Once upon a time, there was a bloke who may have allegedly issued some slanderous remarks about casual gaming. Since that time, said bloke has indulged in some self-reflection, considering his motivations for being so flippant of a such a wildly popular genre and examining his most disturbing inner most impulses. The result of this period of zen-like focus and meditation has resulted in a rebirth of self and… ahhh screw it, here’s what I think about casual games now…
Multiplayer gaming with the clan tops any casual gaming, period. But, I can admit now, casual games have their place. We all live busy lives, and for those evenings when you don’t have 4 hours spare to wage endless war against those godless low-lifes Team Red, a quick session with a single player casual game can get you through.
I’ve been giving some contemporary casual games a try over the last couple of months (an especially busy period for me) and here’s my verdicts (note: your mileage may vary, the following represents my opinion only, leave comments to tell me I’m wrong or to point out games I’ve omitted):
Gold
A twist on traditional tower defense and by far the best casual game I have played. PvZ seems a little inane to begin with, but it quickly becomes a balance of tactics, resources and reflexes. The best thing about PvZ is that just when you think you have an unstoppable strategy, the game throws twists at you to keep you on your toes. I won’t spoil it with too much detail (and hopefully I haven’t over-sold it too much) but suffice to say, lots of value, lots of strategy, lots of fun.
Silver
Flight controller
Simply the simplest and most addictive iPhone/Touch game ever!
Field Runners
Another iPhone game — like FC — and tower defense genre — like PvZ, but that’s where the similarity ends. Field Runners for me had limited replayability, but while it lasted I really enjoyed trying different approaches and honing my strategies.
Honourable mentions
World of Goo
Not really my thing, but still gets big points for creativity and originality. My main complaint would be the music, which is great at first, but is very repetitive and gets annoying really quickly.
Peggle Deluxe and Peggle Nights
Not a lot of skill required for this game, but still, it’s mindless and addictive — a winning combo for a casual game.
Spore
Is this a casual game? Or an RTS? or space adventure? IDK. All I know is, Spore is kinda’ fun, especially creating/designing creatures, costumes, buildings, vehicles, spaceships etc that balance functionality with looking awsome. My biggest criticism would be that just when you are getting the hang of a ‘phase of evolution’ it tells you you’re done and it’s time to move onto the next phase 
Meh
Blueberry Garden
I keep drowning and I just don’t have the patience.
Trine
Not bad at first, but then more of the same, and then some more, until the final level which is: COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND REALLY REALLY HARD. W.T.F!
…Also, Lost Vikings was better.
Audiosurf
Another game that is relaxing and mindless, but just not addictive. Can’t explain why, I love the concept, and I’ve played it a fair bit on a number of occasions, never caught the bug.
Osmos
A game that is intended to be relaxing, but I just found it INFURIATING. I couldn’t anticipate the movements far enough into the future, and didn’t have the patience to learn how. This is a game that tells you to be patient, that often the best strategy is to do nothing at all, and then throws in a competitive element that forces you to react and move quickly resulting in critical errors. Trust me, it might be designed to induce low blood pressure, but you’ll end up with an acute pulmonary embolism.
Droplitz
OMGWTF is going on in this game?? Just say no!
Yet to try, but I’ve heard good things
Braid
Sounds like a really original platformer, when I get time I’d like to give this a try.
Machinarium
Downloading as we speak. Not sure when I’ll get a chance to play it, but it looks cool.
on iPhone, Sally’s Spa is great for a quick run, and GNZ (guns n zombies) keeps getting better
and yeah, Braid is cool for a puzzle fix.
On iPhone I found a very addictive game called Homerun battle 3D, well worth checking out. You can also verse friends online, I have played Nakor and Fumbles and it’s STACKS of fun
[...] Machinarium I highly recommend! If you are interested in picking it up, it’s available on Steam for US$20 or if you act quickly you can grab The Indie Bundle for US$20 including other titles: And Yet It Moves, Auditorium, Aztaka, Euphloria and Osmos — Auditorium is fun, Euphloria and AYIM look interesting and Toby would recommend Osmos (not I). [...]