Mobile Game Development Research Articles

Breaking Barriers in Mobile Game Development

Mobile games occupy more market share than PC and console titles combined, while the designers responsible for delighting billions with their app store offerings remain relatively overlooked by avid players and academic researchers alike. Marginalized game developers in particular find themselves struggling to survive in the mammoth mobile marketplace, but few studies have yet to address their unique experiences. In this paper we present the results from a participatory research project to: discover the challenges that women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, and disabled game creators face in the mobile space; and develop actionable methods for dismantling those barriers to meaningful participation in smartphone play design. After summarizing the three most prominent hurdles underrepresented developers contend with, we then lay out ten key insights about how those impediments can be overcome. The piece concludes with a dozen brief proposals for concrete programs to implement a more representative and welcoming mobile gaming environment, and a call to action for us all to take part in building that better world.

Balancing Playability and Historical Accuracy in Game Design - Developing the Struve Geodetic Arc Mobile Game

Numerous digital games and media with historical themes aim to educate or engage audiences with heritage. When developing a historical video game, some of the most critical design decisions are centered around finding the balance between an accurate presentation of historical facts and engaging gameplay. This paper examines the game developer's role in selecting and presenting historical content through a case study of a mobile game development process. The design choices and developers' positions related to using historical facts are examined through thematic analysis of interview data and game design documents. Recurring themes in the data reveal a constant interplay between game features and historical content, supported by historical knowledge and technology. In small teams, individual developers often make crucial design decisions while performing multiple roles. As key findings, we report that the resourcing and timing of historical research significantly impacts developers' decisions, and note varying degrees of interest in historical accuracy within the development team.

Exploring the key success strategy for mobile game developers: A distinguish between premium and freemium versions

Exploring the key success strategy for mobile game developers: A distinguish between premium and freemium versions

Game-design Workshops with Co-creation Toolkit to Support Game-based Learning for Heritage Museum

In the context of heritage museums, the integration of game-based learning and gamification has garnered significant interest from academia and educational stakeholders. However, barriers such as high costs and lengthy development cycles hinder wider adoption of game-based learning, particularly among educators who lack of software development skills. This paper introduces a series of game design workshops supported by a card-based toolkit aimed at simplifying the process of creating location-based games. These workshops serve a dual purpose: providing educators and museum stakeholders with an accessible toolkit for data collection and offering engaging game-based learning activities for young museum visitors aged 15-30. To achieve this goal, a pilot study was conducted in collaboration with the Guangzhou Maritime Museum, focusing on 48 university students aged 18-26 and 10 museum staff members visiting the Sea God Temple, a heritage site with a 1400-year history. Qualitative and quantitative data collected from this study indicated positive feedback on the value of a co-creation toolkit acting as the instructional scaffolding to support informal learning. Insights gained from this research informed the refinement of the toolkit design, while the game ideas from workshops served as a foundation for mobile game development tailored to young museum visitors.

Modelling customer requirement for mobile games based on online reviews using BW-CNN and S-Kano models

In the mobile game industry, modelling customer requirements (CRs) is becoming indispensable for developers before improving games. Online reviews, as a common way of customer feedback, can reflect customers’ real experiences and preferences. Several studies have extracted important CRs from online reviews of mobile games, but they have not thoroughly analysed the correlation with customer satisfaction. In this study, we propose a CR modelling framework to extract and classify CRs from online reviews and analyse the influence of each CR on customer satisfaction to assist developers in improving games. First, we extract important CRs based on word embedding from online reviews. Then, we construct a BERT-Word2Vec-Convolutional Neural Network (BW-CNN) model to analyse the sentiment of online reviews by considering semantic features at Chinese character and word granularity. Finally, based on the Shapley Additive Explanation (SHAP) method, the S-Kano model is further proposed to classify the CRs considering customer attention, and the product improvement suggestions are provided for the corresponding mobile game developers based on the CR classification results. To verify the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method, we crawled the online reviews of four Gacha games from taptap (www.taptap.cn) for case study and compared with the existing methods. The results show that our proposed framework is effective in modelling CRs from online reviews of mobile games. Meanwhile, the results comparison illustrate that customer attention has a significant influence on the CRs classification. In addition, we find that the S-Kano categories of CRs vary across games, and there is strong heterogeneity among games.

