Well, first of all, anyone can make a mobile phone game. If you can code and you've got the right program then there's nothing but imagination stopping you, from pulling off a game, that'll be talked about for months, and played by millions of people. What's more, is that it really doesn't take long to make a decent mobile phone game. It only took three days for Dong Nguyen to create Flappy Bird. He didn't need an artist, a sound engineer, or a programmer. He's done the game all by himself. In three days.
So why not develop and publish a three day project on a bigger machine?
Because of target audience. Console games, are for gamers. They are for people who want to sit on a couch, and have a go at a certain genre of their likeability, which usually includes an interesting storyline, and tens if not hundreds of mechanics involved. It is very unlikely, a console gamer will pick up and play a game that is limited to one or two mechanics, and has been coded in 3 days by one person. I caught myself playing the Impossible Game on a PS3 before, but it just didn't feel right, like it did when I played the exact same version on my smart phone. I just thought - come on, you've got a Playstation in front of you. You can do better...
Computer games are the same, maybe excluding Flash games, which are pretty much like mobile games, with an exception they never become popular, simply because people don't play Flash games any more.
Mobile game target audience is much much wider, than its alternatives. Games like Flappy bird, Angry Birds, or Dots are for people who don't want to get involved with the game, but just want to have a go at something quickly, to kill time by giving themselves an easy challenge. There's no story, straightforward gameplay, and usually just one simple goal. Practically games like this are for everyone. And everyone have smart phones and access to games like this nowadays.
On top of that I love one game design principle, which fits to mobile phone games perfectly. It's the Bushnell's Law, which was frankly what brought Nguyen so much success.
It states:
'All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master.'
If players know how to play the game the minute they try it, but they find it challenging getting 5 points, then 10 points, then 30 points, they'll keep on trying until they beat their new score (and be superior to their friends). This is when the game becomes addicting and difficult to get hands off, which is what every games designer wants to see.
So in a nutshell, the reasons why I'm going for making mobile games are:
- Simple to develop
- Enormous target audience
- It has one design principle which is the secret to success
Wikipedia: Bushnells Law [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushnell%27s_Law [Accessed 13th September 2014]
The Keys For A Successful Mobile Game [ONLINE] Available at: http://greatpreneurs.com/keys-successful-mobile-game/ [Accessed 13th September 2014]
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