When I think of some of the games that defined mobile gaming in the early days of the iPhone and App Store, One Man Left’s Tilt to Live is very high on my list. It utilized the tilt functionality of the iPhone perfectly, offered up frantic arcade action, and somehow managed to bring personality to a tiny arrow and a bunch of red dots. Its production values were through the roof, and it felt like a truly “made for mobile" experience. That was way back in 2010, and although Tilt to Live is what really put One Man Left on the map, they’ve been chugging away ever since. Today, one half of One Man Left, Alex Okafor, put his thoughts down on how the last 5 years since going full-time indie developer have gone, and it’s a really great read.
There are all sorts of good quotes to pull from from the blog post, but this particular one stood out to me. Alex is talking about how he’s broadened his horizons in terms of understanding more types of gameplay, and how he no longer “turns his nose up" at certain games that become incredibly popular just because they aren’t his typical tastes:
In regards to game design trends, I think if you’ve correctly identified a genre of games that are popular or becoming popular, you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not investigate further. Why is it popular? Is it simply 1 game bucking the trend or are there more examples? If there are more, what do you think makes those games connect with such a large audience? And last of all, can you use that to your advantage for any game you make next (read: not clone)? I’ve made the mistake over the years of turning my nose up at some games or genres of games without really taking the time to understand what makes them tick.
It took me a while, but I was able to expand my definition of “play” and what makes “good gameplay” to include modes of play that are outside my usual experience.[…]
Armed with a broader understanding of “play” it’s become easier to look at games that are trending and not immediately dismiss them as a fluke or accident, but look at them as possibly hitting upon an underserved niche that most designers wouldn’t even look to design for.
Good stuff! Also worth mentioning is one of Alex’s other blog posts, this one from 2011 which he had written after being a full-time indie for a year. With how fast the mobile market moves, you’d think that the advice and trends from 2011 would be wildly different here in 2015, but that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, the quoted bit above is actually a slightly altered take on some advice he gave in 2011 about not chasing fads. Alex still maintains you should attempt to do something unique and not just copy what’s popular, but you’re doing a disservice to yourself if you don’t at least investigate why something is popular and resonating with a wide number of people.
Both blog posts are stuffed with great advice for other developers and just plain old gamers. Definitely give them a read, and we offer congratulations to Alex and One Man Left on their 5+ years of success, and look forward to many more.
