Online Games for the Rest of Us.

An old joke in the electronic games industry is that its most devoted fans are 18 to 24 year-old men who can’t get a date for Saturday night. Game designers have long struggled to broaden the appeal of PC and console games, with little success.

“Electronic games were usually designed by boys for other boys,” says John Welch, chief executive officer of PlayFirst, the leading designer of “casual” games for the Internet. “It turns out that most people don’t want to play Dungeons & Dragons with macho men and scantily clad women.” PlayFirst was started in 2004 by a team of Internet, electronic gaming, and entertainment software veterans. Their aim was to create electronic games for a mainstream audience whether they prefer their PCs, the Internet, game consoles or mobile devices. The Mayfield Fund, Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Partners are PlayFirst’s primary investors. Recently, PlayFirst raised $16.5 million in a Series C round of financing led by Doll Capital Management and including Mayfield, Trinity and Rustic Canyon.

“When the founders of approached us with the idea for PlayFirst, ‘casual games’ was not a recognized category,” said Mayfield director Janice Roberts, a member of PlayFirst’s board of directors. “But it was a concept I could relate to. I knew that among my circle there is always a laptop in the kitchen or the dining room and a game that could be played in snippets of time between household chores made a lot of sense to me. ”

The Internet has given birth to a new type of electronic game. “Casual games” are simple to play and require little in the way of strategy. Unlike “traditional” games, they necessitate little or no pre-existing knowledge. They are often based on existing card and board games, or everyday concepts like managing a restaurant or clothing store. And, unlike “hardcore” games, which call for complex strategies, they require only a modest investment of time.

Beyond simplifying the play experience, the Internet has also broadened the audience to more than 200 million players, mostly women. Today 34% of all adult Internet users play games weekly, compared to 29% who watch online videos and 19% who visit social networking sites, according to market researcher firm Parks Associates. Consumer tastes have grown more sophisticated: they have migrated from simple games like Bejeweled, a puzzle game in which players match jewels to earn points, to character and story-driven games that create an imagined community worth returning to again and again. PlayFirst’s hit game Diner Dash is an example of the type of franchise that is expanding the category with new themes and business models. According to DFC Intelligence, the casual game market reached $2.25 billion in sales in 2007 and it will reach more than $13 billion by 2012.

In Diner Dash, Flo quits her job as a stockbroker to run her own diner. Players guide Flo as she serves food and collects tips, satisfying customers and growing her restaurant empire along the way. The difference between Diner Dash and predecessors like Bejeweled are obvious. Diner Dash tells a story through the everyday hero, Flo; even her customers, ranging from hungry families to cell phone addicts, are imbued with personality.

Diner Dash was introduced in 2004, and is the centerpiece of PlayFirst’s game portfolio, which numbers more than 25 games and accounts for more than $40 million in revenue. Follow-up hits include Wedding Dash, Chocolatier, and Dream Chronicles, all games with engaging plots and compelling characters. PlayFirst now offers games on PC, Mac, mobile phones, and handheld platforms, with major consoles to launch in 2008.

Today, PlayFirst offers players a free trial before buying its downloadable games but looks forward to leading the industry towards new business models that go beyond “try before you buy.” After recently launching the first micro-transactions in the “downloadable” sector of the casual games industry, Welch looks forward to continued experimentation and is bullish on how subscription can drive longer-term engagement with customers. Mayfield Partner Janice Roberts, a busy working mother, fits the profile of the typical PlayFirst customer.

“Sometimes as a venture capitalist you have to take a leap of faith,” Roberts said. “When you’re talking about a market that hasn’t been well-established, the concept has to be especially compelling. And as importantly, that the team is talented and skilled enough to execute on its plan.”