What emerging trends in game mechanics should you know for cross-platform development?

Game development is an exciting and dynamic field that constantly evolves with new technologies, platforms, and audiences. As a game developer, you need to keep up with the latest trends in game mechanics that can enhance your gameplay, design, and user experience across different devices and platforms. In this article, we will explore some of the emerging trends in game mechanics that you should know for cross-platform development, and how they can benefit your projects and players.

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1 Adaptive UI

One of the challenges of cross-platform development is creating a user interface that can adapt to different screen sizes, resolutions, and input methods. A good UI should be intuitive, responsive, and consistent across platforms, while also providing feedback and guidance to the player. Adaptive UI is a game mechanic that allows the UI to change dynamically based on the context, device, and user preferences. For example, an adaptive UI can show different buttons, menus, or icons depending on whether the player is using a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, or a controller. It can also adjust the font size, color, or layout to fit the screen and improve readability and accessibility. Adaptive UI can improve the usability and immersion of your game, and make it more appealing and user-friendly to a wider audience.

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Christopher Chung

Game Designer, Unity Developer, Educator
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As a player, this is a frustrating issue, especially when large and resourced studios manage to fumble its execution when they'd nailed it in prequels or previous releases. (Which might be the reason that they made a sale this time around.) It's not an easy feature to execute, but for many players it's more than a like-to-have, it's an accessibility issue. For starters, smaller text can be illegible depending on display size for even people with 20/20 vision, and smaller icons can strain dexterity limited folks. Even staying within the PC space - handhelds, portable form factors, and media station PC setups can push the range of apparent display sizes that end-users are likely to want to support, making adaptive UI highly valuable.

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2 Procedural Generation

Another trend in game mechanics that can enhance your cross-platform development is procedural generation, which is the technique of creating content algorithmically rather than manually. Procedural generation can be used to create diverse and dynamic environments, characters, items, quests, or stories that can vary each time the player plays the game. Procedural generation can also reduce the development time and cost, as well as the storage space and loading time of your game, by generating content on the fly rather than pre-rendering it. Procedural generation can also increase the replay value and the sense of discovery and exploration of your game, as the player can encounter new and unexpected situations and outcomes each time.

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3 Social Features

Another way to enrich your game mechanics and cross-platform development is to incorporate social features that can connect your players with each other and with your game. Social features can include chat, voice, video, or text communication, as well as sharing, liking, commenting, or reviewing your game or its content. Social features can also include multiplayer modes, co-op, or competitive gameplay, as well as leaderboards, achievements, or rewards that can motivate and challenge your players. Social features can also create a sense of community and engagement among your players, and increase the retention and loyalty of your game. Social features can also help you gain feedback and insights from your players, and promote your game through word-of-mouth and social media.

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4 Cloud Gaming

One of the most innovative and disruptive trends in game mechanics and cross-platform development is cloud gaming, which is the delivery of games as a service rather than a product. Cloud gaming allows the player to stream games from a remote server to their device of choice, without the need to download, install, or update them. Cloud gaming can also enable cross-play and cross-save features, which allow the player to switch between different devices and platforms without losing their progress or preferences. Cloud gaming can also offer high-quality graphics, performance, and latency, regardless of the device or platform specifications. Cloud gaming can also expand the accessibility and reach of your game, as it can lower the barriers of entry and cost for your players, and allow them to play your game anytime and anywhere.

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5 Immersive Technologies

The last trend in game mechanics and cross-platform development that we will discuss is immersive technologies, which are technologies that can create a more realistic and interactive experience for your players. Immersive technologies can include virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, or haptic feedback, which can enhance the visual, auditory, or tactile aspects of your game. Immersive technologies can also create a more immersive and emotional connection between your players and your game, as they can feel more present and involved in the game world and its characters. Immersive technologies can also offer new and unique gameplay possibilities and challenges, as they can require different skills, strategies, or actions from your players. Immersive technologies can also differentiate your game from the competition, and attract and retain more players.

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TJ Johnson

Manager leading immersive storytelling production at Disney Experiences
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Who doesn’t want to feel like they are living in the game!?! Creating stories where the player makes the choices and has a truly genuine experience is the dream. I’m humbled to have a role where I bring games to life for people (gamers) to live and breath! This is definitely a balancing act of what technologies are the right fit for the experience being created. No matter what - the main core question we all should be asking during development - “Is this fun?” If you have an engaging story, make sure the interactive portions fit the theme and genre - slapping AI on and old timey western game may not really make sense, but as we saw in Red Dead redemption you can make AR feel natural. Keep if fun, simple and natural IMO

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What emerging trends in game mechanics should you know for cross-platform development?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Adaptive UI

2 Procedural Generation

3 Social Features

4 Cloud Gaming

5 Immersive Technologies

6 Here’s what else to consider

Game Development

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What emerging trends in game mechanics should you know for cross-platform development?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Adaptive UI

2 Procedural Generation

3 Social Features

4 Cloud Gaming

5 Immersive Technologies

6 Here’s what else to consider

Game Development

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