Understanding The Continued Appeal Of Mining Games

Introduction

When video console gaming grew into epic proportions in the early 1990s, there were a few early contenders for genres that would soon become the elite ones at the top. Sports seemed obvious, purely because of the global popularity of sports - it was a no-brainer.

As long as gaming companies could construct a playable and enjoyable design, they were onto a winner. Likewise, action-adventure games with iconic characters like Zelda and Mario reached global phenomenon status. Still, as those designers were rooted in cutting-edge graphics, playable levels, strategy, and puzzle solving, they covered a range of ideas and continue to be globally renowned products that have emerged from the gaming world.

Another obvious candidate for a genre that continues generating mass appeal is the casino gaming industry. While it might have a different type of appeal and audience than classic video console games, the same theory remains. It bridged the gap that filtered through a staggering land-based interest and allowed people to begin playing casino games online.

Digital platforms are the dominant route people take to play gambling games, and their continued appeal has stemmed from continuous innovation, which brings in new gamblers. This includes mobile apps, VR, or other gaming tech that helps keep the genre fresh while not changing the foundation of what makes it so successful in the first place. This is our starting point for what makes mining games a roaring success story.

Tapping Into Popular Gaming Ideas

As Minecraft sits at the pinnacle of the genre, a hive of activity bubbles underneath it. While Minecraft might not rely as heavily on microtransactions as other games within the genre and the wider industry, as a collective, it is a factor that helps to buoy up the continuous appeal of mining games.

Simply put, microtransactions are a colossal business, which means the best game designers are attracted to the genre in search of the big wages. This means the overall gaming product is of a quality that engages a sizeable audience. Microtransactions have been gaining momentum in video gaming for over a decade, with analysts stating in 2019 that they were becoming integral to the broader growth of the gaming landscape, a prediction that has become true.

Although mining games don’t have the same gaming mechanisms that make them attractive propositions for eSports markets, an idea Riot Games has used to become one of the most prominent game designers on the planet, mining games have a different audience and a different method of generating intrigue and engagement.

A Proclivity For Solving Problems

Mining games channel into a more profound human hard-wiring that has been passed down over thousands of years: our ability to look at a problem, think of ways around it, and solve it. However long it takes to solve an issue, and the delayed gratification that comes with it is a satisfaction that mining games bottle up so expertly well.

Even the earliest mining games, such as Minesweeper, which was immensely successful on the original PC design, showed the potential for mining games. While it’s nothing compared to Minecraft, and the fact that it became the first game to surpass 300 million sales, the continued interest throughout different gaming generations and platforms highlight that this wasn’t just a passing gaming trend or a fad, but that it’s rightly one of the leading genres that’s helped to propel the wider gaming industry into the golden age it’s experienced over the last 30 years.

Simplicity Is Key

There’s a massive appeal in video games with huge budgets and phenomenal cutting-edge graphics, but it can feel like a considerable amount of time and investment to play these games, wade through a vast world, and get to grips with the controls and how they work. While mining games have obviously moved with the times, updated their graphics, and injected fresh ideas into the success of their original base design, they haven’t overdone it either.

They’ve remained true to their original construct, and this is where the continued appeal often lies. We could rattle through a list of a dozen games that have constantly tried to rewrite their ideas, stories, and characters, with multiple spin-offs and attempts to make it too different, and ultimately, they haven’t worked. There’s also the curse of those who tried to remaster old ideas lazily and somehow made them worse. Yes, we’re talking about the GTA Definitive Edition.

Final Thoughts

While all of these factors play a considerable role in the continued success of mining games, the main driving force is that people enjoy the genre. This speaks directly to our problem-solving nature; the games aren’t challenging to understand, and sometimes, the old ones are the best. Ultimately, this is what it boils down to—we don’t need to overthink the answer.

As long as mining gaming companies continue to address their audience with their ideas and designs, and the money in the sector continues to roll in, there doesn’t seem to be a scenario where mining games lose their appeal, at least not anytime soon.