One of the core pillars of arcade games is that they are easy to pick up and intuitive. After that, core aspects include the need for quick reflexes, hitting high scores, fast restarts, and gameplay that is repetitive yet compelling. These are all qualities that have only been amplified through mobile arcade games, embodying many of the key elements of the original arcade gaming machines. It was a very natural progression from these machines to smartphones and tablets. Games that can be launched in the blink of an eye, and players can throw themselves instantly into their arcade games.
Mobile devices are the perfect medium for these games to thrive, as they are nearly always accessible, provide all the necessary tools for players to take on these games, and gamers can make themselves comfortable and easily zone out playing mobile arcade games. The mobile platforms have not just replicated the arcade games of old, while they have taken a lot of the mechanics and design elements from these games, they have created practically an entirely new genre.
How Smartphones and Tablets Took Over
Arcade gaming machines have very much become a thing of the past, a retro form of entertainment that is more of an indulgence for the historical enthusiast or diehard gamer than it is for the general public. Because nowadays, mobile phones and tablets have completely taken over as the most prominent source for players to access their games. It has beaten browser based arcade games, and belittled gaming consoles as well. Though it would be unfair, in practical terms, to really compare mobile games to their predecessors.
Because, to be completely fair, mobile games cannot accommodate the same kinds of complex actions and control functions as any of the other gaming mediums described. With gaming consoles, players have 2 movement sticks, at least 6 buttons. Laptops have full keyboards that can be used for gaming functions. Even the arcade games could supply mini joysticks, potentially with a few buttons. Mobile games do not have any of these practicalities for players to execute different actions. In fact, many mobile based games are designed so that people can play them with just one hand.
But making the games more simple has not diminished any of the excitement around these games. Far from it, it has made arcade games more accessible and addictive than ever before, and they have exploded with popularity.
Building Games for Apps and Mobile Sites
To explore the way these mobile games play, and their resulting popularity, is perhaps easiest explained going back to the very basics. In how these games are actually built. Designing the arcade games for mobile users is all about creating titles that prioritise speed, simplicity and navigation that can be managed on a single screen, without console structures or keyboards. The other big limitation is screen resolution and size. Games cannot maintain the same graphics and tiny details as an 8K UHD TV screen.
Instead, they have to use the resolution, controls, and hardware capacity that mobile devices offer. Leaning a little back from the graphically immaculate gaming consoles or desktop games, these mobile games take their blueprints from the original arcade gaming machines. They thrive on simpler graphics, straightforward gameplay, and creating a compelling narrative out of the simpler resources they have to work with. Designing games with lighter demands means they are also a lot faster, and can function on the grand majority of mobile devices. It also lends to the possibility of creating standalone apps for the games, for bespoke interfaces, and more importantly, offline gaming sessions.
NonStop Availability and Accessibility
Gaming consoles and PCs took over physical gaming arcades because they allowed players to access games from the comfort of their homes. Mobile games took those into a completely new dimension. Because people carry smartphones practically everywhere they go, from sitting on a bus to the restroom at a workplace, smartphones are the accessory that people carry with them more than anything else. By unlocking their potential as gaming devices, these can easily fill out the spaces between waiting, travelling, carrying out light work that is not too labour or mentally demanding. And, unfortunately, we would have to add it can also be used to procrastinate.
However, by filling out these areas, mobile arcade games can be played virtually all the time, and they are widely accessible. The games do not need high powered phones or special tech to run. They can be accessed in minutes, if they are offered on mobile based browsers, but the majority are delivered in bespoke apps. To make matters better, gamers don’t need to worry about starting a session that they won’t be able to finish. Because, by design, as lot of these games are based around missions, levels, or rounds, which are conveniently timed to last a few minutes at very best.
Play, Pause, Pick Up and Go
That segues well into the next aspect of mobile arcade games. They are not endeavours that require a player to free up an hour of their time to get into. Instead, these games can be played, paused, and continued on a highly frequent basis. Some games may have longer rounds, or levels that cannot be finished as quickly. But the developers handle this tiny inconvenience by adding possibilities to save the progress, or just allow gamers to close the session and try again later. This flexibility makes mobile games a whole lot more accessible than their counterparts.
It also changes the entire gaming culture and expectations of the players as well. Because they are no longer sitting at a gaming machine and patiently building up to beat a high score. Nor are they running an endless survival game and pushing their focus to the limit. Instead, the games become far more easily digestible, and gaming preferences revolve around convenience and engagement. These games need to be compelling enough for players to want to come back. If they feel boring or a little too simple for the player, they can just close the game, download another mobile game, and give that one a whirl.
