I kinda lament the state of mobile (phone) games.

[Not Spaceghost]

First of all I gotta say this doesn't mean there aren't any good mobile games, there are plenty of original awesome iOS / android games that are worth of your time I am going to be ranting about the awful relationship between gamer, mobile games and mobile monetization and how it's absolutely squandered the insane potential of the mobile platform as the true successor to handhelds.

So I'm going to begin with something that I don't know if many people will be able to relate to. But I love playing iOS ports of JRPGs and RPGs in general. There is something incredibly fun about replaying a game (even in a less than stellar port) on my phone. It's comfortable, I can play it anywhere and I have a great selection of peripherals to choose from that can change the experience.

For example I am currently playing Final Fantasy VI on iOS, I'm about 24 hours in, only about 3 or 4 dungeons away from Kefka's tower. In that time I have experienced the game in the following ways:

1) On my iphone with the touch screen controls in multiple places from my desk, while standing in the kitchen waiting for the oven to preheat, the sofa etc etc.
2) On my ipad with an xbox one controller paired (this is possible because of the super snappy icloud save upload and download system letting you switch between devices in seconds)
3) On my phone with my xbone controller paired while I have the phone propped up on my belly as I'm laying in bed
4) On my phone with my xbone controller while I have my phone connected to my TV via hdmi adapter (this is my favorite way because it feels like a switch in docked mode)

If i started listing the different headphone / speaker combinations things would get crazy

Even though I'm playing a 25+ year old game this feels like the way I always saw the future of handhelds. It's liberating, I can play on my own terms in the way that's most convenient to me in that moment. Maybe I've got a good 4 hours to burn and I can go hard or maybe i'm killing time DURING a teleconference that I definitely didn't have to be on, or maybe I'm just trying to play for 20min in bed before going to sleep.

I wish that there had been a future for mobile games that put phones as the next step in handhelds. Everyone always said the Vita and 3DS weren't competing against each other they were competing against phones. But that always seemed weird to me because gamers as a whole seem to HATE mobile games. Look at what happened with the announcement of Diablo Immortal! Absolute vitriol towards the game, but yet it felt deserved.

Why is this?

Simple, mobile games have been positioned as a freemium space to hunt whales since their inception. They've felt designed to hide their costs, to try to get you hooked with a free taste only for the fun to be paywalled off. And when that's not the case they've been treated as cheap cash grabs praying on nostalgia that get minimal support.

Plus up until recently most people have only really been able to play mobile games with (mostly) frustrating touch screen controls. Unless their control scheme was super simplistic or heavily menu focused touch screen controls feel super blegh.

Because of this the quality of games we get on mobile is so sporadic, most of the higher quality modern titles we get are usually mobile ports of successful games like fortnite or pubg. It's rare that we get an original mobile game that feels like it was treated with the same respect and care as a full console release.

It's quite frustrating, so many people have devices with enough potential power that would put the PS2 to shame in their pockets, imagine the experiences you could create if they wanted to make dedicated games for them! And with peripherals that allow you to connect it to a TV, and bluetooth controller compatibility letting you use a DS4 or xbone controller it really feels like everything is set to allow phones to finally grow into real gaming platforms. We just need devs to start taking advantage of the true potential here, like with what we're seeing from NieR Reincarnation but you know less f2p and more just an actual full fledged release.

Remember how we would pay 20-40 dollars for grand complete experiences on the GBA, DS, and PSP?

Imagine if devs were just adopting that model to mobile devices and just throwing out a tagline "recommended for play with controller". But it would be received poorly probably because core gamers seem to - at best - feel indifferent towards mobile releases.

I've finished a good amount of full games on iOS, from KOTOR to Shin Megami Tensei 1 (rip in peps 32bit apps) and after I finish a game on iOS, I'm always left feeling like this could have been something great.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

Is there a thread with recommended mobile games?

Streaming with gamepass is pretty good but needs wifi

 

[Border]

I often wonder if the state of mobile would be the same if Apple had just enforced some kind of $5 minimum pricing for all games, instead of working to support the F2P race-to-the-bottom with exhorbitant In-App Purchases.

