The Infinity Blade or Minigore series, for example, or anything made by Illusion Labs. These games are genius and most consoles don’t even have a touch screen or utilise it well like some smartphone games do.
Also why do people look at me weirdly 👀 when I play games on my phone in public while waiting for something?
I see mobile games as the natural evolution of flash games from the old days. I used to spend my time playing those games and I had fun, but I would never insist on them being the best experience I’ve ever had in gaming. They were just cute games to spend some time on. To use your examples, Minigore is just like Boxhead. It may be fun but there’s nothing “genius” or ground-breaking about it.
In the end, gaming is just an experience, and our emotional attachment to it decides our rating. I hardly care about Call of Duty, but the people who spent their childhood playing online with friends rate it as one of their best/most formative gaming experiences. Surprise, people’s opinions on things are subjective.
By the way, as you’re the same guy who dunked on Uncharted, The last of us, God of war and Witcher for being games that rely too much on story exposition and have too little gameplay, you seem to have a preference for games with zero/near zero story and offer immediate gratification via gameplay. That’s also a characteristic that lots of mobile games share, so that may shape your preference as well.
Personally, I rate mobile games very low because I hate their monetization and I despise touch controls.
Damn i forgot about boxhead… I must have spent more hours in that game than anything in my Steam library back in the day.
No one in their right mind would do proper gaming on a phone. Touch interfaces are shit.
But I enjoy those mobile-only games 😅 How would I play them otherwise? And I think touch interfaces allow for some gameplay you wouldn’t ever get anywhere else, like swipe actions and multi-finger gestures, which you can see in games like Infinity Blade or Fruit Ninja (or even True Skate, which seems to have quite a following, not my fave personally but I can’t imagine that on any other device)
Those touch mechanics are things you don’t need on any other platform as opposed to literally the only option via mobile. Games as shallow as Fruit Ninja, seriously? You ever pay a Nintendo Wii? Or any of the Xbox Kinect type motion tracking games (i dont remember the Playstation variant)? That’s a hell of a lot more immersive than twitching your finger on your phone. Lets not even get into the world of VR gaming that’s been around for years now.
Multi finger gestures- like an entire PC keyboard…while moving your mouse? Can you use 10 fingers on your phone at the same time? Or multi button/direction combos on a controller? Plus the fact you can program multi-function macros on a PC.
Pinch zoom- mouse wheel: faster, more control, & way more range.
Swipe- like move your mouse? Or a controller joystick? Or the arrow keys? RTS or any top-down games have been using “swipe” variants to move around maps basically as long as the game genre has existed. Most mice come standard these days with thumb buttons that are pre-programmed as literally Forward and Backwards buttons (think page turn, or swipe left/right). Even the mechanic of hotkeys that most games have.
Add in the ability to right-click, or hold any button and click and you open literally endless opportunities for any sort of “finger” or “swipe” type control. A PC mouse is literally your hand with a LOT more fingers.
But lets go deeper…there ARE touch interfaces for other platforms. Not used much for gaming, but how do you think digital artists draw and paint?
Basically, these touch gestures you’re so hung up on are literally all you have- and it ain’t much. Anything else i could add has been said multiple times from all the other comments….
None of the examples you listed would be a good version of true skate, you swipe with two fingers simultaneously in different directions and at different speeds to get the tricks you’re looking for, the idea being that each finger is a foot on a skateboard. It is pretty unique and one of the better mobile games out there.
A PC mouse is your hand with one finger and lots of buttons… How would I use the multiple fingers you refer to to simultaneously move up with one and down with the other?
I don’t think anyone is arguing that mobile does everything better… Obviously a keyboard can make more use of multiple buttons than a touchscreen, that’s also true vs a controller but that exists too. Simplicity is sometimes what people want or need, I like being able to play games on a train journey so finding the decent mobile ones is very worth doing for me.
Also why does this comment read so angrily? We’re talking about casual gaming, just chill.
The default control scheme for the game Sessions is using a controller with 1 foot per analog stick, so that’s covered. I think Skate XL has a control scheme like this too.
But that doesn’t replicate feet on a board. In true skate you literally position your fingers on the screen so they mimic feet on a board, and the movements required for your fingers are moreorless that of your feet in real life skating.
I’m definitely not saying there isn’t a way to control the game, or that games don’t exist with similar play styles, but taking away the actual placement of fingers on the board onscreen would take away an awful lot of the reason people enjoy it, and it wouldn’t be the same game.
the movements required for your fingers are moreorless that of your feet in real life skating.