Research on the Asymmetric Development of the Contribution of Mobile Games and Client Games to China's Video Game Industry

This paper will focus on two important areas in the electronic game industry, namely, "mobile games", which are mainly operated and played on portable mobile devices and "client games", which are mainly operated on non-portable mobile devices such as computers, game consoles and televisions. The market in the Chinese mainland is selected as the research object. First, it explains the background of the development of these two different types of games in the Chinese mainland market and the trend in recent years. Clarify the basic content and specific differences between mobile games and client games in terms of definitions. Second, it discusses in detail the reasons for the asymmetric development of mobile and client games in the Chinese market. It uses the representative work of China's mobile games "Genshin Impact" and the part of 3A games in client games for case study, and makes a comparative analysis using classic sociological theories such as "localization", "globalization", and "McDonaldization". The paper discusses the internal reasons for the uneven development of these two different game media in the Chinese mainland market and the possible consequences of the assembly line of the game industry. Finally, the paper gives solutions to the market layout of mobile and client games in the Chinese mainland from the perspective of complete system and legal construction of the government, the improvement of the marketing mode of game developers and the enhancement of users' ability to explore the game market independently.

HAVE A DIFFERENT CONCEPT: HOW TO DESIGN MOBILE GAME-BASED INTEGRATED THEMATIC LEARNING FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS?

Purpose: The objective of this research is to describes the process of designing and developing mobile game based-integrated thematic learningc (MGBITL) in elementary schools. The mobile game based-integrated thematic learningc (MGBITL) is different from Mobile game-based learning (MGBL). Because it is necessary to pay attention to the themes and subthemes that are the basis for developing learning content. Theoterical Framework: Mobile game-based learning (MGBL) is a serious game, that is, a game designed for educational purposes while still remaining entertaining. MGBL has been shown in numerous studies to aid pupils in learning and reduce psychological stress. This research seeks to develop MGBL for Integrated Thematic Learning (MGBITL) for elementary school students. Building MGBITL based on mobile game development theory and integrated thematic concepts required proper procedures Methods: This research employed the MGBL Engineering Model, which consisted of three stages: (1) pre-production (discover & dream), (2) production (design), and (3) post-production (delivery). Literature review and distribution of online questionnaires to teachers were used to collect data about the principles of developing MGBITL for elementary school students. Findings: The MGBITL application has been design which consists of 21 types of games adapted from Class V Theme 8 Subtheme 1 material which is the result of research activities. Hopefully, the introduction of MGBITL will aid teachers in teaching materials that need imagination, make subject matter easier to understand, and promote fun learning concepts. So that students are unaware that they are participating in a learning activity. Practical implications: The study provides new knowledge about how to design mobile game-based integrated thematic learning (MGBITL). It's not just thematic learning material, but the game content too. There is a lot of learning material that must be linked by paying attention to the interconnectedness of each content. Originality/Value: The originality of this research lies in the thematic learning concept used in game content. So far, game content only focuses on one discipline/learning content.

Translation of Mobile Game Titles: Trends and Implications

This study tailors a classification for the translation strategies used for mobile game titles, based on classifications used in film title translation, with a focus on the Turkish mobile game publishers. The study found that the dominant strategy among the mobile game developers was no translation, followed by partial translation and no translation plus a catchy explanation. Also, the study proves that cooperation with another publisher and publishing year are major factors connected to the translation strategy employed. It has been understood that the translations of mobile game names need to be examined with a unique innovative perspective. The study suggests that a participant-oriented approach which includes agents active in the process is needed for further studies.

Research on the Development Strategy of Mobile Game Honor of Kings Based on 4C Theory

With the upgrade of mobile phone internal storage and chips, more and more games are moving from computers to mobile phones. The mobile games market is gradually growing and demonstrated strong profitability in the application market. So it is necessary to explore the marketing strategy of mobile games. In view of that, this paper takes Honor of Kings, a typical representative of mobile game, as an example, analyzes Honor of Kings marketing based on 4C marketing theory. The author explore the transform of the marketing strategy of Honor of Kings, summarize the success and shortcoming of Honor of Kings, in order to discover the problem of customer turnover of Honor Of Kings, the problem arises in part from quality of paid content, assurance of gameplay, and fairness of the game. Finally, it is conclude that mobile games place great emphasis on convenience and communication, therefore, the development of contemporary mobile games needs to rely on the community and develop more concise and convenient pages.