Retaining Player Engagement and Introducing Features
Therefore, a lot of the mobile games will employ an important arcade gaming methodology. Regardless of how simple or complex the game, they revolve around short burst rounds, and there has to be a feeling of progression in the game. Or more simply put, the mobile games have to give players a clear indication that they are heading somewhere, the game is not just there to fill a gap. The games can get harder with every passing round, introduce new features or elements, or have level ups and upgrades to give players the idea that they have a solid direction.
As the games get more layered and perhaps more challenging or difficult, players will want to keep coming back to play the game. They may have specific upgrades or levels teased, which the players will build up to and try to reach. They are anticipating something at this point, and the games are not just endless rounds without a point.
Another way to convey a direction is by adding some kind of storyline or narrative. Creating a story requires a setting, characters, and giving players some kind of objective that they can look forward to. The narrative can be changed and games can throw in all kinds of red herrings or plot twists to keep players engaged. The gamers are not completing missions, in these games, to count up their body kill or record their fastest lap. Instead, they are progressing the rounds to find out what happens next in the story.
How Touch Based Controls Developed
Gamers are becoming more savvy to the different types of controls that mobile games can possess. These may have started pretty simple, with simple tap or enter input on a mobile keyboard. But no more. Mobile games nowadays can integrate a wide range of gestures and response based actions to give players more control in the gameplay. They may not have physical buttons, keyboards, or even mouses to give players more input in the games, but they don’t really need to. Because they are designed around these, using organic and natural feeling mobile screen actions to drive the games forward.
Mobile users already know the tap, swipe, and drag movements on their devices. They use these on a daily basis when answering emails, picking up calls, zooming into a mobile web page, and tap on links. The games use the very same gestures, only reimagining them in game play scenarios. Many of these are intuitive and familiar to mobile users. They don’t even require the same kinds of skill based dexterity that players can pick up on classic game consoles or desktops.
Tapping
One of the most fundamental actions is tapping the mobile screen. Older games may have dedicated button layouts on the mobile screen, to replicate a keyboard, and have players tap these buttons to do actions. But as the games became more widely popular and tech got better, the mimicked keyboards were dropped for more in-game interactions. Tapping can be used for a variety of functions.
A single tap can be used to jump, shoot, change direction, or activate some weapon or power up. It can also function as a rhythmic device, where players must tap at the right time to execute a perfect jump, or hit the target they are shooting at. Tapping is one of the easiest mobile gestures out there. It can be done with one hand, and reduces the barrier to entry for players.
Swiping
Swiping is one of the more expressive controls, as it creates a vector that can be measured for speed, direction, length and if there are any curves or loops. Speed in a swipe can indicate how quickly the action is done, or its severity or power. Direction can indicate movement, such as moving a character, or directing a shot to hit specific targets. Length of the swiping and if there are any curves, can really define other, finer interactions within the game. They can be used to make attacks, change movement direction, switch lanes, dodge obstacles, or, for the more complex swipes, be used to create a combo chain of actions.
Drag & Release
This action, like a swipe, can be used to create vectors and calculate their length, speed, and direction, but they are often calculating two aspects of the gesture. Those vector inputs, and the length that the player’s finger remains in contact with the screen. Many shooting or projectile launching games use drag and release mechanics to define power and direction. But these can also be used in puzzle games, or in strategy building games, and other types of problem solving titles.
Tap & Hold
Tap and Hold is similar to drag and drop, only there are no vectors calculated here. Instead, it is solely the interaction between tapping, and when the player releases their finger. It can be used for charging attacks, increasing a jump’s height, slowing down time, activating shields, or creating momentum in a game. The longer the hold, the more powerful the action is going to be. But there may be max hold limits, which players have to be careful to avoid.
Multi Touch Gestures
This can refer to many different types of interactions, but essentially, they are any actions that are more complex than a single tap, swipe, or hold movement. Mobile games can introduce gestures such as pinching movements – like when people zoom in on something, dual tap features, simultaneous movement and ability activation, or two finger steering. This allows for more complex movements, but it has to be designed in a way to not over clutter the screen or make it too technically difficult for players to use. Because they still need to focus on what is happening on the screen, and with advanced gestures they risk covering the screen or missing out on key visual hints.