In Chapter 2 of Jesper Juul book, A Casual Revolution, he describes four traits that differ between “hardcore” and “casual” games. The fields of fiction preference, game knowledge, time investment, and attitude towards difficulty are all on the opposite sides of the spectrum, in theory at least, when comparing the two types of games. For “casual” games Juul states that their preference or setting in fiction is positive. He uses the example of Wii Sports for his argument, where he mentions that the cover and setting of the game are everyday events that seem to be more about having a good time and having fun. This is in contrast to the “hardcore” game he compares it to, Gears of War, which is set in a ruined world where the player is just trying to survive in the on-slot of hundreds of enemies trying to kill him.

This image of causal games being positive seemed correct to me. Sure games such as Angry Birds is a little violent, I mean you are blowing up pigs by throwing exploding birds at them, but it was a comical and cartoon like game that obviously was not real. However, when playing the games we had assigned this week I noticed that one of the games, The Torture Game 2, did not seem to fit, in any shape or manner, Juul’s claim of “casual” games being positive in nature. In this game you torture and kill someone using a wide variety of weapons and tools. There is no point system, no true goal—other than maybe just trying to keep the person alive as long as you can while doing horrible things to him—and it is definitely not a very heartwarming game.

If, Juul claims, “casual” games are supposed to be positive and “hardcore” games are supposed to be negative, then where do games as disturbing as The Torture Game 2 fall in the spectrum? For a game like that is far from being a positive and lighthearted game. I personally do not agree with Juul’s claim on the fiction difference between the two types of games. While Gears of War may be darker in nature than a game like Angry Birds, I still see it as a more positive setting game than a negative setting game due to the underlying theme of the game. While the combat may be gory, the story and plot have you moving forward towards freeing earth and “saving the day”, as it were, instead of mindlessly torturing someone for no reason.

In the end I would argue that most games, whether “casual” or “hardcore”, are in the middle of the fiction spectrum. They both have negative and positive characteristics in them, making it more or less the player who determines which side of the scale a particular game leans towards on the fiction scale for both types of games.