 

[Bradford]

I mirror a lot of your thoughts, OP. A lot of people hate them, but I look at these high prices JRPG ports as a sign of what could have been -- true, full-fat experiences that leverage the strength of these pocket computers that rival and, in many ways, succeed the handhelds of yesteryear.

It is very sad that most mobile games are strictly throaway arcadey experiences or gacha hell. I think very fondly back to that Dead Space iOS game that came out like a decade ago when I think about what could have been.

I still play a lot of phone games, and Apple Arcade is certainly interesting on my iPad. I like the direction these are heading in, but I still wish we had more original, unique games that weren't just throawway five minute experiences.

 

[345]

i really like the razer kishi as a controller solution, and apple arcade is a pretty solid business model solution.

it would be nice if there was a market for $20 controller-first mobile games but there just isn't. apple killed it the second they started allowing IAPs in free apps.

 

[P-Tux7]

I often wonder if the state of mobile would be the same if Apple had just enforced some kind of $5 minimum pricing for all games, instead of working to support the F2P race-to-the-bottom with exhorbitant In-App Purchases.

Click to shrink...

Of course they did. Apple gets a cut of those, remember?

 

[harry the spy]

I often wonder if the state of mobile would be the same if Apple had just enforced some kind of $5 minimum pricing for all games, instead of working to support the F2P race-to-the-bottom with exhorbitant In-App Purchases.

Click to shrink...

I would have loved to see this world .

 

[Arta]

I used to be in Toucharcade when iOS gaming was starting up and every indie had something exciting coming every week. I used to post the OP for upcoming games of the week and remembered how special it felt. Tiny Wings, Hellsing Fire, Soosiz, The Spider of Bryce Manor and hundreds more of games where the devs pours every ounce of love and talent into their creations, and have rapport with the community from announcement to release.

Then I saw in real time how the rush to 99 cents and eventually the freemium model completely ruined everything. All the experimentation in old and lost genres went to the wayside for whatever could be quickly monitised. You can still find sparks of genius but have to dig under a lot of rubble.

 

[345]

Why is this?

Simple, mobile games have been positioned as a freemium space to hunt whales since their inception. They've felt designed to hide their costs, to try to get you hooked with a free taste only for the fun to be paywalled off. And when that's not the case they've been treated as cheap cash grabs praying on nostalgia that get minimal support.

Click to shrink...

also man i don't really agree with this. iOS was the most exciting gaming platform on the planet circa 2010-2011.

apple arcade doesn't quite get us back there but it's at least trying.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

also man i don't really agree with this. iOS was the most exciting gaming platform on the planet circa 2010-2011.

apple arcade doesn't quite get us back there but it's at least trying.

Click to shrink...

The way I phrased it MAY have been a bit harsh because that's true. I do remember the very early days of the ios app store just being filled with weird / unique things. But for the most part I feel like early mobile stuff from major game devs felt lack luster or shoddy. But that wouldn't have been until 2012 or so.

The 2014-2015 period saw some super cool little releases like Dark Echo and Wayward.

And yeah apple arcade has potential, i'm really excited to see where that goes.

it would be nice if there was a market for $20 controller-first mobile games but there just isn't. apple killed it the second they started allowing IAPs in free apps.

Click to shrink...

Yeah this being the norm would have been my dream.

 

[HMS_Pinafore]

I've never been much of a mobile gamer, but, forget everything you think you know about mobile games because Raid Shadow Legends is one of the most ambitious RPG projects of 2019 has just been released and will change everything. Just look at the level of detail of these characters! If you use the code in the description you can start with 50,000 silver and join the Special Launch Tournament, and you better hurry because it's getting big fast! You can play for totally free with the link below on your smartphone.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

I've never been much of a mobile gamer, but, forget everything you think you know about mobile games because Raid Shadow Legends is one of the most ambitious RPG projects of 2019 has just been released and will change everything. Just look at the level of detail of these characters! If you use the code in the description you can start with 50,000 silver and join the Special Launch Tournament, and you better hurry because it's getting big fast! You can play for totally free with the link below on your smartphone.

Click to shrink...