Have you played Sessions? This is how it works in that game too, literally the only difference is your fingers are on analog sticks rather than on the sheet of glass that is your phone screen. The developers ended up including an alternative control scheme more similar to EA’s Skate series because of how intense the learning curve on their control scheme is.
but taking away the actual placement of fingers on the board onscreen would take away an awful lot of the reason people enjoy it
I guess this is where we just have to agree to disagree. I can’t think of any reason I’d find blocking part of my field of view as an enhancement to the experience.
I haven’t no, I would argue you’re not blocking the screen though, you’re part of it. And using analogue joysticks doesn’t sound even slightly intuitive in the way true skate is. I’m sure it’s fun but doesn’t sound like the same experience at all. When I say they’re moreorless what your feet would need to do that’d because it’s based on where you place them on the board and how you move them in relation to that.
Perfectly happy to disagree though as that’s kinda my point in this thread, everyone likes what they like but a lot of people in here stating things as if their preference is just a fact.
Mobile games have a place and don’t need to be the cash grabby advertising hangers that a lot of people think of when you say mobile game. You just need to hunt them down a bit more to find the good ones.
I like games of almost all genres and will happily sink 100 hours into a console/PC game too, but it feels like an oversimplification to write off mobile games as a whole.
Well, I guess it’s time for my biannual reinstallation of true skate!
Mobile games get a lot of shit for some very valid reasons, but so many have written them off entirely because of the microtransactions and/or touchscreen controls when there are some very good games that don’t suffer from either of these issues.
You’re absolutely right though, it allows for things like true skate to exist which is brilliant. And if you can be bothered to hunt out the good paid games you can avoid microtransactions entirely. Bloons Td6 is arguably the best value game I’ve ever paid for given the hours I’ve sunk into it over a year or so. Cost me £6 once and has never asked for another penny.
Also the room series is fantastic, as is monument valley. The good ones are out there, but people will download a few free games, get bombarded by ads and microtransaction “deals” and write off the whole genre.
If you like the Room series, have you tried the Forever Lost trilogy or anything by Fire Mapel Games?
Some of the greatest puzzel games I have played.
I haven’t but I’ll give them a go, thanks!
I also enjoyed the rusty lake series if you like point and click mystery puzzle games.
I will look that up, never heard of it. Thank you too.
Nintendo Wii/WiiU/DS/Switch did it better.
I also have some Sim City game on my phone. It’s great for when you have a couple of minutes to waste waiting on a train or something. I have nothing against mobile games itself, but I wouldn’t consider that gaming.
As someone that used to be a somewhat competitive gamer back in the days, I don’t like being lumped in with people playing mobile games. We are not the same. Call me a gatekeeper, but my aunt playing candy crush just isn’t a “gamer” in my book.
I’ve yet to meet a game with a touch screen interface that doesn’t annoy the hell out of me
Tower defence games work well on touchscreen if you enjoy strategy type games.
Between bloons and kingdom rush there are also some top tier games available on mobile.
Yeah beyond tower defence games I agree.
Solitaire!
Peglin and slay the spire are both great on the phone!
It’s rare I find a mobile game that is truly a game and not merely a slot machine with a different appearance. And of those that are decent games, there are far better equivalent games on literally any other platform. For example, Galaxy on Fire 2 is a great little mobile game space sim like Freelancer. But Freelancer is still a better game and could work just as well on a mobile device.
I’d love some console alternatives to certain classic mobile games for me, do you know of any good dual-stick shooters (like Minigore or Guerrilla Bob), or swordfight/strategic combat type games like the style of Infinity Blade/Epoch/Dark Meadow?
I should note I always love 3D graphics and can barely play any 2-dimensional games
Infinity Blade looks like Dark Souls on rails. You could try Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro or Elden Ring. If you want to get more in depth tactical swordfighting, you could try Mount & Blade: Bannerlord which also comes with the RPG, grand strategy and 4X elements in addition to the swordplay.
As for twin stick shooters: I really liked The Ascent which is the most current game of that genre I know of.
I watched the videos of minigore and boxhead someone posted
Looks like a couple steam games i have. Vampire Survivors (which just came out with couch co op mode)
And another one i was gifted that im very much enjoying is Halls of Torment
But they are retro 2d games so you probably arent interested at all. Basically the same genre so should be very relatable if you ever develop a stomach for it. But they will always be there if you ever change enough and start to feel nostalgic
Going back to your original point is phones because of their nature are very limited. From battery life to using half of the screen for the controls.
The types of games created usually have a better version on other devices.
But when it all boils down to it phones arent developed as gaming devices so devices that are designed to be gaming devices will naturally give developers the best tools to utilize that just a phone isnt going to offer.
