Project UX introduction

So, the game, which is currently not named (working title is project lagoon) has one simple goal. Funnel the user directly into the gameplay. Everything inside the game, and alongside it, is designed to focus on what is the main selling point of the game, stylish, fast paced gameplay. This is important, I don’t have any previous pedigree or reputation that I can rely on in order to sell the game, so simply put, the game needs to sell itself, so to speak. This shines through in the UX. One thing in particular that I have found with modern day games and their UX design, is how grossly over-designed they tend to be. Focussing on form over function (the recently released dragon ball fighterz is a particularly bad example of this). Mobile games, due to their focus on advertisements, are an even bigger example of this. This was something that I desperately wanted to avoid.

Mobile first design introduction

This brings me to my current point. Mobile first design. This project was the first time that I attempted to implement this. Some would say that this is somewhat of an awkward design choice, as most games are made console first an then mobile first. But being that this was my project, this design choice actually made perfect sense for the way that the product was to be designed regardless.

Why mobile first?

The main aim of the mobile version, was to actually be a simplified version of the game, not just in terms of scope or graphics, but in its execution. Simply put, the game is a love letter to classic arcade games of past, the console/pc version is the full edition of the game, whereas the mobile version, was to be more of a pure, straight up “coin-op” experience. This means that the user would boot up their phone, boot the game up, and within a few seconds be ready to play. Just like in the arcade (the naming of the mobile version, “track day edition” was done to reflect this).

Because of this, to me, starting with the mobile version made absolute sense. The mobile version is effectively the arcade port, with everything else coming later on to the desktop version. Effectively, I can make the components first for my game, and then scale the components or modify them to fit the PC and Desktop size. Scaling up means to change, to scale down means to compromise. With this in mind, starting with mobile first is effectively a forgone conclusion.

Originally published at https://www.tumblr.com on October 25, 2018.