachenburg, senior vice president of global publishing for Electronic Arts. And, if projections hold up, in 2008, online casual gaming will be a $2 Billion industry.
Who is the casual online games player? The answer is everyone. While market research shows the majority of the audience today is women 30-45 years old, it can be easily seen that the audience crosses all demographics for playing online games and buying downloadable game. The spectrum is from children to young males to seniors playing online bridge. Casual game players find that these types of games provide entertainment, diversion, socialization and competition.
And all of this happens largely through advertising (less than 2 percent of players actually pay to subscribe). Again, these subscribers are mostly women 35-54! People are searching all over for free games to play. And talk about sticky: Pogo.com's players spend about 24.8 million hours on the site each month, says Nielsen/NetRatings. "Checkers is a big pickup scene," says Todd Frentzel of Electronic arts. (3)
So, yes, this is all just for fun. And it IS fun. But don't write this fun off as "Jeff is just fooling around. I've got better things to do with my time." I certainly know that almost everyone has better things to do with their time. But there's a lesson here, and there is always a method to my madness.
Jeff Turner aka respres
Hubba....
Before I begin my game I wanted to say you cracked me up with:
"this is mostly women 35-54!"....
I am LOL at myself on that one. Wink. Wink.
Yah. I want to play...I don't feel like being 'serious'. Life is too short to be serious all the time :)
I put unlimited hints into this one, so all you cheaters out there can feel like you've won. But only those who don't use the hints get this coveted prize.
TLW... nevermind.
Ines, 5 Across, it's the x-broker. Show houses? And NOT do the word search? Wow, that's surprising. :)
Do you do magic shows TOO?
LOL Me
Nick - I knew it was Jeff-X from the beginning, I just didn't figure out ot use his last name.....DUH!
Magic Shows - I'm sure he does!
I win...Great post by the way. Good insight on the method :)
TLW...ROAR!
Jeff,
I am a recovering Pogo addict with over 8 million points, lol.
Jim, Maria and David, thank you. I'll be testing some of these concepts out elsewhere and I'll let you know the results.
Laurie... LOL. You are not alone. Remember that.
Jeff,. 1st off, thanks for this fun stuff as an idea for the websites.. so it's sticky factor is right! good tip!
as far as the internet changes.. no bold moves, traded my long distance service ($28) with local carrier for a vonage line.$30,month, and can call some of europe free. upgraded the DSL ($5) from 3MB to 6MB download speed. so here are the stats.. laptop wireless speed downspeed is 3.5Mbps, hardwired into router via cable, 6.2MBs. crap! so maybe I'll upgrade that old dog router, or run some wire to a port on the wall in th home office. oh and 400-420kps upload speed wireless or hardwired.
Ines, I had the same DUH moment as you!! I kept starting with an 'x' and not a...
:) BB... I will.
Sheron... ask and you shall receive. I used a program called Crossword Forge. It runs on both Mac and PC. It allows you to export a web version of the game, which exports to a folder. This contains all the necessary part, including the index.html file. It is possible, though I didn't do it, to edit that file and add some of your own branding. Just upload the entire folder to a sub directory on your website and go to town. The URL would be formatted like this: http://www.yourwebsite.com/subfolder/gamefolder/
Well that was pretty funny you guys :)
TLW...ROAR!
Yeah We have to talk soooonnnnn. You are so far outside the box. The box looks like a circle. No copywriters issues with these games? Maybe Rubics Cube that would keep em on your site for more than a few minutes. LOL
Curt Swearengin
www.icouldbeyours.com
Oooo. Chocolate...Good idea :)
TLW...ROAR!
I got one of those too! I would be thinking I wouldn't find the next one, then schzam it would show up.
I have never done one of these before online. I didn't see your hint section until I read comments about it, but I like being able to 'select' in a clock or wheel around selected letters to see what I could find.
I do jewel quest online (limit me because to buy the game would mean trouble) and play spider and freecell solitaire. A solitaire puzzle helps me to center
I just found a game on someone's blog that was absolutely addictive. It was called "Type FAST or DIE!" Fabulous game!
But I just saved the game in my favorites, so that won't work.
Curt... give me a call.
Sheron, so, why don't you ever vist your own blog?
Judy Ann, Jewel Quest is one of the most addictive things known to man. Right up there with nicotine.
Debi, you're welcome.
ARDELL!!!! Type Fast Or Die, is an excellent example of a sticky game. You can play them over and over. And yeah, if you don't brand the game or embed it in some way, it's pointless. The sticky factor only works if you stick YOUR name to it as well! For a blog, puzzles like these shown in these two example posts will only work if you do something consistently.
" will only work if you do something consistently. " (Jeff Turner)
You are absolutely right and that is the lesson in this post ! This is a unqiue way to stand out and certainly a fun way to capture an audience. Maybe an emial drip with a link to your site weekly to bring them back for more! (I would think you want to update content of site as well to make it more than just a game they become interested in. Good ideas come from you Jeff... you have a very creative mind!
Michelle, these kids of things are sweets... they're not meats. No one's going to get fed by it, but some people want sweets as well as the meal. If the option for the sweets are there, and others don't have sweets, they may come to you for the meat as well. It has to be the right kind of sweets and not the same sweets all the time.
Lisa, my advice would certainly be to NOT buy it unless you can craft a strategy to consistently use it. I know that seems obvious. But this specific game type can only be played one time. So it's key is doing one a week or something similar. Create a category or page on your blog or site that lists all of the past games.
Lauren and Phylena... thanks.
Finally getting to the crossword......do you win a prize if you complete it within 5 minutes??
Not that I have, I'm just wondering.:)