Analysis on the Current Situation and Future Development of China's Mobile Game Market Based on Classification and Enterprise Strategy

Since the release of smartphones, mobile game market has become a market that can not be ignored. Mobile phones are easy to carry and control, making them a good game carrier in addition to their original functions. Since the development of mobile games, the market environment has undergone many changes, and the games leading the market are different from those before. This paper focuses on collecting data on the income and the active number of major mobile games at home and abroad. It also analyzes the current situation and causes of China's mobile game market by combining the concepts and methods related to management and strategy. The author conducts a SWOT analysis on some influential games and their production companies, which will more intuitively show the mainstream operation mode of the current mobile game market. The prediction of the possibility of subsequent market changes is also one of the research objectives of this paper. The analysis of the game market and the game company can reflect the market trend and the possible change to a certain extent. In the future, there are still full of opportunities and challenges in the mobile game market. Companies that intend to enter the market or are already in the market will face the rapidly changing market environment and challenges in all aspects. Whether enterprises can understand and adapt to the market trend in time will be the key to success.

Investigating the influence of Enjoyment, Convenience, Trust, and Social influence on Perceived Usefulness and Intention to Use among Mobile Game Users

This study aims to analyze and establish the effects of enjoyment, convenience, trust, and social influence on perceived usefulness and intention to use among Mobile Game Users in Samarinda City. This study employs a quantitative approach, utilizing path analysis with IBM SPSS Statistics V23 and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) software with IBM AMOS V5. A total of 180 respondents from various locations in Samarinda City participated in the study, and data was collected using a questionnaire distributed through the Snowball Sampling Method. The Likert scale with a range of 1-5 was utilized for measuring the variables. Validity and reliability tests, as well as estimation and structural model fit tests, were conducted to analyze the collected data. The findings, obtained through statistical analysis using SEM-AMOS version 5.0, indicate the following results: trust significantly influences the perceived usefulness of Mobile Game users. Enjoyment, convenience, and social influence significantly affect the perceived usefulness of Mobile Game users. Furthermore, enjoyment and convenience have a significant impact on the intention to use Mobile Game Users in Samarinda City. However, trust does not significantly affect social influence among Mobile Game Users in Samarinda City. Additionally, perceived usefulness demonstrates a significant effect on the intention to use Mobile Game Users. The results provide valuable insights into the factors influencing perceived usefulness and intention to use among Mobile Game Users in Samarinda City. Understanding the impact of enjoyment, convenience, trust, and social influence on these variables can assist in the development of strategies to enhance user experiences and encourage greater adoption and usage of mobile games. The findings of this study can be utilized by mobile game developers and marketers to optimize their offerings and improve user satisfaction and engagement. The findings of this study shows that a significant relationship between.

Integrating Technologies for a Seamless Play-to-Earn Experience: A Case Study on a Hyper-Casual Mobile Game with a Decentralized Ecosystem

This project integrates Web 3.0, web development, and mobile game development to create aplay-to-earn (P2E) mobile game with a web component. The objective of this project is to seamlesslycombine a mobile game with a website and a distinctive token ecosystem to provide players with anenjoyable experience. For the purposes of creating mobile games, websites, and smart contracts,respectively, the Unity Game Engine and the "Next.js' framework, Solidity, are employed. The projectmakes use of Web3 Modal, the MetaMask extension, Microsoft Azure PlayFab for player management,and Web3 Modal for a seamless interface with blockchain networks. The main outcomes of the projectinclude successful implementations like a mobile game with simple gameplay that players can quicklyunderstand and a website with an interface that will allow you to withdraw crypto tokens securely usingsmart contracts. By offering real benefits like personalized crypto tokens, the idea increases playerparticipation. The primary conclusion to be drawn from this project is that combining gaming withblockchain integration results in a unique and engaging experience for gamers. In conclusion, our studyshows that integrating several technologies to improve user experiences in the gaming and blockchain areasis both feasible and potentially rewarding.

