What is Mobile Gaming?

Mobile games are basically online video games that may be connected to the internet and are specifically designed for mobile devices. Mobile gaming has gained immense popularity in the last five-seven years owing to the much wider range of connectivity offered by the emerging technologies available in evolving smartphones.

 

In fact, due to increased accessibility, mobile gaming has overtaken both PC and console gaming as the most popular form of gaming in the world. 

 

According to data from a recent study, 51 percent of gamers worldwide would rather play their games than watch TV or watch something via streaming. This shows that gamers actually love to play games, than anything else whenever possible. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 3G have made possible the development of wireless multiplayer games with two or more players.

 

 

Mobile Gaming: Introduction

 

Mobile gaming has indeed come a long way from simple Snake game on older basic Nokia handsets (Here's a fact for you: the earliest known game on a mobile phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994) to more engaging 3D and virtual reality games. 

 

Users can download mobile games from app stores or from mobile operators’ portals. Often, mobile games are also found to be preloaded in handheld devices by the OEM or by the mobile operator when purchased.

 

As mobiles and smartphones have limited system resources, it is imperative to understand that users are not able to get a rich gaming experience as available in dedicated PCs or gaming consoles.

 

As of 2011, it was only Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY that provided a dedicated gaming controller. In most mobile devices, the keypad or touch screen displays perform the dual function as a user input as well as a gaming controller. 

 

Advanced mobile games require fast CPUs that are equipped with dedicated graphics processing units (GPU), large random access memory (RAM), and high-resolution display screens. OpenGL ES is widely being used by most developers to write games with 2D or 3D graphics as it is a royalty-free, cross-platform application programming device. (Source)

 

 

Types of Online Mobile Gaming 

 

Mobile games can be classified on the basis of location, the number of maximum players allowed to play, or the gaming experience provided to the users. 

 

1. Gaming based on Location 

 

Location-based games or location-based mobile games are played on a mobile device using localization technology like GPS. These games are different as they incorporate the player’s position into the game concept as an element. 

 

In a location-based game, the player’s coordinate and movement are the main elements. For instance, Ingress is a multiplayer online real-time strategy mobile game that makes use of the mobile device GPS to locate and interact with “portals”.

 

These portals are elements of a science fiction backstory that are close to the player's real-life location. Various forms of media combine to offer a continuous open narrative. 

 

Ingress is accessible on any mobile with an integrated or external GPS receiver. It is expected that more and more mobile devices with integrated GPS will arrive on the present scene, transforming the future of location-based gaming.

 

2. Multiplayer Gaming 

 

Multiple players can collaborate and play together either remotely over a network or locally via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or similar technology. Multiplayer games broadly consist of two categories: 

 

• Live synchronous tournaments 

 

In live tournaments, networks such as Game Center, Google+, and Facebook are used to match together random players from around the world who compete with each other. 

 

• Turn-based asynchronous tournaments

 

In asynchronous tournaments, players’ matches are recorded. Then they are broadcast later to other players in the same tournament. Asynchronous gameplay resolves the issue of arranging players to have a continuous live connection. 

 

But, this gameplay is entirely different. Players take individual turns in the game. Therefore allowing players to continue playing against human opponents. Different networks such as Facebook allow for the coordination of asynchronous tournaments.

 

This is broadly done in two different ways: 

 

• One, some games have a regular turn-based system in which they post the end results so that all the players can stay updated about who won the tournament. 
• Two, other companies take screen recordings of live players. Then they broadcast them to other players at a later point in time. This allows players to feel that they are always interacting with another human opponent.

 

 

3. Augmented Reality Gaming

 

The latest mobile gaming trend is known as augmented reality gaming the offers a real-world environment with advanced computer graphics to highlight the effect of augmented reality. For instance, in Sky Siege, a player shoots virtual helicopters flying around the room.

 

Pokemon Go is also one of the most widely popular augmented reality games in which the player virtually travels to locations marked on their GPS map. Then they use the augmented reality mode to find Pokémon to capture.

 

 

Genre of Mobile Games 

 

1. Hard-core games

 

Hard-core games are based on the idea of taking the players into different environments and through a variety of challenges. To get the most out of their experience, these games require a lot more time on the part of users. 

 

2. Mid-core games 

 

In terms of strategy required, mid-core games are more or less similar to hard-core games but provide the experience in a slightly distilled form. They offer greater depth and variety as compared to casual games.

 

3. Casual games

 

It is this category of mobile games that have been able to find the best appeal among mobile users. The rules are much simpler, making it easy and worth playing for most of the age groups and individuals. 

 

The game mechanics are far less time-consuming and complicated, becoming everyone's go-to mobile games. Almost anyone can simply pick up a game and play, which is not possible in the case of hard-core or mid-core games.

 

4. Hyper-casual games

 

This genre of games arrived in 2017 and emerged as the most popular online mobile gaming category worldwide. These games are unbelievably light, easy, and quick. 

 

People can play a game while waiting for coffee, while traveling somewhere or while waiting out a commercial break. Hyper-casual game developers mostly rely on advertising to monetize their mobile games. 

 

(Related blog: Best Game Development Software)

 

 

Exponential Growth of Mobile Gaming Industry in India 

 

There are some data pointers to highlight how mobile gaming is at an all-time high in India : 

 

• According to a report by The Power of Mobile Gaming in India’ released by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Kantar IMRB with POKKT, India features among the five biggest mobile gaming markets in the world.

• Three out of four Indian players enjoy mobile games a minimum of twice a day.

• Mobile gamers in India typically spend over an hour on their device each day.

• In the year 2018, Indians spent 6.92 hours of power week on gaming.

 

These statistics and reports clearly show that India's mobile gaming industry is booming due to constant new technological improvements in many areas.

 

(Must read: Best Programming Languages for Game Development)

 

This blog ends here. While reaching the end of the blog, it can be successfully stated that mobile gaming has never been so easy, affordable, accessible, and convenient for users. There is a multitude of options available for users that enhance the player experience. And for developers, the different monetization strategies are evolving and getting better day by day to fetch more and more revenue.