With almost every new cell phone or smartphone capable of using the Internet, one would expect that the mobile game industry would be booming. And it has been through a steady rise, from casual games to real brainteasers. Today, there are over 20 different game types available for download on iPhone and Android smartphones. So which is the No 1 mobile game in the world? Let’s find out…
Favorites: Games that require the player to use some strategy, be creative, or be on top of their game. The most popular ones in this genre include: FarmVille, augmented reality, Brink of Fortune, Bingo, Color Connect, Constantine, Dora, Family Secrets, Foursquare, Ingenious Cycle, King of the Hill, Mafia Wars, Pokemon, Plants vs. Zombies, Puzzle, and Tic-Tac-Toe, Renovation Mass, Temple of Elemental Evil, Vindictus, and Wii Sports Resort. Of course, if there’s an in-game gift option, that would be a given. A nice touch is to offer downloadable content for your players to download and try, like sprucing up their character in a new costume. Or perhaps a spiffy feather boa.
Bestsellers: Top-selling mobile games in the android category are usually games that are more entertaining and interactive. They usually require lots of thinking and critical thinking to win, though. These are Abalone and the Island, Candyland, Catch the Sea, Cooking Mama, Kongregate Golf, Memoir-Moi, My Time Basketball, Solitaire, Scrabble, Slingo, Spiderman, Space Invaders, Super Crate Baseball, Sudoku, Taj Mahal, and Viagra. Interestingly enough, the makers of apps offering online casino gambling and augmented reality gambling games have catered several of their titles specifically to the mobile gaming industry.
Popular Games of the Future: It’s a fact that the majority of people playing today’s mobile phones and tablets are doing so on smartphones or tablets that run Google Android. This means that most of the most popular and best games for consoles will probably become available for mobile devices in the next few years, including a host of first-class titles like Horizon Riders, Firewatch, and deferredown. Horizon Riders, in particular, has already become one of the most sought-after smartphone titles. In addition to Horizon Riders, an all-new game called Star Trek: Bridge Crew, based on the successful movie franchise could become a hit on the bridge.
What to Expect in the Next Decade: The world of mobile gaming certainly looks interesting. However, I see it by following the trends currently shaping up in mobile device markets. Unfortunately, that will most likely mean more of the same – microtransactions, in-game gifts, and gimmicks, all designed to lure people into playing games that the developers consider as “free” games. When the mass market finally gets around to playing these games, however, we could start to see a new set of mobile games on the Android Market that really does take advantage of the mobile device’s capabilities.
Will Nintendo Get into the Mobile Phone Market? – Probably not. Nintendo makes most of its money from dedicated gaming consoles, and its latest effort, the Wii U, isn’t expected to become much of a success until later this year. At the moment, the only other major dedicated gaming system on the market is Sony’s PlayStation 4. Nintendo also has extensive and lucrative patents for various technologies that it holds, including some that could further help mobile devices.
What Will the Mobile Game Platforms of the Next 10 Years Look Like? – Right now, there are many different platforms out there. But what if you were to take a look at what is popular right now, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and then look at the top games on those platforms, you would quickly see that the majority of the market–in both popularity and revenue terms–is currently being served by two different companies: Samsung and Google. Both have developed their own proprietary ecosystems of applications that can run on top of each other and other devices and that can offer consumers hundreds of thousands of different games at any given time.
Will the Mobile Game Industry Grow and Create Huge Business Opportunities? – It’s hard to say. While these particular companies have proven that they have the technical know-how to create some highly engaging mobile games, they are still in the early days. They aren’t competing with the industry giants like Sony and Microsoft, and they certainly aren’t neck-deep in venture capital. But if the mobile gaming space keeps growing at the same rapid pace as its competitors, then it stands to reason that the future of mobile gaming could be a goldmine for those with the know-how.