Development of Android-based Edutainment game on Numerical Ability

Learning mathematic cannot be separated from the mathematical symbol and a numerical skill, which is required as ability to perform calculation and related matters with the numbers. This research is aimed to improve the numerical ability of students. The method used was based on Borg and call, which consisted of ten main stages involved. The first research result is the validation of android-based mobile games edutainment, that is, the average value of the three experts is 78.33% with valid criteria. Then the average validation results of the android mobile game test questions based on edutainment is 77.77% with valid criteria. The second is the value of simplicity, seen from the value of the questionnaire which was filled in by all fresh graduates which was accumulated so that a percentage of 85.84% was obtained with very practical criteria. Furthermore, the effectiveness is seen from the increase in scores workmanship of fresh graduate pretest and posttest which is calculated by the formula T test results obtained by increasing the pretest posttest score then ability numerical increase so that it is categorized as effective. Thus it is concluded that the development of android mobile games is based on edutainment on numerical ability is categorized valid, practical, and effective for used

The value of the urban field in technology-driven knowledge economies: The role of the state

This article shows how the market valuation of start-up companies and the corporate-designed creation of human capital reveal some of the material and more intangible ways in which the economisation of the urban field plays out in the contemporary knowledge economy. The proposed analysis seeks to make visible how both direct and indirect state action enables the different dimensions of the urban field to come together, become valuable and jointly constitute what Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri have called the ‘metropolis’. In so doing, the article underlines that the different dimensions of the urban field figure prominently albeit differently partake in processes of extraction of knowledge value in monetised or sociocultural form. At the conceptual level, we critically engage with the existing literature on emergent forms of state capitalism by putting forward a governmental analytic on state power in contemporary urbanised knowledge capitalism. Empirically, we develop our arguments through two case studies. First, we examine the start-up unicorn Wolt, often considered as one of the national champion start-ups in Finland (together with a handful of mobile game developers). Second, we scrutinise the arrival of the Apple software developer Academy in Naples, a widely celebrated state-capital interaction in an economically struggling urban context in southern Italy. These cases are among the many that motivate one to re-think the entanglement of urban space, state governmentality and value extraction as it unfolds today in urbanised knowledge economies.

Design Patterns for Mobile Games Based on Structural Similarity

Software design patterns have a proven impact on the quality of software applications and the development process of an application. The success of design patterns in the software industry has attracted mobile game developers and researchers to apply patterns in the context of mobile games. Researchers have already proposed different frameworks and design patterns, but they are not truly beneficial for game developers. The high-level taxonomies can be adjuvant while proposing useful design patterns. The existing taxonomies for mobile games do not consider different parts of a game that outline top-level structure. In this paper, we propose a new taxonomy that emphasizes the top-level structure for identifying new design patterns for mobile games. We propose five novel generic design patterns that might be applied to the development of mobile games and other software applications. The presented design patterns are, in a true sense, programming patterns that outline top-level generic classes and interfaces, and that could be the basis for the development of new games. We developed four demo games by using these patterns for the realization of taxonomy and design patterns.

On the role of digitalization and globalization for the development of mobile video games in the education of the future: trends, models, cases

The global world processes of digitalization have influenced the development of educational services and products market. To provide qualified education modern educational institutions need to use effective tools for organizing, managing, and facilitating the educational process with the help of mobile video games. The article aims to analyze the modern processes of education digitalization and the role and prospects of mobile video games in the education. The implementation of mobile applications in the educational process can provide a competitive advantage for higher education, as well as enhance the quality of individual student learning, and be useful for teachers and educators who intend to improve the methodology of the educational process. The results of the study show the growing of the market for mobile video games in education, the increase of investment and the formation of market leaders over the past 5 years. Based on the research methodology, the specifics of mobile video games use in today's global space were conducted, and the involvement of information giants such as Google, Amazon, and other companies actively involved in the digitalization of education was investigated. It is determined that modern models of the educational process should be integrated with digital ones, actually forming a mixed model, between traditional and digital, which can improve the professional students’ qualification. The conclusions and suggestions indicate that the key areas of mobile video games in education will be the creation of applications for mastering technical specialties, the demand for which is rapidly growing in the world. The practical part of the article consists in the analysis of the mobile video games development prospects and the characteristics of their key advantages and main trends in the educational market.

