Mobile game ideas that play well on a phone
Phone games are played in short bursts, on a bus or in a queue, often with one hand. So the best mobile ideas use one thumb, a portrait screen and runs under two minutes. Each idea below fits those limits and comes with a sentence to play it on your iPhone in Roam.
Three rules for phone games
- One thumb. Every action is a tap, a hold, a drag or a flick. If it needs two hands, it will be played less.
- Portrait first. Most people hold the phone upright. Put the action in the middle and keep the bottom for the thumb.
- Short runs, instant restart. A run under two minutes and a retry with no menu in between turns one more go into ten.
Ideas sorted by gesture
- Flick: office toss. Flick paper into a bin while a fan pushes it. Try: "flick paper balls into a bin, the fan speed changes every shot"
- Hold: pogo climb. Hold to charge a bounce, release to jump. Try: "hold to charge a pogo jump, climb a tower of junk, falls send me down"
- Drag: growing hole. Steer a hole that swallows a market. Try: "a hole in a night market that grows as it swallows stalls, 90 seconds"
- Tap: drawbridge. Raise the bridge for boats, lower it for cars. Try: "tap to raise a drawbridge for boats, lower it before the cars crash"
- Swipe: judge cards. Swipe left or right on each card. Try: "swipe left or right on dating profiles, spot the red flags, 60 seconds"
- Tap: stack tower. Drop moving blocks on a tower; overhang gets cut. Try: "stack sliding blocks into a tower, the overhang falls off, reach the clouds"
Play them on your phone
Roam is a free iPhone app where you describe a game and it comes back playable on the same phone. Android users can pre-register on Google Play. Three Roam games built on these gestures: Bank It! (flick it in, mind the fan), Pogo Up (one skeleton, one pogo stick, eleven areas up) and City Hole (start small, swallow the whole market).
Play it on Roam
Make a mobile game with Roam
Pick a gesture, add a place and a timer, and type it into Roam. You play it on your iPhone right away and change it by talking.
Try: "one-thumb game, a hole in a night market that grows as it swallows stalls, 90 seconds per run"Questions people ask
What makes a good mobile game?
Controls that work with one thumb, a goal that is clear in seconds and runs short enough to restart without thinking.
What are simple mobile game ideas?
A flick toss, a hold-to-jump climber or a hole that grows as it swallows a city. Each needs one gesture.
Can I make a mobile game on my phone?
With Roam, yes: describe it on your iPhone and play it there. Most game engines need a computer.
Keep exploring
- Simple game ideas that still feel new
- Short game ideas with one mechanic and one sitting
- Mini game ideas for parties and short breaks
- Video game ideas worth making, from tiny to big
- Horror game ideas: one rule, one place, one twist
- Unique game ideas from flipping who you play
More on Roam: All Roam games Games to play, by kind