Mobile game

A mobile game is a video game played on a mobile device. This includes games on mobile phones like feature phones or smartphones, as well as tablets, PDAs, handheld game consoles, portable media players, and even graphing calculators. These games can be played with or without an internet connection through network availability.

The earliest known mobile game was a version of Tetris on the Hagenuk MT-2000 in 1994. A very popular early mobile game was Snake, launched by Nokia in 1997. Snake was pre-installed on many Nokia phones and was played on many devices around the world.

Mobile gaming grew quickly after the introduction of app stores in 2008, such as the iOS App Store from Apple. These stores made it easy for people to download games and other apps directly to their phones. Today, mobile gaming is a big part of the video game industry.

History

Main article: History of mobile games

In the late 1990s, mobile phones became very common, which helped improve their technology. This made it possible to create more advanced games. One of the first popular mobile games was a version of Snake that Nokia included on its phones in 1997.

In 1999, NTT Docomo launched i-mode in Japan, allowing people to download games to their smartphones. This led to many new games from famous developers. When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007 and the App Store in 2008, it changed mobile gaming forever. The iPhone’s touchscreen made it perfect for games, and the App Store made it easy for anyone to create and share games. Games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope changed how games were sold.

Later, games like Candy Crush Saga and Puzzle & Dragons let players buy extra lives to keep playing. This “freemium” model became very popular. Mobile gaming grew quickly, especially in China. Mobile games also led to new types of games, like hyper-casual games and location-based games such as Pokémon Go.

Different platforms

Main article: Mobile software

Mobile games can run on many different devices. In the past, they used platforms like Palm OS, Symbian, and Java. Today, most mobile games are made for Apple's iOS and Google's Android. These platforms are popular because many people use them.

Developers often use a tool called Unity to create mobile games. Apple also offers special technologies like Metal to help developers make better games.

Monetization

See also: Video game monetization

When the iOS App Store and in-app purchases started in 2009, mobile games found new ways to make money. Game makers can pick from different models or mix them together.

The premium model means players pay for the whole game before they start playing. Some games also sell extra downloadable content.

The freemium model gives players a small part of the game for free, like a game demo, and then lets them buy more parts.

The free-to-play model lets anyone play for free but may make the game slower until players decide to buy extra things.

The advertising-supported model is free to download but shows ads that players must watch before they can keep playing. Some games use a subscription model, where players pay a monthly fee for extra features.

Over time, game makers learned that only a few players spend money, but those players can spend a lot. These players are called “whales.”

Common limits of mobile games

Mobile games are usually smaller than games you play on a PC or gaming console. This is because phones and tablets have less space and memory. Because of these limits, many big PC and console games cannot be moved to mobile devices. Another challenge for game makers is to explain their game well so people know what they're getting before they buy it.

Location-based mobile games

Games played on mobile devices that use GPS are called location-based games or location-based mobile games. In these games, where you are in the real world becomes part of the game. Unlike normal mobile games, where you can play anywhere, location-based games use your location as a key part of the game.

One well-known example is geocaching, an outdoor activity you can play on any mobile device with a GPS receiver. Some early location-based games, like BotFighters from 2001, were more like research projects. Some newer games, such as Pokémon Go from 2016, also use augmented reality to make the game more fun.

Augmented reality games

Main article: Augmented reality

Mobile devices can be used to play Augmented reality (AR) games. These games use the camera to show the real world and add special pictures or objects. This lets players interact with both the real world and the game at the same time.

A famous example is Pokémon Go from 2016. In this game, players visit different places and use AR to find and catch Pokémon creatures. After that, many other AR games were made, but few were as popular as Pokémon Go. Some, like Microsoft's Minecraft Earth and Niantic's Catan: World Explorers, are no longer being updated.

Multipurpose games

Because many families have mobile devices, especially in developed countries, lots of games are now made for learning, lifestyle, and health activities. These games can help with things like talking, helping kids in hospitals get better, learning good habits, and even learning new languages.

Some apps do similar things but aren’t exactly games; these are called gamified apps. It can sometimes be tricky to know where games stop and gamified apps start.

Multiplayer mobile games

Many mobile games let players play together. They can connect through the internet or by linking devices using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or similar tools.

There are many ways to enjoy multiplayer games on phones. In live tournaments, players from around the world compete at the same time, using networks like Game Center, Google Play Games, and Facebook. In turn-based tournaments, players take turns one after another. Their moves are shown to others later. This lets players compete without being online together the whole time. Some games use screen recordings to make it seem like you are always playing against a real person.

Distribution

Mobile games can be found on devices in a few different ways. They can be downloaded using wireless networks, loaded onto a phone using a computer and a cable, already installed on the device when you buy it, or downloaded directly from a website on your phone's browser.

Before the Apple App Store, most mobile games in the US were sold by companies like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Corporation, and T-Mobile US. In Europe, games were sold by these companies or through other stores. Today, most mobile games are sold through app stores like the Apple's iOS App Store for systems such as Apple iOS, Google Android, and Microsoft Windows Phone.

Many mobile games are free to download but show ads, like Flappy Bird and Doodle Jump. Some games use a "freemium" model where you can buy extra items inside the game. Popular companies that make mobile games include Gameloft and King.