The more advanced technology, making game fans increasingly spoiled by so many option of mobile games with qualified visual display and fun gameplay. To be able to play it, usually requires good smartphone specification. If the internet network is slow or the device capability is less reliable, it will become an obstacle when playing game.
Seeing those problems, Google took the initiative to create a series of lightweight casual web-based games and can be played on smartphones with low specifications, even on slow internet connections. These lightweight games are collected in a platform called "GameSnacks" which was developed by Area 120, Google's internal incubator, and was launched on February 13th.
GameSnacks idea is to speed up load time and performance of web games by reducing the size of the initially-loaded HTML page, compressing additional assets like scripts, images, and sounds, then waiting to load them until necessary.
GameSnacks allows its games to load in a few seconds even on network connections as slow as 500 Kbps. For instance, A GameSnacks title called Tower is ready to play on a 1 GB RAM device over 3G within just a few seconds. While a typical web game on that same device took as long as 12 seconds, Area 120 claims.
In addition, GameSnacks’ games are simple, casual games that only last a few minutes. They’re meant to fill those idle moments you have when waiting line, waiting at the bus stop, or waiting for a doctor’s appointment. The games are also designed to have straightforward rules so they can be learned without instructions.
At launch, GameSnacks is partnering with a leading technology platform in Southeast Asia, Gojek, which is bringing the new games to their ecosystem through the GoGames service. Initially, this partnership is focused on delivering games to users in Indonesia before expanding elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Currently, GameSnacks is working with developers including Famobi, Inlogic Games, Black Moon Design, Geek Games, and Enclave Games. Other HTML5 game developers who think their title may make sense in the GameSnacks catalog are encouraged to reach out.
GameSnacks’ business model will ultimately involve other partnerships that allow other developers to embed GameSnacks games into their own apps, even customized to feel native to that app’s experience.
Founded by Ani Mohan and Neel Rao, GameSnacks is a team of six working within Area 120 at Google, which is home to a variety of experimental ideas, including those in social networking, video, advertising, education, transit, business and more.