MODSSSS PLEASE SMASH THE BAN HAMMER!

Lmao, jokes aside your post had me in stiches.

 

[Firestorm]

it would be nice if there was a market for $20 controller-first mobile games but there just isn't. apple killed it the second they started allowing IAPs in free apps.

Click to shrink...

Free apps with IAPs also opened gaming up to a ridiculously large audience that likely wouldn't have been into $20 controller-first mobile games though. A way to better surface and promote those $20 controller-first mobile games might be what you want.

The mobile landscape is incredibly popular and the people playing those games enjoy playing those games. There's a lot of crap there, but a lot of people I know have mobile games they play every day that they enjoy.

 

[Mirage]

The most fun I had playing games on my phone was the DQ ports from 1-6.

 

[345]

Free apps with IAPs also opened gaming up to a ridiculously large audience that likely wouldn't have been into $20 controller-first mobile games though. A way to better surface and promote those $20 controller-first mobile games might be what you want.

The mobile landscape is incredibly popular and the people playing those games enjoy playing those games. There's a lot of crap there, but a lot of people I know have mobile games they play every day that they enjoy.

Click to shrink...

sure, and i play some of those games too, but there's no denying they killed off the potential for anything more traditional. there are only so many hours in the day and pixels on the app store homepage, and the vast majority of people are going to go for the free (initially) option.

apple could probably have made more of an effort to mitigate this via better curation but i don't think it was really in their interest to, which is why they made the IAP change in the first place.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

The mobile landscape is incredibly popular and the people playing those games enjoy playing those games. There's a lot of crap there, but a lot of people I know have mobile games they play every day that they enjoy.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I'm not saying that those need to be gone or anything, I'm saying that there is a lot of untapped potential in this area with regard to treating mobile as a proper handheld platform.

 

[KushalaDaora]

I remember thinking the potential of mobile gaming with Infinity Blade....

:/

 

[Unicorn]

AI Dungeon is unreal. I cannot believe machine learning has brought us to the ultimate text based RPG (and even MUD).

 

[Einbroch]

Genshin Impact |OT| Travelling with Paimon, your Guide, Best Buddy and Emergency Food OT

Genshin Impact is a F2P open world action JRPG with co-op multiplayer by Chinese developer Mihoyo, available for PS4, PC, Android and iOS. A Switch version has also been announced without a specific date as of yet. Your main character is the Traveller from a far away world. You choose...

www.resetera.com

 

[HylianSeven]

I pretty much feel the same way about mobile games. I played Fire Emblem Heroes, Dx2 Shin Megami Tensei, and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp for a while. I quickly dropped pocket camp, but still enjoyed the other two for a bit, then Dragalia Lost came out and that one made me realize it: I'm not actually enjoying any of these games. I'm logging in to claim the bonuses, and picking the things that give me the numbers/elements/whatever I need to beat the level. There's little skill and it's basically all in the numbers/gachas you have.

Aura Gate in Dx2 was actually fun, but of course you're limited by steps and "energy", and it closes for 10 minutes every so often which is rather annoying. I dropped all of those games.

I played Clash Royale for a while. That one was actually fun and I think really underrated honestly. It was against actual humans, skill-based for the most part other than leveling up the cards, which is still pretty easy to do if you're picking and choosing the ones you want.

Pretty much the only mobile game I play these days is Dota Underlords though, which is fun through and through. I played Dota Auto Chess back before everyone and their mother made an Auto Chess game (mainly the big 3: LoL Teamfight Tactics, Auto Chess (made by the original Dota Auto Chess people), and Dota Underlords, the Valve one).

I also downloaded Among Us, but haven't played it yet. I picked it up on Steam too. I think with that one though, once COVID is over it will be easy to have everyone at a party download it on their phone to play, much like Jackbox games.

 

[KamenSenshi]

It's most likely to happen on Apple ironically. Especially if they ever released their own controller. There just needs to be one game that releases and does well at like $30 to get the ball rolling. If more games like Monster Hunter Stories released and were known about that could change the perception but it would take a steady stream. Like that plus RE Revelations, real Street Fighter 4, and something like crisis Core, as full priced no micro transactions games, the perception may start changing a little. Even better if they can take the Nvidia Shield approach like with Portal and such.

