With the introduction of the Apple iPad yesterday, many developers seem genuinely excited about the prospect of bringing their games to the large-format device. During our Podcast we discussed that some games would be better suited than others to take advantages of such a large surface area. So here are a few that we think would benefit the most.
Tower Defense
Fieldrunners
Fieldrunners and almost any other Tower Defense game would be able to take unique advantage of the large scale size of the iPad. Right now, most iPhone games require you to zoom in and out or pan across maps to manage towers and track the creeps. Imagine playing with a massively large map with a full overhead view.
Line Drawing
Boom Brigade
Any line-drawing games such as Flight Control and Harbor Master would benefit from a large screen. In fact, both developers have already announced their intentions to make iPad-specific versions. It would also change the game play balance entirely, potentially making for a much more frantic play field. But the one line drawer that we always felt was handicapped by the iPhone’s screen size was Boom Brigade. In Boom Brigade you could draw lines to direct your troops into formations to attack the enemies. The problem was that the screen was so small, there wasn’t enough space to do much maneuvering. That will change with the iPad.
Board Games
Monopoly
Monopoly and every other board game out there are a perfect match for the iPad. Not only because you can actually see the entire board at once, but also because there’s enough room on the device to actually play with other people in your family. Board games have always been social games, but that aspect tends to be lost when you are playing on a 3.5" device. The iPad may be the perfect way to revive these under appreciated games.
Real Time Strategy
Command & Conquer
StarCraft, well, maybe not StarCraft specifically, but aside from Command & Conquer Red Alert there really hasn’t been many full-featured RTSs that we’ve enjoyed because of how difficult cramming all of the different interface elements required to control your units and micromanage your base requires way too much screen space on the iPhone. C&C did it best, and even then it felt like way too much of the screen was wasted on large finger-sized buttons. With the increased area for countless interface elements, the iPad could be the perfect device for realtime strategy games.
If you have your own ideas of what kind of games would be best served by a 9.7" multi-touch display, let us know in the comments.
