game genres

Any gamer will tell you that porting games from other more traditional platforms, like consoles and PC, to mobile does happen easily. But, also, ask any mobile gamer to tell you their favorite game genres, and all of the existing ones are bound to come up. They have all found their way to mobile platforms, for better or worse, and while some still haven’t been adapted properly, others do feel like they have belonged here since forever. But, mobile gaming does offer one benefit for all gaming genres in general, one above all else, one to find them and in the global market bind them…

So, what is that one advantage mobile games have overall previous platforms?

The short answer is – popularity. Mobile devices are the most popular devices ever in our society. They surpassed PC and console popularity long ago, thus mobile gaming presents the best market opportunity for developers, which is why many of them are turning and focusing on it. This is precisely what makes some other old school gamers that prefer PC or consoles, disappointed a bit. Just remember the Blizzard Diablo Immortal fiasco, when the audience shunned the idea of having Diablo on mobiles, while a Blizzard announcer asked: “Don’t you have phones?!” This was awkward, but it reveals the truth behind this shift. The developers like Blizzard are only doing what is right and logical from their point of view, which is exploring the most promising market today. And, while some of us may not like it, games and genres on mobiles are getting better and better, and it is proving to be a good thing.

strategy

Strategy video games are by definition thinking games. The gameplay emphasizes skillful thinking, planning, and execution of those plans, where reflexes may or may not be included. Strategy games might be the first-ever games to exist in human history if you consider chess to be the first game. When consoles took root in the ‘80s and the ‘90s (20th century), strategies were somewhat present, but you can’t make a strategy rich with various gameplay elements and have it played with a joypad. This is why strategies rose to prominence with PC gaming in the ‘90s and the ‘00s.

However, when the genre transitioned to mobiles, it morphed a bit, as all gaming genres do to a certain degree to adapt to mobile controls. We’ve had some of the most popular mobile games of the past decade in the strategy genre, like Clash of Clans, Game of War, Mobile Strike, etc… The gameplay mainly focused on development and evolution, but it was strategy never the less. Recently, the strategy game genre is a part of a popular mix of multiple genres, like with hero collector, turn-based combat, and city builder, and together with them is a part of the mobile gaming future.

role playing

Perhaps one of the oldest forms of gaming, role-playing games have their roots in acting. When a first child and a first man pretended to be someone else, role-playing was born. In gaming, role-playing not only suggests playing a certain part but also being a part of an environment where different roles may fit the same purpose, differently. This was the key to popularizing the genre in the ‘90s, for it offered a diversified experience compared to any other genre on consoles and early PC.

Today, RPG is a part of virtually all other genres and its rules and mechanics are the most used our of all other. Any game where you have character roles, progression, skill learning, ability evolution, and similar mechanics takes its root from RPG. It is also the most widely spread genre in terms of platforms, conquering all, even tabletop. Today, there is hardly a mobile game without at least some aspect of role-playing.

action

While one might argue that action is the opposite of strategy, or at the very least part of the different niche, many of the most famous games in the history of the industry have incorporated these two genres successfully. WarCraft, StarCraft, Red Alert, Generals, and many other games all pair action and strategy, successfully combining the seemingly uncombined. Such games have thus taken player engagement to a whole new level, where one has to be a good strategist, a fast thinker, but also have excellent reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and many more gaming qualities.

One might say that the entire Esports scene was created out of these games, where StarCraft pioneered professional competition in the ‘90s and ‘00s. However, this phenomenon was mostly reserved for PC, as other platforms lacked the means of supporting such diversified gameplay. Thus, mobile strategy games today mostly incorporate action as an idle (auto-play) feature, or in FPS (first-person shooter) shooting is done automatically, for you can only move and aim at the same time. The action genre is perhaps best captured in mobile gaming with racing and sports simulation games.

simulation

Simulation gaming genre was perhaps the last to be explored on any console and the situation is the same on mobiles. This is perhaps because the technology was always a bit lacking in transferring the experience developers wanted for the player. If you consider games like Civilization and Rome simulations, then this might not be true, but they are strategy first, and simulation second. True simulations were only represented in racing, piloting, and other similar games on consoles. However, when PC gaming took root, this changed.

One title changed this forever, and that title is Sims. Aptly named Sims, this simulation is the first true simulation that has achieved major success, both commercially and critically. Today, thousands, hundreds of thousands of games look up to it and take at least some aspect of the gameplay Sims introduced when it came out in 2000. It is also one of the best selling games ever, compared to all genres. In mobiles today, simulation games have a strong presence, but they have morphed a bit. They mostly use textual content with players making choices and controlling the lives of the characters, with not that detailed emphasis on the surroundings as Sims had back in the day.