 

[MrNelson]

It's really hard to beat 'Free', especially when the market is conditioned to have the majority of the games available either free or essentially free ($1-$2)

Plus up until recently most people have only really been able to play mobile games with (mostly) frustrating touch screen controls. Unless their control scheme was super simplistic or heavily menu focused touch screen controls feel super blegh.

Because of this the quality of games we get on mobile is so sporadic, most of the higher quality modern titles we get are usually mobile ports of successful games like fortnite or pubg. It's rare that we get an original mobile game that feels like it was treated with the same respect and care as a full console release.

It's quite frustrating, so many people have devices with enough potential power that would put the PS2 to shame in their pockets, imagine the experiences you could create if they wanted to make dedicated games for them! And with peripherals that allow you to connect it to a TV, and bluetooth controller compatibility letting you use a DS4 or xbone controller it really feels like everything is set to allow phones to finally grow into real gaming platforms.

Click to shrink...

The first bolded section has always been the reason I don't like playing mobile games with more complex controls. Most of the time the touch screen controls sucked, and I always lamented not being able to use a controller.

And then the ability to use controllers came around, and I realized that it was way more effort than it was worth. If I wanted to play a game that played best with a controller on a whim, I would need to keep a controller with me, which defeated the portability purpose because now that's two devices needed to play something "on-the-go", and I won't always be in a situation where I can just keep a controller on me. I've already got a shitload of devices that have the controls integrated, so why do I need to lug around a controller if I want to play something on my phone. It makes me wish that the Xperia Play had taken off so that there could have been a subset of phones with actual controls built in.

With the second bolded part, at that point I might as well just be playing a dedicated console. Even the Switch serves the purpose better of "play on the TV, and then pick it up and take it somewhere else".

 

[LazyLain]

I'll say that one thing that's turned me off from gaming on Apple platforms (mainly iOS) is Apple's sheer brazenness when it comes to changing the OS in ways that breaks compatibility with old apps, with the assumption that important apps will be fixed.

The killing of 32-bit support wasn't the first time I've had iOS games stop working, and I doubt it'll be the last... and there will invariably be games that never get updated, such as Shin Megami Tensei or The Secret of Chateau de Moreau. I think at one point Ghost Trick (or was it the Layton game?) was also broken, though it was eventually fixed... took long enough that I assumed it was a goner though.

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

It's awful. I spend more time looking up mobile games than i do playing them.

 

[CupOfDoom]

And then the ability to use controllers came around, and I realized that it was way more effort than it was worth. If I wanted to play a game that played best with a controller on a whim, I would need to keep a controller with me, which defeated the portability purpose because now that's two devices needed to play something "on-the-go", and I won't always be in a situation where I can just keep a controller on me. I've already got a shitload of devices that have the controls integrated, so why do I need to lug around a controller if I want to play something on my phone. It makes me wish that the Xperia Play had taken off so that there could have been a subset of phones with actual controls built in.

Click to shrink...

This is also where I fall on the issue. Because if I'm going to go through the hassle of carrying around a controller, I might as well just carry around my 3DS, which is easier to find space for than a dualshock 4.

What I really want out of phone games are games that work well with touch screen controls, you can make noticable progress in in 5-15 minute chunks and, aren't packed to the gills with microtranactions. I know these games exists already on phones, its just that they make up <0.1% of all games.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Genshin Impact |OT| Travelling with Paimon, your Guide, Best Buddy and Emergency Food OT

Genshin Impact is a F2P open world action JRPG with co-op multiplayer by Chinese developer Mihoyo, available for PS4, PC, Android and iOS. A Switch version has also been announced without a specific date as of yet. Your main character is the Traveller from a far away world. You choose...

www.resetera.com

Click to shrink...

I think genshin impact is potentially the right direction here, it looks big and console like enough to get people to notice about what phones can do. Hopefully it'll inspire more stuff like this.

With the second bolded part, at that point I might as well just be playing a dedicated console. Even the Switch serves the purpose better of "play on the TV, and then pick it up and take it somewhere else".

