The games2win website

Calcutta, Aug. 21: Wary of mutated bodies spewing blood and gore in Half-Life or the tediousness of the six-CD installation of Unreal Tournament 2004?

India's first "casual gaming site", www.games2win.com, with its small and easy-to-get-started-with games, could be what you're looking for.

"Though a little slower than the West, gaming as a culture has arrived in India," said Aloke Kejriwal, CEO of contests2win.com, which has just launched the game site with the tagline "get addicted".

The casual gaming market, according to the Mumbai-based entrepreneur, comprises gamers who are intimidated by heavy-duty console-based games that have elaborate plots and are difficult to play.

"They would prefer games that are easy to learn, require no skills, are not fiercely competitive and can be played just as entertainment," Kejriwal said.

The target number of gamers is potentially all of the 25 million Internet users the country has at present.

Games2win.com is starting out with 50 free games, including 10 that can be downloaded and played on mobile phones.

Genres range from shooting to action and sports to logic. From defending a castle under attack to a session of table tennis or flying around as the Rocket Man, there are quick and easy games for everyone.

The idea of launching a dedicated website on casual gaming was also triggered by the response to mobile2win, another division of contests2win.

"The mobile gaming section, where people download small games on their mobiles, proved a huge success," said Kejriwal.

Over 3,000 users have registered in the past few days at games2win.com and the target is a base of one million in the first year.

Though content is free as of now, the site is looking at a subscription model for revenues. "We're planning to make certain games available for download.. Bonus levels of some free games can also be accessed for a price," Kejriwal said.

But the payment mode - with most players still far from comfortable with online payment systems - has to be made easy, he admitted.

There's something for content developers, too. "We have a library of around 500 games that we will utilise. Besides, we are encouraging people to write their own games that we can feature on the site on a revenue-sharing basis," said Kejriwal.