Ever since smartphones turned from being a luxury to a necessity… much like how the internet is important to the younger generation, mobile app games have been on the rise. It doesn’t matter if you’re as young as 3 years old, or as old as 85, as long as you own a smartphone and know how to use it, you’ll play at least 1 mobile game in your life. It’s almost impossible if you don’t.

As you may know, there are many genres of games in this world and unlike the more hardcore games, such as MMO shooters or MMORPGs, casual games are able to appeal to a wider range of people due to their easy-to-learn gameplay and controls, and yet, the game poses a tough enough challenge to keep players hooked to it. It is these games that the reviews on Gamesparkles are focused on.

What contributed to the rise to popularity of these games though, one may wonder. Well, for starters, it is definitely accessibility. As mentioned, most people nowadays carry around a smartphone (some may even have 2, not including their tablet!) as phones are important as a communication device in this modern era.

However, smartphones can double as a gaming device (in addition to being a camera, a digital planner, an alarm clock and many more) as well, allowing people who will never spend cash buying a gaming console or even (gasp!) a PC/ laptop to have access to a reservoir of games that they are not exposed to before. This may drive people who have not played a game in their lives to finally pick a game which appeals to them on iTunes or Google Play and try it out. From there, they will slowly be “converted” into casual mobile gamers, especially when they play more and more games on their phones. The ease in which new gamers can be created due to the increase availability and importance of smartphones is the key to the success for mobile gaming.

Of course, another important factor is the blossoming of the free-to-play market. People who are reluctant to spend a dime on games are able to access a plethora of high quality games, such as Sims Free Play, Candy Crush Jelly Saga, Criminal Case, Angry Birds or even Pirate Kings. Best yet – these games do not force players to pay to win... though, if you want to get an extra advantage that badly, you could! Of course, some players would prefer games that require a small token of cash to buy instead. Not to mention, there are more mobile games being published on a daily basis than any other types of games. Thus, mobile gamers will never run out of new things to play.

It is simply incredible how far mobile gaming has come. It is currently the gaming platform with the largest number of players, and in fact, some games for consoles and PCs are actually trying to emulate the success of mobile games by imitating them. Mobile gaming is definitely poised to break down the walls between gamers and the gaming industry, especially with plenty of cross-platform games emerging from this amazing phenomenon.