Casual Games for the 360

[CastleofIllusion]

I'm looking at getting some games for the 360, mostly ones that you can just pick up, play and not get caught up with a story, just pure fun. More or less a party game that can be played single-player as well.

[moycon]

You might check out the Live Arcade Store, there are a bunch of more casual games available there.

Retail wise, they just released Angry Birds on the 360. I was playing a game called Create awhile ago. It was pretty fun, although they have taken the servers down, so any online elements are gone. Might also like Eden. You can play that with a standard controller, or the Kinect. Speaking of that, most Kinect games are pretty casual in my eyes.

[Spoon]

I'd recommend Castle Crashers on XBLA. Fun with friends or by yourself. Old school side scrolling beat 'em up with RPG elements. Short distances between save points, easy to learn how to play, high replay value after you've beaten it, and incredibility addictive if you're one of those gamers that like unlockable characters or collecting things.

[Metal Ghost]

I would place a high vote for the latest Rayman game on Xbox, Rayman Origins. That game was very, VERY fun. Great as a single player game, but just a blast if you had 2 or more folks playing at once. Me, my daughter and my buddy play that pretty regularly with my wife and youngest watching, and we all get a kick out of it.

[+Cafeman]

Did you ever try out the Guitar Hero / Rock Band games? We had lots of fun having parties playing Guitar Hero World Tour , which allows a guitar, a bass, a singer (microphone), and a drummer simultaneously and at their own difficulty setting. They probably a lot cheaper now, too. They get old pretty quick as a 1-player game though, IMO.

[iswitt]

Tetris Evolution, de Blob 2, Plants vs. Zombies (XBLA), The Sims 3, Child of Eden, Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing and most of the Kinect titles are worth a try.

[toptenmaterial]

There is an XBLA sampler disc too which I'm sure can be had for pretty cheap. It has Pac-Man: Championship Edition which is a pretty sweet game.

[+Random Terrain]

Peggle is a game you can pick up and play:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMo2Vegh8hA

[pce_collector]

Hail to the Chimp...trust me...IT ROCKS!!!

 

[StormSurge]

Fez, an 8-bit beauty: http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/12/fez-review/

[Metal Ghost]

Not sure if it was already mentioned, but Mark of the Ninja is absolutely great. There is a story, but it's not as if you have to get wrapped up in it or anything. Just an all around great game.

[Unbeliever]

How about Sega Classics from the Genesis? I mean, my wife just bought that for "us" (more for her, as she loves Sonic), and they seem easy to pick up and play. Not all the games on it, however, but the arcade favs from the Genesis era would be fun for a few minutes...right?

[pce_collector]

If you love movies or trivia style games, I'd suggest Scene It. While it's not geared for single-player gaming, you can play it by yourself to rack up the achievements.

 

[Karyyk]

You should check out the Indie games store. There are some decent ones in there, and most are $1. There are plenty of turds as well, but at that price point, it's not a huge loss. Start with Insanity X (a great Berzerk clone), then go over to http://www.xboxindies.com/

[iswitt]

Just got Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear. Great budget title and casual game as well. It's an on-rails FPS reminiscent of Area 51 arcade kind of stuff. Apparently it's only available on Amazon. I went to GameStop looking for it and their database had a listing for it but there was a note in there saying they would never buy it even though it had come out four days before I visited the store. Very strange.