I tend to play a lot of games on my devices, both my phone and tablet. If I can sneak in a few minutes in between other things, I'll do it. Generally, these are games that are built around the idea of wasting a few minutes of time. They're designed to be played in just a couple of minutes, and enjoyed over and over again.
It's these games that have brought in a whole new demographic of "gamers" into the fold. Sure, a lot of those regular consumers don't consider themselves gamers, but hey, what's in a title, right? It's great that these games, which have found such a comfortable spot on our phones next to our favorite apps.
For someone like me, a gamer, finding games that can kill a small amount of time, as well as fill wider gaps, is almost as fun as actually playing the games. I've gone through so many titles in my time with phones and tablets, and I'm not slowing down anytime soon.
I love 'em.
My gaming mentality has changed a bit recently, though. While I still have more than a few games on my devices that don't necessarily need an Internet connection (despite my uncanny need to be connected to GameCenter or Google Play Games, or Xbox LIVE), I'm beginning to find myself leaning towards a type of game that needs a connection to other players, at least temporarily.
I've played online fighters on consoles for a long, long time. I got addicted to them from arcades, and I haven't stopped loving them since. I've managed to stay away from them on mobile devices or quite some time, though. There have been many options, but I finally jumped in on the fun with Capcom's Street Fighter X Tekken.
And now I realize that this is just about the best way to play games online, especially from a mobile device.
There are a wide range of multiplayer type games out there. Whether you want to play in a asynchronous fashion, where you take turns, at your own pace (think Words with Friends), or you prefer the fast-paced action of a First Person Shooter with a lot of different players doing things at the same time, there are plenty of options.
As you can imagine, a fighting game isn't about asynchronous gameplay, so you need to have a stable (and fast, please!) Internet connection to be able to play against another digital combatant. But it's so quick, and so much fun, to be able to just get in two rounds (or three, depending on the results of each round) before you have to do something else.
The best part? Notifications of someone who wants to start a match with you. I did some traveling recently, and as soon as I got off the plane and connected to Wi-Fi, I opened up the aforementioned title and started playing. A few moments in, I got a notification that someone had challenged me to a match, and I started that fight without any effort at all.
I think I've found my new favorite style of multiplayer gaming on my mobile devices: competitive multiplayer. It probably eats up more of my battery, but I think it's worth it in the end. It's just a lot of fun, and you can move on to other things as soon as your match is over. Quick, and yet plenty of depth.
Do you play competitive multiplayer games from your mobile devices? If so, which ones? Or are you someone that just uses games to pass time by yourself, to kill some time? Let me know!
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