Flair Software
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessor | Flair Software |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Colin Courtney |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Video games |
Casual Arts, initially known as Flair Software, is a UK-based developer and publisher of video games, established in 1990 by Colin Courtney following the insolvency of his earlier venture, Tynesoft. The company continued to utilize Tynesoft's MicroValue label, releasing software for a variety of systems such as Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and SNES. Among its prominent titles are Elvira: The Arcade Game, which was originally planned under Tynesoft, alongside vibrant Amiga releases including Trolls, Oscar, and Whizz.
The 1993 platform game Oscar was paired with Millennium's Diggers to serve as a launch title for the Amiga CD32, ultimately becoming a representative mascot for the console. Flair’s 1994 fighting title Dangerous Streets, later included as a pack-in for the CD32, has gained notoriety as one of the poorest quality games released.
In 2010, Virtual Playground—affiliated with the MicroValue brand—remade and reissued Trolls and Oscar for Nintendo DSiWare under new names: Oscar in Toyland (due to licensing constraints related to Trolls) and Oscar in Movieland. The following year, Virtual Playground introduced two additional original Oscar games on the DSiWare platform.
Now operating under the name Casual Arts, the company focuses on creating and distributing games across PC, Mac, Nintendo DS/3DS, iOS, Android, and Kindle devices.
Selected games
- Turn n' Burn (1990; Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS)
- Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1991; Commodore 64) (publisher)
- Elvira: The Arcade Game (1991; Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS)
- Euro Soccer (1992; Amiga, DOS)
- Trolls (1992; Amiga, Amiga CD32, Commodore 64, DOS)
- Oscar (1993; Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS, SNES)
- Surf Ninjas (1993; Amiga CD32)
- Dangerous Streets (1994; Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS)
- Summer Olympix (1994; Amiga CD32)
- Whizz (1994; Amiga, DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, SNES)
- Rally Championships (1994; Amiga, DOS)
- Soccer Superstars (1995; Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS)
- Realm (1996; SNES)
- Time Paradox (1996; DOS)
- MegaMorph (1997; DOS)
- Double Agent (1998; Windows, Amiga)
- Jungle Legend (1999; Windows)