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The iPhone has quickly become perhaps the most popular phone to play games on. Thousands of old classics and new favorites have made their way to the iPhone with many more on the way. However, with this incredible amount of games we often see developers making the same avoidable mistakes over and over. In this article we will look at two of those mistakes and explore why they should be avoided.

Using the features as a novelty – The iPhone’s combination of touch screen and tilt sensor provides developers the opportunity to design and implement game features that cannot be had on any other mobile device. The problem with this is that too many developers try to shoehorn these features into their game, often with mixed results. The quality of the game will rely on how well the user can interact with the game experience, not on the inclusion of every feature. In developing games a priority must be put on placing functionality and playability over comprehensive feature use. A simple rule of thumb to follow is this: If the feature is not directly adding to the gameplay experience, do not include it!

Staying too faithful – Many of the games available in the iTunes app store are old classic that have been re-engineered to run and play on the iPhone. The issue here is that developers are so hesitant to make any alteration to their beloved classics that they end up with a game that is simply not as playable or enjoyable as the original. While financial considerations are definitely a factor in some of these decisions, this is a case where a little could go a long way. It absolutely must be considered that the iPhone is very different from any system that came before it, and any games from previous systems must be molded to fit the newer platform. When taking a game that originally ran on a computer or home video game system that had several hard buttons and a control pad and putting it on an iPhone, there is almost always something lost in the translation. Instead of staying with incredibly faithful ports, developers should spend the time making their games more accessible to iPhone users. The result will be higher sales, happier customers, a better likelihood of repeat iPhone business and an increased chance of crossover business to the developers other projects.