My Experience With Mobile Games: Introduction

Mobile games in the gaming industry have served as the butt of much negative stigma. While it's understandable as to why this is the case, there are some mobile games out there that are excellent, though a bit of searching through the countless mediocre products may need to be done. Ever since I upgraded my nearly decade-old cell, I delved into the world of mobile gaming and aside from discovering the truth that mobile games are largely not that great, that I discovered a surprisingly large number of gems as well. While I didn't play that many for an extended period of time, two games went above and beyond the call to the point that I've invested a heavy amount of time and surprisingly, not a single penny. These two games are Puzzle and Dragons and Crusaders Quest, both of which are puzzle-based strategy games with RPG elements.

However, while I found these games to be great, they're far from being perfect products. In at least two future articles, I will review these games. However, given that they are mobile games, there may be different expectations, which is why I will review the games using the following factors:

• Gameplay:
• One of the core factors that determines whether a game is enjoyable is the gameplay in itself, which is why I will go over things like how satisfying the gameplay is and how good the controls are. The latter is especially noteworthy since the games involve the usage of a touch screen.
• I will especially note factors tied to gameplay that are largely tied to mobile games such as remarks on time-gating systems such as stamina or energy that recharge over time (something that both of the aforementioned games have).
• Presentation:
• Presentation is another highly evaluated factor within games. While graphical design and story will be touched upon (if relevant), the interface will likely be the main focal point here since it can have a modest amount of direct influence on gameplay (compared to the aforementioned, especially for mobile games).
• IAP/Premium Currency:
• A large number of mobile games rely on in-app purchases to generate revenue. However, the methods behind these in-app purchases can potentially be shady and borderline on extortion, which in itself is probably a large contributing factor as to why mobile gaming has a negative stigma associated with it.
• With that said, reviewing the in-app purchase system (if there is one, and in both of the aforementioned games there is), is something I consider to be very important. Since IAP is often associated with Premium Currency, that will also be discussed in this section, as well as the effects of both on gameplay.
• Miscellaneous:
• Anything else that I can think of that's worth noting will end up in this section, such as sound.
• Tips:
• In addition to reviewing the game itself, I'll offer some tips for those who are interested in playing the game with advice for starting out and so on.

The purpose of these articles is to try to analyze some of what I found to be the better mobile games and evaluate whether they are worth giving a try in what is hopefully the most objective way possible. While these reviews won't come out immediately as there will be some League of Legends and/or World of Warcraft-related articles (or something else) that I would like to publish first, they will (ideally) be published this month. Also, unless there's some visible demand for more of these articles, it is unlikely that there will be another series of articles like this (at least for a time). Among other reasons, I just felt like writing this small series of articles.