Data-driven method development and evaluation for indie mobile game publishing

With the emergence of mobile distribution channels, the traditional game value chain has produced new changes, leading to the emergence of the mobile value chain. Independent (Indie) game developers can upload their games directly through third-party app stores and publish them themselves. However, many indie game developers have issues with game publishing, especially updating the new version, promoting the market, and forecasting revenue for their games. This paper aims to provide a method to guide indie mobile game developers with mobile publishing. This new method mainly focuses on addressing the main challenges from the indie game developer’s side. The method includes a new concept of mobile game publishing logic and an online analysis tool along with the guidelines. It shows how to collect and analyze data and guide new version updates, marketing promotion, and revenue forecasts. In practice, the method was provided to six indie game companies and guided their mobile game publishing, and related data were collected and analyzed for evaluation. Based on the survey and interview results, the usefulness, usability, and confidence in the method were positive, and the method improved the indie game developers’ mobile game publishing and benefited their game business.

Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) Method in the Selection of Popular Mobile Games

Dealing with using smartphones was growing will increase the sales value of the mobile game industry, both from local and foreign developers. It can impact the increasing number of start-ups trying to get involved in the game industry, as well as a large number of job opportunities for those who want to be strengthened in the development of mobile games. This opportunity become the main sector in the domestic creative industry. In Indonesia, the development of mobile games was deemed necessary to analyze the most popular mobile game products that assist by criteria of game. It shows the market trend currently. The researcher hopes this result can provide for developers to choose the type of game to be strengthened based on certain categories. The mobile games involved in this research are Garena Free Fire, Mobile Legend: Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile, Higgs Domino Island, Ragnarok X: Next Generation, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade, Roblox, State of Survival: Survive The Zombie Apocalypse, Genshin Impact, Coin Monster, Minecraft, Clash Royale, Clash of Clans, Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, State of Survival: The Walking Dead Collaboration. The research was an Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method with the results of 5 recommended mobile games. The test is carried out with a sensitivity test which shows the criterion of "not containing violence" which is the most sensitive criterion among other criteria.

Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) Method in the Selection of Popular Mobile Games

Dealing with using smartphones was growing will increase the sales value of the mobile game industry, both from local and foreign developers. It can impact the increasing number of start-ups trying to get involved in the game industry, as well as a large number of job opportunities for those who want to be strengthened in the development of mobile games. This opportunity become the main sector in the domestic creative industry. In Indonesia, the development of mobile games was deemed necessary to analyze the most popular mobile game products that assist by criteria of game. It shows the market trend currently. The researcher hopes this result can provide for developers to choose the type of game to be strengthened based on certain categories. The mobile games involved in this research are Garena Free Fire, Mobile Legend: Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile, Higgs Domino Island, Ragnarok X: Next Generation, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade, Roblox, State of Survival: Survive The Zombie Apocalypse, Genshin Impact, Coin Monster, Minecraft, Clash Royale, Clash of Clans, Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, State of Survival: The Walking Dead Collaboration. The research was an Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method with the results of 5 recommended mobile games. The test is carried out with a sensitivity test which shows the criterion of "not containing violence" which is the most sensitive criterion among other criteria.

Psychosocial Impacts of Mobile Game on K12 Students and Trend Exploration for Future Educational Mobile Games

Due to the popularity and advancement of 4G/5G networks, mobile games have already currently become profitable tools for major internet platforms. These games are even refined to cover almost all age groups of the population rather than the young people. Yet in the perception of the public, mobile games have always seemed to be associated with various derogatory terms such as interfering with learning, addiction, and violence. K12 students usually have less self-control capability, and they are undoubtedly the biggest advocates of mobile games. This paper summarizes the technological development of mobile games from the aspects of hardware and software in chronological order. The psychological and social problems that mobile games have brought to K12 students are analyzed from a neutral perspective. At the end of the paper, the future development of educational games and current limitations of mobile games are also given for the explorations of future trends of game-based education. This position paper aims to provide the insight of what psychosocial impacts that the current mobile games have on the student, and it may also serve as a reference for the how the game-based education has been developing according to the mobile technology wise.