it’s simple enough to add a gamepad to your pc, but what games really benefit from the touchscreen and portability of a tablet? that is, what games are actually improved by stepping down to a lesser platform?
World of Goo is meant for a touchscreen. shovelling goo around is just more fun with your fingers.
Hero Academy is a cheat, since it actually came out for the ios first, so it actually stepped down to the pc. i’m putting it here anyway because it’s a real gem. boardgames fit the touchscreen well.
and that’s it? i’d like to say adventure games, but there hasn’t been any new ones i like. not sure if that’s the fault of the games themselves or just me.
i have my eye on Baldur"s Gate, X-Com, Bastion and Shadowrun Returns; but i have no idea if they’re better or not on the ipad.
Fingers = fat, slow and inaccurate compared to a mouse. It also means a heck of a lot less
less input options.
For any game where those two things aren’t an issue, it should be just fine. Most turn based games, at least ones that don’t require fiddly ui could be candidates. Something like Civ V is probably playable on touch screens (in fact, doesn’t it support it?).
BG1 on touchscreen sucked, IMHO. I tried it briefly, and putting up with what is a 10 year old UI on a touch screen? You need the patience of a saint. It’s bad enough with a mouse and keyboard! It’s playable, but it’s not my idea of fun.
Card games and board games are all good candidates. Tower defense might work if you make the UI big enough and simplify gameplay so that you don’t have to jump around the screen and the map too much.
I personally can’t think of any games that worked better on a touchscreen, but there are several that were perfectly functional. Pinch-to-zoom is generally about the only thing that fingers have over a mouse, and even then, a mouse can pretty much handle that too.
Yeah the scroll wheel usually handles that type of interaction much faster. And pinch to zoom is also usually laggy on mobile devices as the transform/asset loading can be hard on the hardware.
Definitely agree. None that are BETTER on touchscreen, tons that are definitely playable on touchscreen.
you don’t agree that World of Goo is better on a touchscreen? if you haven’t played the game let’s use something else as an example - popping bubble wraps. that is certainly better right?
I’ve played World of Goo and no it’s not better. I can think back to the 1001 times it was difficult to pick up one of the damn moving goo balls with a mouse. It was even more difficult with my finger. And sometimes, to get the most optimal structure set up right, it was important to be able to perfectly position the goo ball in just the right spot, just before the strands would give way and it wouldn’t be part of the structure. MUCH easier to do that with a mouse and keyboard.
That doesn’t mean it’s not fun or playable on a touchscreen. But I don’t see how it’s better.
For popping bubble wrap, where it’s all about the visceral experience which you are used to doing with our hands and fingers, yeah I can see that being a better “Experience” on touchscreens. Although mechanically, I can pop more bubbles with my mouse that you could with our finger I bet.
There’s this weird sentiment that somehow, touch interfaces are superior to traditional mouse and keyboard. I think this is wrong. They are convenient, specially when on the go and having input accoutrements isn’t viable.
It’s almost as if these people had never actually used a touch input device and had only seen one in a movie.
Console gamers swear that you could play something like StarCraft 2 on the WiiU pad. It’s mind boggling.
It’s a pain in the behind to navigate through websites on those things unless the sites have been optimized for touch, and even then, optimized just means everything is a big button and the information and content available to you is inferior to a desktop/laptop experience (granted this is a touch AND a screen size issue).
I was flabbergasted when an acquaintance of mine purchased a touch monitor. What the hell? Of course, he used it for all of 2 days before going back to keyboard and mouse because, not it’s not more convenient to move your entire arm from one side of the screen to the other vs. slightly moving your wrist to do the same with a mouse.
On the other hand (ha!) it is more natural, there isn’t a device standing between you and the content. So although I believe it’s inferior 99% of the time, there are some applications for which I can see it being superior. When the tactile experience enhances the task, and doesn’t get in the way.
I’d much rather use a touch screen in say a museum display to get at information/interact with data. I don’t need efficiency in that case as I’m not working with the data really, just experiencing it.
and that is what i meant by better. if the experience is better, you’re having more fun yeah? efficiency-wise, i’ll have to take your word for it with World of Goo since i didn’t play that on the pc while you have played both. however imho, moving the goo around with your finger is simply more … intimate? as for the bubble popping, i think i’ll take that bet - you’ve forgotten to factor in multi-touch.
i’m with you regarding the touch monitor, especially as portrayed in the movies, with virtual touch monitors high up at eye level. your arms are going to tire quickly! this thread however, is asking for games that are better despite the short-comings and i stand by my two nominations. when you scruff up the game pieces and they swing around limply; when you direct your attack with the hand of god.
Also, there’s a huge difference between ‘can play’ and ‘good experience’. Try playing Terraria on a laptop with no external mouse (your choice of nub button or scratchpad.). Can you do it? Yes. Does it suck? Yes. These things are not mutually exclusive.
Well, one would assume the console gamers claiming this where talking about having a good experience with it and not a crappy one. As for cite, look up any Star Craft 2 news article on mainstream gaming sites.
I guarantee you post 2 or 3 is some guy asking for a WiiU port or otherwise claiming the WiiU gamepad would be “perfect” for that game.
To continue with the OP, I think board games really are the most tablet friendly. Really, if you’re looking for something plays best best on a tablet/touchscreen, it’s almost certainly going to be a game that was made FOR a tablet.
When you cater to the input limitations and advantages of a particular platform/device, odds are, it’s going to feel good or at least be serviceable there.
