Choosing what medium or platform to launch your game on is a very critical choice. This can come down to portability, controller vs. mouse/keyboard navigation, and accessibility. Publishing your game on a mobile phone can drastically improve ease of access, but if your game heavily relies on headphone usage or a physical controller, then maybe reconsider your platform. For the games we’ve explored so far in class, I found the one that fits its platform most appropriately is Sim Nimby by Opoulos.
First of all, this game is published on Itch.io, which is a platform for independent developers to host their games at a minimal cost. Sim Nimby is also solely accessible on desktop, making the user navigate with their keyboard and mouse instead of tapping the screen or navigating with a controller. The part about the game that fits the platform the best however, is the comment section. Itch.io comes with a built-in commenting section for users to share their thoughts on the specific game. Sim Nimby lacks many typical gameplay features of a “normal game”, and acts moreso as a commentary on policies built around housing. If you navigate under the gameplay frame, you can see dozens of comments providing crucial and relevant social commentary upon housing. In fact, I think this accomplishes the goal of Sim Nimby by providing a thoughtful, engaging discussion on housing. The platform in which Opoulos chose to publish this game takes the meaning a step further, allowing these engaging conversations to happen alongside the game.
In this case, I would argue that the platform in which Opoulos chose to publish this game is just as important as the game itself, and the two are surely connected in this unique design decision.
This is something I never considered and I’m glad you brought up. This kind of discussion can extend into the realm of socio-economics, for example in a playstation vs Xbox war if a game appears on one and not the other console, and how that can affect its reception. Another example could be games that branch out to other platforms, such as Hearthstone (a Blizzard game released in 2014) or Bloons Tower Defence 6 (a Ninji Kiwi game that came out in 2018 as the 6th game of its kind) both of which also came out on the app store which surely increased the places in which people could/would play these games and would also appeal to more mobile gamers.