Click to shrink...

I don't know, to me if you just have a controller a 10 dollar controller clip for your phone it's a pretty solid portable. Sure it's not quite a "pull out to play for 5min" setup, but it's a perfectly comfortable setup to take with you while traveling or if you have a place to sit down and take a break for a bit.

What I really want out of phone games are games that work well with touch screen controls, you can make noticable progress in in 5-15 minute chunks and, aren't packed to the gills with microtranactions. I know these games exists already on phones, its just that they make up <0.1% of all games.

Click to shrink...

This is why I primarily play RPGs on handhelds lmao, anything that's menu focused like turn based battle systems works excellent on touch screens. And most of them have a quick save feature that auto triggers on closing the app.

 

[Brazil]

The devaluing of mobile games is probably an irreversible thing, and the same is already happening in the console/PC space with things like Game Pass, particularly with regards to indie games.

We get cheap things now, but face the consequences later.

 

[Mobius 1]

The devaluing of mobile games is probably an irreversible thing, and the same is already happening in the console/PC space with things like Game Pass, particularly with regards to indie games.

We get cheap things now, but face the consequences later.

Click to shrink...

My sentiments exactly. The race to the bottom ruined the mobile gaming scene, it's ruining mobile and desktop applications - and now we see the more evidence of the same problem reaching the console platforms.

 

[MrNelson]

I don't know, to me if you just have a controller a 10 dollar controller clip for your phone it's a pretty solid portable. Sure it's not quite a "pull out to play for 5min" setup, but it's a perfectly comfortable setup to take with you while traveling or if you have a place to sit down and take a break for a bit.

Click to shrink...

That's what I addressed in my first point though. If I have to carry a controller around the portability argument goes out the window. There's dozens of other devices out there that serve that exact purpose in a more portable form factor, with the controls integrated into the device. I can fit a 3DS or PSP in my pocket, I can't fit a DS4 and clip in my pocket.

Hell, with a PSP that's been blown open I have access to my entire library, UMD and digital, and a large chunk of my retro library on a single microSD card.

 

[Scruffy8642]

I think it says a lot where the mobile gaming space is at when you can look at the App Store and all the most popular games are still the same ones that were there a decade ago. When iPod touches and IPhones were first becoming a thing, I used to look on the App Store all the time to see what new things had come out and risen up the ranks. And then one day a few years in, there just stopped being any changes. Haven't really played and mobile games since, hate what they've become. Those first few years were bliss with actual decent mobile renditions of big franchises (COD Zombies, Rayman, Dead Space, Fighting game galore) and other games that pushed the boundaries like Nova and Infinity Blade.

 

[Another]

Aside from board game adaptations, I just steer clear of mobile gaming these days. It's a sad state of affairs for what was once such a promising new frontier.
=/

 

[More_Badass]

I feel like there's new exciting mobile games releasing every week (Steam and mobile are more similar than some would care to admit)

Recent purchases/downloads (all paid or free with an unlock IAP): Crux, Peak's Edge, Interloper, Meteorfall: Krumit's Tale, RogueJack, Dadi, Samsara Room, Maze Machina, Seven Scrolls

plus Apple Arcade stuff

 

[Deleted member 1003]

There were a lot of games early on that I bought and had a great time with, eventually they turned free and loaded a bunch of ads in making the experience unbearable.

The Room series are the some of the best paid games I've ever played.

 

[dyne]

8bitdo controllers and GeForce Now on my phone is all I need. I just beat Tomb Raider and I'm on Rise of the Tomb Raider now. It's 1080p and 60fps.

I agree with you about old jRPGs. The only one I have installed is FFT and that doesn't support controllers. I also have SOTN installed. The only modern game I've played more than 5 minutes of is Horizon Chase

 

[giapel]

What's interesting is that the mobile market (especially in iOS) wasn't actually positioned for freemium at first. Sure it was mostly very cheap games but a lot of the releases felt complete. It was the pressure from Android that pushed everything to free. And I think things like Angry Birds, Cut the rope etc... really suffered from this.
The other problem, regarding controls and the focus on touch screens is that, well... that's the device's input. The touchscreen. Controllers are optional peripherals so while devs can support them, they can't assume they're there unless they ignore a large portion of the userbase. So we end up with compromised solutions.
Personally, I'm happy if mobile stays as a kind of 3rd pillar with games suited to its strengths rather than a replacement for handheld.

