> how mobile games are almost all just the same game
That is because they ARE.
Once upon a time (2011) there was a long article called "Who killed video games? (a ghost story)". It has now been blown away by mists of time, with only stale links referencing the detailed, cruel and flat-out cynical - but oh so true - treatise into how mobile games are essentially built on top of mathematically optimised engagement wheels making use of the anticipation/disappointment cycle. I wish I could find a working link...
In only slightly unrelated tangent: a university mate was an aspiring game designer. I remember how he once, off-handedly, mentioned how he experiments with mechanics and rules until he finds a set that works. We actually got to playtest some of his work-in-progress experiments, and while I never got to try anything really good, others in the group did.
But right, back to the topic: once the abstract rules of the game itself were ready and sufficiently balanced, he picked a theme and genre most likely to expose the game to the biggest possible (welcoming) segment. It's easy to extrapolate that once a working game design has been found, the creators would fit the same engine with various other skins and themes to target as many lucrative markets as possible.
One can find the same approach everywhere, really. Cookie-cutter reality TV show formats; talent shows; sequels of upon sequels, be that films or TV show seasons; ...
A really cynical view of all this could be that mobile gaming is now a properly mature market. Innovation is unreliable and expensive, so why bother?
That is because they ARE.
Once upon a time (2011) there was a long article called "Who killed video games? (a ghost story)". It has now been blown away by mists of time, with only stale links referencing the detailed, cruel and flat-out cynical - but oh so true - treatise into how mobile games are essentially built on top of mathematically optimised engagement wheels making use of the anticipation/disappointment cycle. I wish I could find a working link...
In only slightly unrelated tangent: a university mate was an aspiring game designer. I remember how he once, off-handedly, mentioned how he experiments with mechanics and rules until he finds a set that works. We actually got to playtest some of his work-in-progress experiments, and while I never got to try anything really good, others in the group did.
But right, back to the topic: once the abstract rules of the game itself were ready and sufficiently balanced, he picked a theme and genre most likely to expose the game to the biggest possible (welcoming) segment. It's easy to extrapolate that once a working game design has been found, the creators would fit the same engine with various other skins and themes to target as many lucrative markets as possible.
One can find the same approach everywhere, really. Cookie-cutter reality TV show formats; talent shows; sequels of upon sequels, be that films or TV show seasons; ...
A really cynical view of all this could be that mobile gaming is now a properly mature market. Innovation is unreliable and expensive, so why bother?