Suttree.com: Casual Games, Social Software by Duncan Gough

GameProducer.net has a short and sweet post about game design, specifially the idea that ‘Players love Points’.

Having designed games with 3RD sense and been in a huge number of discussions about game design, concepts and prototypes there are clearly a handful of core elements that games, especally Casual Games, should have. Points, first and foremost, are an absolute must. On both Playaholics and Chickstop we’ve designed the sites around submitting scores and getting onto the scoretables. This encourages players to take their score seriously and there really is nothing more fun than racking up points when you learn how to play a certain game. Bonus levels, for that matter, as also another great ‘must have’, since they provide simple ways for players to earn a large number of points in a short space of time. Perfection, too, can be applied easily to casual games, since most of them offer short burts of level based fun. Players can earn bonus points for completing a level without making any mistakes. Which, of course, only adds to the pressure on the player to not make any mistakes.

From my own experiece, when it comes to earning points the best way to do it is with coins. Blame Sonic, but there is something intrinsically addictive about picking up coins and knowing that they add to your score. The Sonic trick of dropping every coin when you get hit is a really great way of reminding players wh many points they have and how much they value them too. Leo Steel is a good example of this - speedy, simple and collectible, with plenty of points on offer.