 

[Kent]

I still fundamentally believe there's a lot of untapped (ha) potential in adapting "core" types of games - the kind of games that people who liked console and PC games beforehand - to the types of inputs a smartphone has. And not some virtual gamepad buttons garbage, as every implementation of that has been just trash so far (translation: feel free to hit me up with suggestions of ones you think are actually good, because I'd love to be proven wrong).

After seeing the types of things done with the games like The World Ends with You and Kid Icarus: Uprising, I feel that there's still a wide-open design space on this front. Talking design in a vacuum of course, it kind of needs to be:

• Designed from the ground-up for the inputs the device already has.
• Not existing to simply approximate or virtualize another device's function outside of its means (e.g. eliminating "waggle" that we saw on some Wii games).
• Designing new experiences that go in directions that take advantage of the specifications of the system itself (e.g. Pokemon Go using GPS).
• Willing to scrap parts that don't work, or are legacy systems that still linger, and aren't intended "for" this type of platform.

It's one of those things that would be very brave to try and tackle - and so far seems to have rarely met with meaningful success without also being some sort of exploitative, whale-seeking game of minimal effort. That's a tough sell, all things considered - inherently both highly risky and in a market dominated by things that are free-to-play, relatively-safe in design, and prey on users with gambling, instant gratification, shakedowns-to-keep-playing, or some sort of fanservice/nostalgia/questionable character designs.

It's really frustrating to think about, as a designer.

 

[RpgN]

It always amuses me how 'gamers' look at games through one lens only. The mobile market doesn't need to be 100% traditional and copy everything the handheld/console market does. I've always heard the same opinion about mobile games being trash and filled with gacha content until I started playing them on my iPad Pro 3 months ago. Now I have more than 100 games and only 1 of them is a gacha game (Dissidia Final Fantasy). I've paid for all of them once, they have no gacha elements and no ads. They are full games for cheap prices. The games are often indie and experimental but the scope is also focused and limited. This creates very special and experimental games that you don't often see as much on consoles or handhelds. Then you have ports of beloved games (Final Fantasy or Baldur's Gate) or games that are enhanced with controller options. You get the choice to play games however you want.

I think the mobile market is too big. There is tons of games just like steam. The market has tons of gacha games. But the market is big enough to have many other type of games as well. New games keep coming frequently. There is enough to keep me interested even when I ignore gacha games entirely.

The big publishers are the ones who make bad decisions often. They either release a game with a one time payment but don't update them enough. Or they only push for gacha games with bad practices. That much is true. But I don't need them to dominate the field on mobile with big budget games. I don't need them to push the prices higher and higher and get us to where console gaming is currently heading. I'm fine with them keeping a low profile.

The mobile market is dominated by the indie developers, the occasional great ports or the rare big games by the big publishers. We don't need big budget €50-€80 games to be the norm here. The market you're looking for is already served on the pc, PlayStation, Xbox or Switch. Accept that there are others who are happy with the market on mobile and not every market has to cater to a very narrow view of what being a 'gamer' is.

 

[Don Fluffles]

The mobile landscape is incredibly popular and the people playing those games enjoy playing those games. There's a lot of crap there, but a lot of people I know have mobile games they play every day that they enjoy.

Click to shrink...

Incredibly popular is an understatement. Mobile gaming makes far more money over PC and console gaming.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Is there a thread with recommended mobile games?

Streaming with gamepass is pretty good but needs wifi

Click to shrink...

Not trying to self promote but here you go:

Mobile Gaming 2020 | Slay the Spire in Your Pocket, Nuff Said OT

Welcome to the official mobile gaming thread, where we discuss the best and most interesting titles coming to iOS and Android each and every month. From sales, to exciting new releases, to promising games in the works, mobile gaming is vast and growing medium, with entries in genres of every...

www.resetera.com