5 mobile multiplayer game development decisions

As you plan your mobile multiplayer game, you’ll need to imagine the experience you’re building and understand where it sits on these five axes:

• Synchronous vs asynchronous play. Do players interact with the same game world at the same time, such that one player’s action changes the game conditions for the other player in real time? That’s synchronous. Or is it a turn-taking experience, in which one player goes, and then the other player can wait an arbitrary amount of time before going? Async.
• Local vs remote. Do you imagine your players being in the same room, shit-talking each other while they play? Or are they in separate locations?
• Competitive vs cooperative. Will your players be going against each other, or working towards a shared goal? Or both?
• Single or teams. Will players work alone, as in a one-on-one game, or as part of a team?
• Strangers or friends. Will players be matched with other players in the app, or do you imagine that they’ll need to bring their real-life friends into the game to play?