[Monolith]

I find that HOG's sort of require the need of a story. Why? I feel that in order to compete in the market, you need to do more than just a puzzle game that follows the same genre based formula.

I guess the best way to make the game Casual and Hardcore is to offer two modes. Casual will offer the story, but in a more to the point fashion with less scenes. The hardcore mode will offer full length cutscenes and dialogue.