None of this means you cant have more fun with a mobile game. Your experiences are your own. But when talking about things in a broader perspective rather than a personal one, its gonna be hard to compete with gaming specific devices.
Much like a pc assembled for gaming is going to offer a massive advantage over a literal supercomputer because in spite of the massive advantage in computing power, the latest super computer just isnt designed to play games, or rather, games arent designed for super computers so the superior hardware is not taking advantage of its capabilities.
I would be very interested in what a game designed for a supercomputer would be able to do, probably some VR thing that would blow all our minds, but until enough people have one in their home, whos gonna figure out what to do with all them FLOPS for a game?
Staggering would be the cost to develop such a game and it just isnt possible to recoup the cost of such a thing.
Again would love to see what the people who could do it would do with it but it wont happen in my lifetime and i could maybe see the year 2100 if science helps me out or im just freakishly lucky
I should note the best game ive ever played is a text based multiplayer game you can play on a telnet program (if it still existed) and was a free game. Nothing like it exists for me today, but i would play it again if i could get ahold of it. Its basically a text based mmo or what is the closest thing to it. It was probably wow that killed it
Many mobile games are just thinly veiled attempts at monetization. Get people hooked, then start adding time-bound gates you can unlock, add PvP with loot boxes and multiple types of premium currency that’s hard to keep track of. Doesn’t matter what the game is about - you can do this to racing games, fighting games, gardening games, whatever.
That said there are still mobile games that are fun and genuinely good gameplay - I used to love Minigore too, after it was available on Android. But these are few and far between.
because 99.9% of them are cheap cash grabs and little more than a clicker game which just changes some arbitrary numbers to simulate progression.
The rapacious micro transactions we see in games today started on mobile. People associate mobile games with that model. I have some mobile games, but these days they’re all premium. The gacha system just starts to feel like work to me after a while.
As to the stares, non gamers always sneer at gamers. You’re playing games in public. They’d probably give you the same looks if you had a handheld console.
The vast majority of mobile games are not designed to be good games. They are designed to be addictive vehicles for advertising and micro transactions.
No offense but how old are you
7
Multiple things:
- A lot of mobile games include ridiculous micro transactions
- a lot are copy paste concepts or are missing game depth and complexity (comparable with Minesweeper or Solitaire)
- the standard input device (touch) is not great for traditional games developed for physical button games
There are definitely exceptions to the problems, but I haven’t found a mobile game yet that catches me for 100h.
If you like tower defense games bloons td6 will.
£6 for probably an average of 30min - 1hr per day for the last year for me. With shit loads of content still not done and lots I haven’t learned yet.
Because the big majority of mobile games are filled with ads, pay to win, made for ipad kids, have a very simple concept and are generally just copy pastes of the thousands of shitty games on the store.
Part this and part gate keeping.
I wouldn’t call one “not a real game”. If you like them, great, play them. I have not been very happy with mobile games, myself, however.
A couple of reasons:
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While they don’t have to do so, many mobile games appear to me to be designed to cater to people playing in short spurts. That is, you don’t have to build up a lot of metal state about the game; you can play a bit while waiting in a line or something, put the thing on hold, do something else, come back. A lot of my favorite games don’t work like that.
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For a number of genres, using a touchscreen is a serious limitation, because part of the screen is obstructed by fingers. Phones can use external input devices, usually via Bluetooth, and so you can make a game that requires an external input device, but it’s an inconvenience to lug one around with a phone, so smartphone games generally need to be designed to be at least reasonably-able to be played on the touchscreen alone. That places some constraints on the way the game can work.
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Touchscreen accuracy is limited compared to a mouse pointer, which again limits a number of genres of games.
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Not everyone using a smartphone game can be playing sound while doing so; carrying headphones/earbuds around isn’t something that all players will do. That means that smartphone games generally need to be playable without sound, which is a constraint that PC games generally don’t have.
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The major benefit smartphones have is that they’re mobile. A smartphone can generally run for a while, as long as most of that is idling. Playing games in most genres burns through their battery quickly. You can carry USB powerstations, but kind of a pain.
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Even in genres – like turn-based ones – that really don’t need much battery consumption, for some reason, game developers – unlike developers of many other application types – often seem to feel the need to have stuff going on while nothing’s happening in the game, burning battery life. I’d like to have the option to minimize battery usage.
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I would say that a greater proportion of smartphone games than PC games have in-app purchases and ads, neither of which I like.
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Many game genres tend to benefit from a wider field of view. Smartphone screens held normally take up a very small portion of one’s visual field.
