Interior Design Meets the Current Gaming Trend
If there is any truth to the notion that education has generally moved away from lessons on domestic life, the online gaming industry is challenging the notion, especially in the arena of interior design games. According to research from the NPD Group, a consumer information and statistics agency:
- There were more than 217 million online gamers in the world as of 2007.
- The majority of those gamers were from middle income homes earning between $35,000 0to $75,000 annually.
- These games fell in the age bracket of 25 to 44.
- Forty-two percent of these gamers were women, and some of those women may have been girls who enjoy interior design games.
Companies who are considering a launch in the gaming industry may want to consider other statistics, as well. In February 2009, a report issued by the international research firm Park Associates revealed that the market for casual games is expected to reach $1 billion by 2013. In the past, games have been marketed through social networking sites. In the same time frame, though, console game use increased while online gaming declined.
These numbers and facts may not mean very much to those who do not indulge in gaming of any kind. However, when matched against the domestic trends for young girls that started in the late 80s and early 90s, it means an opening for a new arena of business: enter interior design games.
For the most part, the rise of electronic gadgets, Internet access, mobile phones and reality TV have all worked against the push to make more girls interested in cooking, cleaning, home decor or gardening. The attention spans of youth have become much shorter, and domestic acts require more than split-second glancing. Savvy game designers, though, have found a way to close the gap with interior design games.
Most of the interior design games online are free and they capitalize on the imaginations of players. Following are three that have gained a respectable following.
Best Interior Design Games
This game does not just push the player right into designing from the time the page loads. Instead game prompts ask if the player is designing a room for a girl or a boy and loads the design elements for the game accordingly. Based on the player’s response, a gender-based storybook scenario is created from the beginning. With girls, for example, the story is that the player wants to go to her boyfriend’s house, but her parents will not allow her to go until she “cleans” her room. Cleaning in this case is the equivalent of designing.
Next, the play prompt comes on the screen and icons appear for each design decision that must be made. Clicking on one of the icons gives two to four choices for elements like desks, bedspreads, curtains, night stands, head boards, wall color, wall art, rugs, and floor tiles. If the player decides to get rid of any particular element, he or she can click on the icons and choose any of the same elements again. Once the designing is done, the player can click on a light string in the ceiling and two friends appear to enjoy the room.
The great thing about interior design games are that it motivates a player to see many possible design elements in a room. It forces someone to think about color choice and see how the lines of furniture and the shade of the wall all interact to help set a mood for the room. It would be fairly easy for teens or pre-teens with short attention spans to create four or five different rooms and then become bored because they have run out of choices. The game does not offer an option for refreshing the design elements for continued play, so the combinations are pretty limited.
Interior Design Games: Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home gives a few more design choices, but does not open in a self contained panel online. Instead, players can click a button and play the game for a trial period for free. Purchasing the game will cost $6.99. There are more than 400 design elements to choose from and more than 50 rooms players can design.
Players start with a grid that looks like graph paper, and they get an overhead view just as they would if they were using computer aided design software. Each element has a price tag attached to it, too, so that players can track a project budget.
Many players have complained about the small builders that appear in this game to complete construction on the rooms designed by the player. They seem to slow the game down a bit and create undue stress for something that should be recreational.
Interior design games attempt to be so realistic that sometimes builders get hurt and the player must deliver a first-aid kit. Additionally, the builders spend so much time running around in this game, the player is forced to reassign tasks to make sure they are completed – only the same builders start new tasks, so nothing ever gets completed.
This game is a bit sophisticated for the young player and could be more than frustrating even for the most patient adult. Additionally, it is downloaded and must be uninstalled if the player decides not to use it any longer.
The appearance of interior design games is a sign that perhaps the ageless trends of domestic know-how are not a thing of the past. At best, gaming companies have changed the landscape of reaching consumers by meeting people where they are. Gamers, in turn, are finding that some old skills are still good habits to keep.