Despite enduring a difficult couple of years, the gaming industry continues to experience growth and expansion. Market demands shift and change, driven by lifestyle trends as well as the availability and quality of hardware and software. While Battle Royales were all the rage seven or eight years ago, with the launch of games like PUBG and Fortnite, we’re seeing more life simulators and roguelikes.
1. Crash Games
There are more than 3 billion people globally who are classified as gamers. This includes mobile and casual gamers, hardcore gamers, and casino gamers. The money involved in online gambling means that this is one area that continues to perform well. One of the latest trends in online casino gaming is crash games.
Casino Beats has a list of casinos offering these unique games, shortlisted here according to the availability of crash games, which are especially popular because they’re easy to play, games are finished quickly, and there is a wide variety of themes and genres now available, according to online gambling expert Matt Bastock.
2. Plinko
Another style of casino game gaining popularity is Plinko. Plinko was actually first seen on TV gameshow The Price Is Right in 1983 and saw players drop discs down tracks. The discs bounded off pegs before landing in prize buckets at the bottom.
Online casino Plinko games follow the same format, with prizes and multipliers awarded according to which slot the disc falls in. Like Crash games, Plinko games are easy to learn, quick to play, and come in a wide range of different genres and styles.
3. Roguelikes And Roguelites
Rogue was a 1980 dungeon crawler adventure game. It had procedurally generated levels and permadeath. The original title also had turn-based gameplay and grid-based movement. Games that incorporate all of these elements are designated as roguelikes, while those that use most but not all of these elements are roguelites.
Games like Slay the Spire took the genre out of the adventure game genre and into the deckbuilding genre. Balatro enjoyed similar levels of success.
4. Metroidvania
Metroidvania is another unique genre with elements based on older games. Specifically, the genre is based on the games Metroid and Castlevania, which had expansive worlds but with areas that could only be accessed once the player had acquired certain skills.
Hollow Knight and, more recently, Hollow Knight: Silksong are good examples of modern Metroidvania games.
5. Life Sims
Simulators are nothing new, and there are subgenres that offer players the opportunity to simulate everything from driving Formula 1 cars to managing entire worlds. One subgenre that is proving very popular recently is that of the life sim.
Games like The Sims are very popular examples and enable players to simulate every element of their Sims’ lives, but, more recently, we have seen what could be classed as job sims. Powerwash Simulator, House Flipper, and Mechanic Simulator may sound mundane, but players find a lot of satisfaction from the sense of a job well done.
6. Visual Novels
Visual Novels are adventure games, of sorts, but with a very clear concentration on visual storytelling, narrative, and player choice. Typically, these games do not have any kind of action gameplay and, instead, task players with choosing what actions to take via multiple choice.
This type of game is especially popular in Japan, and it has become popular with TV and movie crossovers, with episodic games set in The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Tales From The Borderlands. These games tend to be popular because they don’t require any complex button combinations, and they are generally quite relaxed and laid back.
Conclusion
Estimates on the size of the global gaming industry range from $200bn to $500bn a year, and while it has had a difficult couple of years, players now enjoy more devices and better quality games than ever before, including some incredibly unique and innovative gaming genres and subgenres.
Crash games and Plinko are some of the most popular new online casino games, for example, while roguelike and Metroidvania games are dominating consoles and PC thanks to releases like Hollow Knight: Silksong.
