What should a menu have?
The primary buttons
The primary buttons are a must have in all mobile games or else people will just want to delete your game and want a refund (if it was paid for).
Play
The play button is what allows players to be able to go past the main menu and into the gameplay, this is essential because without this then you won’t be able to play the game but rather just be staring at the menu screen rendering it unplayable and people would just delete the game.
Settings
The settings allows players to do various things such as turning off and on the games sounds and music (some games have them separate, some have both in one and others have bother as well as a master to do both simultaneously).
Some games do have a settings but it’s in the game rather than in the menu screen, other games have it in both, I feel that it should be in both that way players can change it whenever they feel rather than either going back to menu or go into the game.
The secondary buttons
The secondary buttons are not really a must have but can offer players more in the game
Leader-board
The leader-board is where players can compare level scores or total score with global players, local players and friends. This try’s to encourages players to play better to reach the top and become number one
Credits
The credits is where the creators are mentioned, mentioning the people who created the designs and the programming of the game.
Cinematics
Some game may have cinematics which when unlocked can be re-viewed in a little menu.
Store
The store is where players can spend both in-game currency and real life money to buy various items and objects (depending on the type of game), the store will sometimes offer discounts for various bundles, sometimes it’s only the largest bundle but other times its all of them.
Challenges
Some games have a challenge menu challenges sometimes offer players rewards for completing them but a lot of the time it just offers players more of a test of their skills having requirements such as time trials or a limited amount of something and set scores to gain the stars or certain rewards, encouraging players to repeat until they can do it better.
Social media
The social media has 2 variations, there’s the variation that allows you to connect wo your account allowing players to share scores and bonuses while there is the 2nd variation where players just go and get redirected to the official page of the company for players to follow them.
Awards
Awards can be viewed in its own menu showing what ones you have unlocked and what ones are needing to be unlocked, some games just have them for fun while others give rewards when collecting them.
More
The “More” button can offer various things ranging from other games made by the company to different ways to get free currency which you would have to pay real money for such as gems this can be linked to the social media part as well as appearing in the store section.
Angry birds
Angry birds menu is very simplistic and easy to navigate it covers a majority of the screen, players can do various things such as connect to social medias, watch cinematics, view leader-boards, view rewards, change settings and play the game.
Fragger
The Fragger games menu is simple, big buttons the option to turn off and on the sounds and music, the option to gain some free golden grenades and more games at the very bottom of the screen. It has simple colours, the art style is simple.
Dragonvale
Dragonvale’s menu is simple but it’s a little too simple, I’m not saying that the main menu should be more complex but it should really have a little more than just a play button, so if players wanted to sort out settings they would have to go in the game to do it.
Cut the rope
Cut the rope has the base essentials that the player needs, the play button and the options button, as well as the option to follow the company on social media. The style of the game is simple and very appealing for the younger age.
Hearthstone
Mobile menu
PC version
Hearthstones menu is very simple and easy to understand, compared to its pc counterpart there is no difference in terms of what it offers players. The design is pretty much similar but it has the shop, quest, packs and collection buttons to the side rather than the bottom.
The settings menu, money and friends is in the top part of the mobiles screen whereas the PCs settings, money and friends are located at the bottom part of the screen, these differences are due to the limitation of screen size and the layout of the other buttons. Finally there is a battery icon next to the settings to let players know about their battery life, an asset which many games do not offer.
Anthony Mason (Coder/Tester)
Vikings Vs Samurai 