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The most sneered upon of the gaming platforms, enter, mobile.
Gaming on a tablet or a phone is almost universally considered to be casual gaming. And, with games such as Flappy Bird, Angry Birds, or Candy Crush Saga, you may think there is plenty of reason to this assumption. These games don’t compare to something like The Last of Us, or Assassin’s Creed. Even I’d agree that they’re casual games; games played for the sole purpose of killing time, not games that someone makes time to play.
However, in the mobile gaming world, there are gems to be found. Mobile is still a relatively new platform, and thus, developers have a lot of difficulty producing a game that only requires two thumbs to play. Some flail about, trying to bring what works on console and PC to mobile, such as first person shooters. The reality is that these games just don’t work well enough on a touch screen to provide a satisfying gaming experience. A shooter requires the ability to use three inputs at once: aiming, shooting, and walking. This is impossible to achieve with only two thumbs.
But some developers have gotten it right. Some have produced experiences that work brilliantly on mobile.
Games like Out There, a rouge-like space simulator, or Pathogen, an abstract strategy game, work extremely well on a mobile device. They don’t provide experiences like triple A titles on a PC or a console, but they most certainly aren’t casual games either.
There are also ports of PC indie hits, such as the likes of Frozen Synapse, or, more famously, Minecraft. The developers of these games have done a great job on the input side of things, and they really shine as a result.
In summary, then, the main point is that not all games on mobile platforms are casual. They’re merely different to what we’re used to. And as phones and tablets become more and more powerful, we may start seeing newer, fresher experiences
Gaming on a tablet or a phone is almost universally considered to be casual gaming. And, with games such as Flappy Bird, Angry Birds, or Candy Crush Saga, you may think there is plenty of reason to this assumption. These games don’t compare to something like The Last of Us, or Assassin’s Creed. Even I’d agree that they’re casual games; games played for the sole purpose of killing time, not games that someone makes time to play.
However, in the mobile gaming world, there are gems to be found. Mobile is still a relatively new platform, and thus, developers have a lot of difficulty producing a game that only requires two thumbs to play. Some flail about, trying to bring what works on console and PC to mobile, such as first person shooters. The reality is that these games just don’t work well enough on a touch screen to provide a satisfying gaming experience. A shooter requires the ability to use three inputs at once: aiming, shooting, and walking. This is impossible to achieve with only two thumbs.
But some developers have gotten it right. Some have produced experiences that work brilliantly on mobile.
Games like Out There, a rouge-like space simulator, or Pathogen, an abstract strategy game, work extremely well on a mobile device. They don’t provide experiences like triple A titles on a PC or a console, but they most certainly aren’t casual games either.
There are also ports of PC indie hits, such as the likes of Frozen Synapse, or, more famously, Minecraft. The developers of these games have done a great job on the input side of things, and they really shine as a result.
In summary, then, the main point is that not all games on mobile platforms are casual. They’re merely different to what we’re used to. And as phones and tablets become more and more powerful, we may start seeing newer, fresher experiences