Minimum size for draggable items on a touch screen?

[anthony]

Hey,

 

(I hope I've posted this in the correct place!)

 

I've been working on a game that requires players to slide / drag objects around a 2D world to complete a level. Players need to be able to do this very quickly so the objects can't be tiny. 

 

I've read the Apple UI docs and they have a recommended minimum button size of 44 x 44 pixels. Having tested this out it results in the game objects taking up more of the screen on mobile phones than I would like and has a negative impact on the game play because I have to re-work levels to take things out. The iOS 7 browser changes really made a balls of a lot of things too in this regard. 

 

Ultimately I can get around this problem by targeting tablets and desktop instead. I'd be very interested to hear other peoples' opinions / experiences on the matter! 

 

Thanks,

 

Anthony

[Thigydaze]

In the end, I guess a finger is a finger, so if you're using this as your interface, then consideration should be given to a realistic size (considering some people have larger fingers). The moment, people feel they have to be too precise, it'll slow them down and they'll switch off. 

 

Can you change the layout of the screen to accommodate this? For example, instead of a square area, make it rectangular. 

[anthony]

Thanks for the reply Thigydaze 

 

I did try to change the layout to be rectangular but it didn't help. I think I'll just scale things up and avoid phones (although I've seen some enormous Samsungs on the trains in the morning!   )