Having read the comments, I have my 2 cents on mobile games and why a majority hold it with disdain. Part of the reason comes from the sheer number of those games that are just there to drain money from the player with a billion ads. Essentually, games with no soul. Another reason comes from how they pay to win model basically creates games where the player is not even playing the game, you just wait for animations to run and then hit 4 buttons then it's back to waiting.
If the mobile game isn't an idle or gacha game then it will be a game that manipulates the outcome so that the only way to proceed is by spending real life money to have a 5% chance at completing the stage. (looking at you Candy Crush)
The worst offenders would be the games that you see that pop up as ads (Sand balls, Pull the Pin, Color Bump... ect just to name a few) Those games are basically the same 10 stages on repeat, each stage ends with an ad, each stage has an ad that covers something critical to playing the game so you restart and get hit with another ad, and at the end of the stage there's a pop up that's manipulative to seem like there's no way to continue playing without getting a subscription. For that type of game, it almost seems like everything came from a premade assests from different sources so ot looks just flat out awful on top of being a money sucker.
Now, not all mobile games are like the above, Monument Valley is one example. However, that is in a overwhelming minority of mobile games. I think the only one that I have any enjoyment on the whole is from A Girl Adrift. Even though this game does fall into the idle category, it's a very active idle since there is so much to do instead of just waiting from the get go.
Another would be Tap Dig My Museum, that one can fall into the manipulative territory. However, I still had fun and not every stage needs an ad to complete it.
All in all, I think that it's the degree of control that a player can have while playing the game that determines what is a bad or good mobile game., especially with how often the player gets an unskippable 30 second ad.
1
Tobias 1104~4Y
That does make sense! It's such a shame that those exploitative practices are actually profitable - moreso than console or PC games - so there are all those predatory developers trying to leech money off victims with shoddy products, many of which are just clones of popular games with actual heart put into their development.
It's a shame about people thinking less of other games that bring to mind those kinds of games. I'm not sure what to do other than hope it's clear from the game as a whole that it's not one of them!
1
purplerabbits146~4Y
From the way how I see it, I think that most people are making a comment on how it reminds them how it looks like a mobile game with the menues, not nessesarily the game as a whole. I think a way to alleviate the worry about ckmparison to mobile games would be to show that tuere can be complexity. ~
I think Pokemon would be a good example of a game that has simplified controls but has a layer of complexity. If one really thinks about it Pokemon is essentially a more complex form of Rock Paper Scissors with hp bars. Furthermore, if you take the competitive scene for pokemon then it becomes even more complex with needing to factor in Natures, EV's, IV's, Hidden abilities, and even weight. Now, the main games doesn't need all of those to beat the game, but for the competitive people all of those are necessary in order to win against other people who have used the above to their advantage.
On a tangent, I don't think having a 3 stats to affect the player is a bad thing. Elder Scrolls Online (I'm ignoring the argument that it's an mmorpg with a Skyrim skin) simplified their stats so that you only have Heamth, Stamina, and Magika. However that game has the complexity with the skills and champion points to really customize the player.
If the mobile game isn't an idle or gacha game then it will be a game that manipulates the outcome so that the only way to proceed is by spending real life money to have a 5% chance at completing the stage. (looking at you Candy Crush)
The worst offenders would be the games that you see that pop up as ads (Sand balls, Pull the Pin, Color Bump... ect just to name a few) Those games are basically the same 10 stages on repeat, each stage ends with an ad, each stage has an ad that covers something critical to playing the game so you restart and get hit with another ad, and at the end of the stage there's a pop up that's manipulative to seem like there's no way to continue playing without getting a subscription. For that type of game, it almost seems like everything came from a premade assests from different sources so ot looks just flat out awful on top of being a money sucker.
Now, not all mobile games are like the above, Monument Valley is one example. However, that is in a overwhelming minority of mobile games. I think the only one that I have any enjoyment on the whole is from A Girl Adrift. Even though this game does fall into the idle category, it's a very active idle since there is so much to do instead of just waiting from the get go.
Another would be Tap Dig My Museum, that one can fall into the manipulative territory. However, I still had fun and not every stage needs an ad to complete it.
All in all, I think that it's the degree of control that a player can have while playing the game that determines what is a bad or good mobile game., especially with how often the player gets an unskippable 30 second ad.
It's a shame about people thinking less of other games that bring to mind those kinds of games. I'm not sure what to do other than hope it's clear from the game as a whole that it's not one of them!
I think Pokemon would be a good example of a game that has simplified controls but has a layer of complexity. If one really thinks about it Pokemon is essentially a more complex form of Rock Paper Scissors with hp bars. Furthermore, if you take the competitive scene for pokemon then it becomes even more complex with needing to factor in Natures, EV's, IV's, Hidden abilities, and even weight. Now, the main games doesn't need all of those to beat the game, but for the competitive people all of those are necessary in order to win against other people who have used the above to their advantage.
On a tangent, I don't think having a 3 stats to affect the player is a bad thing. Elder Scrolls Online (I'm ignoring the argument that it's an mmorpg with a Skyrim skin) simplified their stats so that you only have Heamth, Stamina, and Magika. However that game has the complexity with the skills and champion points to really customize the player.