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I am not particularly enthusiastic about having Google track and profile me. A large portion of the commercial games on Android require that one use Google Play Services and this requires a Google account. I’m not willing to get a Google account. This limits availability of many commercial games. I have no problem with getting a GOG account on the PC, and am at least less concerned about Valve, with Steam, than Google.
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I have no idea why, but a higher percentage of mobile games seem to go for a cutesy, simplified vector aesthetic. Maybe it’s because they need to run on screens that may vary a great deal in size; I don’t know, but it’s there. Nothing intrinsically wrong with that style, but I’m not especially enthusiastic about it. The Game Boy had the same “cutesy” tendency back when, relative to larger, fixed consoles, so maybe it’s to deal with small screens.
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Most mobile games I’ve played that I’ve liked (e.g. Shattered Pixel Dungeon) are also available on the PC, and I find that it’s more-comfortable to play there.
So for me, at least, the mobile gaming experience hasn’t really been one that I’ve been all that happy with.
I could certainly see games that I think would work well with a smartphone. Choice of Games-type multiple-choice interactive fiction, or gamebooks. Those are (or at least can be) light on a battery, are fine on a touchscreen. I’ve generally played those on a tablet rather than a phone – I think that even with those, more screen space is desirable, given the option – but I have done those, and I think that they’re all right. Annoyingly-enough, Twine games – which I would think could be a good match for mobile – aren’t, because Android browsers don’t have an ability to view file:// URLs and Twine builds pages that don’t always work well on small mobile screens. There hasn’t been the kind of explosion of freely-available games in this genre that there have been for the keyboard-oriented Z-Machine and TADS interactive fiction VMs on the PC, though.
Deckbuilding games – though I’d rather have ones without animation or 3D stuff going on, to reduce battery consumption – would be another possibility that I’d like. If cards are designed for a small screen, I think that it’d be reasonable.
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The only reason I can imagine people actually caring enough to look is if you’re playing with sound enabled in a public place, put your headphones on if so. No one wants to hear the sound from someone else’s phone.
I guess the only other thing I can imagine is if you get too into it, maybe? If you’re frantically tapping your screen, that’s gonna draw attention too.
When I game… I game hard 😎
No sound in public though, I would never be that obnoxious (or confident lol, too embarrassing)
I guess you’re twitching all over the place then.
gatekeepers gotta gatekeep
People just like to dunk on things to make themselves feel better. And this can be especially a thing in gaming because lots of gamers are badly-adjusted and desperately need to feel better. It’s nothing really to do with mobile games specifically at all, you see the same thing with anything outside of the very narrow window of “real” games ie the games these people happen to be into.
It’s one thing to have a preference, it’s quite another to look down on other people for having a different one. We’re all just choosing to spend our time staring at pixels on a screen.
Sure there is a ton of elitism in gaming but are we going to ignore mobile games are the birthplace of the shit monetization we see in modern AAA gaming. There is a reason why sports games and mobile games were the only gaming related things Konami wanted to do for the longest time (now they are just cashing in on lazy ports). Low expenses, high turnout! Like there are a likely a ton of great games on mobile phones but we can’t ignore the market is filled with glorified slot machines. Many mobile gamers have been pushing for this unfortunately.
That wasn’t really OP’s question though. I’m not a fan of mobile games either, mostly for the same reasons as you but also tbh just because I don’t like using my phone for much when I could get a better experience on a bigger screen.
But “I have some problems with the choices of the mobile gaming industry as a whole” is a very different statement to “lol mobile loser why don’t you try some real games?”
While yes that is the level headed answer but gamers aren’t level headed. People associate people with their game choices with the decisions of the developers/publishers all the time. We see this with people who do Gacha, COD, Etc. Where people’s hatred is for these people for supporting said things. The “true gamers” see most mobile gamers as gamblers and children because of the industry/monetization around it.
We’re all just choosing to spend our time staring at pixels on a screen.
So true lol. Slightly unrelated but I had an epiphany once that we use our touch devices so frequently, and of course we’re interacting with data in different ways, but physically we’re just sliding our fingers around on a pane of glass with lights behind it all the time. Must look so weird to monkeys 😂
Monkeys, and old people who never learned it! My grandma can just about manage to call me on WhatsApp but sometimes I’ll try and demonstrate basically anything else and she genuinely can’t see the difference between gestures I’m using, or which parts of the app are interactive or not.
Same in gaming. She saw me playing WoW once in about 2008 and I remember her being genuinely confused about how I could possibly tell what was my character and what was everything else. Even though, you know, your character is always in the middle of the screen. Just couldn’t grasp it no matter how long she sat and watched!
Bless 😅
