I am pretty sure that Super Cratebox can be classified as a “casual game”, for its simplicity of gameplay and non-existence of previous gameplaying skills apart from good hand-eye coordination.
I would like to talk about the elements of the game which makes it “addictive” to me.
I think the one that stands out is the fact that a new game can be started immediately, with a press of the Enter button, after GAME OVER. This effectively keeps your attention on the game itself. All you want to do is start over again and again until you reach some goal of the gameplay. This contributes a lot to the “missing time”, and to the diegetic immersion. I can literally play for an hour straight, without any pausing, until I find my eyes hurting and stopped for a moment and realised that a whole hour was gone. There isn’t any time reference in the game as everything happens so quickly, including the transitions between the games you play, which are almost non-existent.
Another element is the little message after GAME OVER which says “Only XX (number of) crates to go until your high score”. The same message appears no matter how worse you performed compare to your highest score. This is a reinforcement to the player in the sense that he/she is encouraged to give it a try again and again because the record is “not that far away”.
A third element is the one that virtually all games contain, the reward system. Unlockable characters, weapons, settings and modes are all available by getting more crates.
Another side element is the background music. It is probably the symptom of the “addiction”. Whenever I heard the background music without playing the game (e.g. on the official website), flashbacks of the game of immediately come up to my mind.
I will say I should stop this “addiction” asap so that it won’t turn into a real addiction.
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