Minecraftmay be the most-sold video game on Earth, but it's very different from its fellow chart-toppers. It has basic graphics and no narrative – and yet it's captured the imaginations of over 100 million players. But how has this indie game become a global phenomenon?

If they think about gaming, most people would conjure images of Playstations, Xboxes, Nintendo consoles and PCs. But after a rapid rise in popularity, mobile gaming could be set to overtake console and PC gaming as the 'core' market for the gaming industry.

Nearly 70% of US mobile gamers are women, but they're underserved. Ungendered or male-oriented games dominate. Celebutante simulatorKim Kardashian: Hollywoodis disrupting the market with more than a million downloads in the first two weeks, but what’s caused this game to skyrocket to the top of the App Store?

The word 'gamer' might make you think of teens in darkened bedrooms. In reality, over 60% of all American gamers are adults, and the average gamer is a 30-year-old with a job and family. But why do we play games beyond childhood? And is the way we play as adults any different?