Converting restrictions to power--Designing a key game

Brief introduction

It has been said that the easiest game to use is a game that contains only one button. When we press it, show "you Win". This negative example shows that a game with few usability problems will not have much to play with.

Small keyboards and limited game controls are often considered the main limitations of developing mobile games. A typical mobile device keyboard is not suitable as a special control game platform. The keyboard for mobile devices is optimized for navigation menus, numbers and character inputs, as well as a beautiful look, and is not suitable for precise control of the game. So how does a developer make sure that a button is used to gain a gaming experience without losing usability?

Judo Rules

The limitations of game control can be seen as a challenge to be overcome. In "Game Developer" magazine, Noah Falstain proposed Judo rules-"convert restrictions to power."

"When you find yourself constrained by a different situation or combination in your design, find a solution that converts these limitations into solutions that maximize the benefits of your work rather than being a hindrance."

--noah falstain "Game Developer" March 2006

In the game design to accept the keyboard restrictions, through the design should be around this limit. For an interesting game, there is no need to use 10 buttons to control each game action, the mobile device keyboard itself is not a mobile game restrictions, the use of simple control design fun and challenging game is also entirely possible.

Simplified control

Quite a few things can be done with just one key. The following list contains policies and examples for simplifying control:

U Auto Action: For example, automatically move forward.

U compress multiple actions into one: such as jumping and shooting.

U Change the button action: for example, when encountering obstacles, jump and fire when encountering monsters.

u use different keys to press the type: for example, always press the control to stop running, press the next control shooting, double-click the control jump.

These methods can also be used in general mobile games to simplify game control. Many of these solutions can be experienced from flash animations in the following addresses:

Http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050602/green_01.shtml

One-click game

According to Gamevil's president Kyu C.lee, a number of factors make a key game popular and successful, particularly on mobile phones. From:

Http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060322/sheffield_01.shtml

These factors include:

u more suitable for small screen: one-click games are usually simpler, do not require a lot of effort from the player. A key game can even be entertained when moving.

Easy to play: A key game is easy to play and can be positioned in a large number of users, from a four-year-old child to his grandmother, from an amateur to a professional player.

U addictive: A key game is easy to get addicted to because it is simple and natural.

U Shorter development cycle: one-click Games are easy to develop, and developing such games is considered to be less time-consuming than developing other types of games.

Game Design

Here are some examples of one-click mobile games. (Note: Please refer to the original picture)

The gaming experience of these games and other games can be obtained at the following addresses:

http://www.ideanresearch.com/