Parking Games

The genre of parking games encompasses a large variety of games, ranging from slow-paced puzzle games to reflex-testing timed games. In the most basic, puzzle-based type, this is an comparatively old type of game. You can follow them back to old-fashioned slider puzzles like “Gridlock” and “Traffic Jam”, where you simply move blocks, or vehicles around until you get the vehicle to the target position. The modern-day variations vary from faithful implementations of these puzzles to what are pretty much driving simulations.

In these puzzle-type car parking games the goal is to figure out the correct sequence of turns necessary to get from the start to the end. Sometimes you will have multiple vehicles that need to be moved. It may be timed, either to set a hard maximum on the time needed to figure out the puzzle, or simply as a means of providing some measure of success more than simple completion. The degree of realness can vary as well: Several games in this niche are fairly faithful replications of the old block-and-slider type games, while numerous involve a more realistic area for the player to travel in with more possible directions of movement. Generally, in these puzzle-type parking games, the player is in total control of what happens: the surroundings is fixed, and the main task of the player is figure out the best succession of moves to manipulate it.

In other games, the environment comprises of many different variables and your goal is to respond to it. The original task is the same: get from some place to another. But now you have to respond to obstacles that appear along the way—typically other vehicles. These are generally much more based on quick reaction time on the player’s part, and plans formed at the beginning of the level are typically not as useful. The key emphasis is on the player’s power to react to either random or timed obstacles.

From the standpoint of a developer, the core mechanic of car parking games gives plenty of room for fine-tune side-mechanics and themes. For instance, one newcomer into the field involves moving snow to a target zone with a snow plow while avoiding parked cars. Likewise, levels can a great deal be automatically generated pretty successfully, giving huge replay value. It is also ordinarily reasonably obvious what will create a difficult level and what will make an easy one, allowing for simple tweaking of the difficulty level.

From the point of view of a player, parking games typically go into the category of “easy to learn, difficult to master.” Usually the primary goal and mechanics of a car parking game are fairly natural, but a well-designed one can continue ramping up the difficulty level as well as tossing new obstacles at the player. As well, the range of games from puzzle-based to twitch-based means that parking games can appeal to a large range of casual and not-so-casual gamers.

Parking games are a somewhat new niche, and there is a lot of room to grow. Happy gaming!

Playing parking games online can be loads of fun! There are so many different types and difficulty levels. Really anyone can have fun with these games. The author recommends going to www.parkinggames.net for all your parking pleasures.