Poll: Mobile Gamers: Portrait or Landscape?

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ktiix

Guest
I'm not sure if there is a way to format a thread so that users can vote, or if I'll need to count manually and keep a tally in this post.

Poll or Discussion. Do you prefer games and even apps in general to be in Portrait orientation, or Landscape? Does it depend on the kind of game or app? Why do you feel this way?

A friend that I asked prefers portrait for everything, mostly because she often opens the floating facebook messenger while in another app to message her friends, and she doesn't like the landscape keyboard.

I prefer a game that has a lot of exploration in it to be landscape, because most of the movement is usually side to side and not up and down, so landscape affords the player a larger field of view of where they can explore.
 

O.Stogden

Member
I think Portrait for apps, Landscape for games.

Portrait is better laid out for a phone, and the keyboard usually covers less of the screen, so its good when something requires keyboard input. Its also more comfortable to hold devices in portrait than landscape in my opinion.

Landscape, as you say, usually offers a larger viewing area for games.

My game locks to landscape, purely because its a fast paced game that requires you to see things in advance, so it benefits greatly from landscape.
 
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ktiix

Guest
There are some games that really benefit in portrait mode though, I think of like bullet hell games, and scrolling fighter plane shooters, or those running games where you dodge from lane to lane to avoid obstacles. There's gotta be a genre name for those kinds of games. They would be terrible in Landscape.
 

O.Stogden

Member
Haha, you asked for opinions, so I gave one.

Phones/tablets can change orientation for a reason, because both have their benefits.

If you're playing something vertical, portrait is obviously better, if you're doing horizontal movement, landscape will be better.

Ultimately it entirely depends on your game, you would have to provide us with a specific example and say: "Would you prefer to play this game in landscape or portrait", otherwise this thread doesn't have much of a point, because neither choice is always right.
 
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ktiix

Guest
That's fair, though this post was inspired by talking with the friend I mentioned. She has a pretty strong preference for everything to be in portrait. I think I',m more like you, where I'm comfortable holding my phone both ways, so whichever way is better tailored to the game is better for me.

I was wondering if other people have the same preference as my friend - for a certain way regardless of the game because it comes down to personal comfort and other apps that they use on top of the games they play.
 

O.Stogden

Member
I would say if it works in Portrait just as well as it does in Landscape, always go for Portrait. The OS runs in portrait generally (on phones at least). And it's easier to hold a phone that way. It means users can flick between your app/game and others easily, whereas in Landscape games/apps, the OS will flip it back to portrait when you open the task manager to switch apps, that can be annoying.

For games like Words with Friends, Draw Something, Songpop, Quizup, Fleet Battle etc. They all run in portrait and I would always play them in that mode, I wouldn't consider playing them in landscape.

For games like Real Racing, Hill Climb Racing, and my own game (oddly these are all racing), these all force the game into landscape because they wouldn't be playable in Portrait with the narrow width of the screen.

And a belated welcome to the forum, hope you enjoy your time here.
 
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ktiix

Guest
Thanks for the welcome!

I checked out the video for your game from your signature. Since it is top-down, and you drive up and down the screen as often as across it, I feel like portrait could work as well, with consideration for where the controls are for a mobile version.
 

O.Stogden

Member
I'll bear it in mind, having enough trouble placing the virtual keys in landscape mode, as it has an analog for steering/accelerating, then a brake button, a fire weapon button, a pause button and a reset car button, it just about works in Landscape mode.
 
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Guest

Guest
Depends on your game type but also your audience. I made my game with me and my peers in mind: bored middle aged professionals stuck in meetings, offices, and courtrooms. So, my game is turn based and constantly saves, and it's also portrait simply because it's way less obvious that you're playing a game. It would look pretty bad to sit there thumb-twiddling on a landscape-mode phone, but staring thoughtfully at your phone in portrait mode can pass for reading email or a document or whatever.
 

Mert

Member
I prefer to have both options, but I must choose which orientation I want. (Not based on phone's tilt value)
 

Toque

Member
I think it depends on the game. Try a side scroller shooter in portrait. It can be done but ........
 
I think it depends on the game. Try a side scroller shooter in portrait. It can be done but ........
This is all about perspective. Think about it: If you were to design a vertical scroller instead, you'd the exact same dimensions to work with.
 
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Khao

Member
Honestly, the only kind of games that actually benefit from landscape mode are the kind of games that I don't want to play on a phone in the first place. I'd go as far as to say that if your game doesn't work in portrait mode, you're making a game for the wrong platform.
 

NeoShade

Member
I think it largely depends not only on the type of game that you're making, but also the type of gameplay that you're expecting from your players. If you're making a game with any sort of cooldown between turns (Words with Firends, etc), please don't make me switch to Landscape for those couple of minutes of gameplay, because I'm probably swapping between playing this game, browsing the web, texting my friends, and controlling my Kodi box with a remote app.

On the other hand, if you're making a game that I can get completely engrossed in and play for hours at a time, then landscape is definitely an option again.
 

flerpyderp

Member
I'd go as far as to say that if your game doesn't work in portrait mode, you're making a game for the wrong platform.
Examples are plentiful of games which are landscape only and perfectly suited for mobile/touch screen, so why such a bold statement?

Would Plants vs Zombies benefit from a portrait mode, or do you think the game doesn't suit the platform?
 
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