The latest game design challenge had you think about long-term casual gaming used to advertise. In this case, the advertisement was for the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games and the game needed to entice new players and old players

Observations
This was a very difficult challenge for most, with only a handful of entries coming in and most concentrating on the mini-game aspect of the game design rather than the long-term community features that would draw in players and keep them playing for four years. To put in perspective how long four years is, World of Warcraft is not even four years old yet (it will be in November).

The key is making a game that is simple enough for anyone to play, and for anyone to join at any time, but with enough new stuff being added over time so that the game doesn't grow stale. Having just mini-games isn't enough if they don't change or there isn't some extra incentive to play. Most people will get bored.

Many people thought customization of player avatars was a good way to bring that online. However, just allowing customization doesn't take full advantage of connectivity. Do new outfits unlock over time or with skill? Can I trade with other players? What else do I work toward over time if I keep playing? These are some of the questions that one can ponder to drive a better community-based game.

Community-driven design is a difficult task because many of us are used to designing single-player "traditional" games. Casual advergames are a different breed and require a different mindset when thinking about them.

And there were two submissions this week that seemed to get that.

Best Entries
Team Québec, Road to 2012
Team Quebec: Roxanne Blouin-Payer, aspiring game designer and student at Université de Montréal, Montreal; Max Michaud-Shields (forum name: Kodiak), aspiring game designer, Trenton, Ontario; Marco Roy, aspiring game designer and software engineering student at École de technologie supérieure (ETS), Montreal.

Team Quebec figured out a way to condense 116 years into about three. Their concept is to showcase both the history of the Olympics and the history of London since 1896, when the first modern Olympic Games was held. An Olympic stadium, Olympic village (complete with souvenir shop), museum, and leader boards as well as discussion boards, round out a virtual world that has enough casual stuff to appeal to many kinds of players, both competitive and non-competitive.

Altug Isigan, casual writer, 2012 Virtual Olympiad London
One thing we liked about Altug Isigan's submission is how he separated two parts of his game concept into "global" and "local" levels. The local level provides most of the game participation content, while the global level provides content -- a reason for people to come back to the site again and again, even if they are not players. This solution took second place because the mini-games weren't really described, but the general approach Isigan took toward the solution was well done.