Most of us these days manage our whole existence through the little gadget that sits in our back pocket – our phone. Not only do we keep track of our email on there and, of course, text and phone people, but we also can do our banking, pay our bills and manage our diary all on one device. It makes sense, then, that more and more of us are doing our gaming on our phones too.
Why sit at a desk to play on your pc when you can play the same games on your phone, while you’re sitting on the sofa, standing on the tube, or sitting on a bus? Mobile gaming apps have made our gaming world one that is portable, that can come wherever we are going.
Research last summer by comScore suggested there are more than 20 million mobile gamers in the UK, and more than a quarter of them play games on their phones every day. It’s not just the free gaming apps that people are using either. Many people play casino games and bingo on their phones too, putting down real cash each time they play. For instance, you can choose to play bingo online with bgo either on a pc or laptop, or on your smartphone too, using one login to access the same account in different ways. Bgo.com has bingo games, but also casino games, so one single app can bring you a lot of entertainment. The financial volume of the app gaming industry is mind boggling. Relying on a small portion of the app gamers, the industry is making billions of pounds every year.
The most commonly played money games on a mobile are those that don’t require a lot of screen room, or a lot of thought on the player’s part. Sitting down to play poker on your mobile is a possibility with some of the casino gaming sites’ apps, but most poker players would rather sit in the comfort of their own home to play poker, rather than out and about on a mobile.
Bingo is a great choice to play on a mobile as there’s very little thought required once you’ve purchased your tickets. All you need to do is watch what happens. Slots are similar; when you’ve decided how much to bet per spin, the only thing to make a decision about is how many times to press Spin. The beauty of games like this is that you don’t need to strategise or make big decisions, so they’re just right for playing in bustling environments like a commuter train carriage, or while you’re waiting to meet someone in a bar.
However, even though you’d think the number one benefit of mobile gaming is being mobile, according to the same comScore report, 64% of the UK’s mobile gamers play in their living rooms and 45% play in their bedrooms, while only 33% play on their commuter journeys.
Wherever people to choose to do their mobile gaming, it’s clear that the phone is becoming the new gaming location of choice, and this looks set to continue, with games companies producing more mobile-friendly games all the time.
