When Turkcell, the leading phone operator in Turkey, wanted an engaging cross-platform digital version of the popular board game Backgammon (known in Turkey as "Tavla"), I again joined forces with previous Double Duck co-founders Danny and Dor. Together, plans were also laid out for a complete game suite that might include other board staples such as Dama (Draughts), Okey (Rummikub) and more.
My main challenge here was designing a system that's flexible enough to adjust and perform well in the small portrait screen of a mobile device and the large wide screen of a desktop computer. To meet project goals we had to make sure solutions were effective and economic to implement.
Many in our target audience play Backgammon in real life but hardly any mobile or desktop games. In an attempt to make the game as approachable as possible to them, we chose a Skeumorphic style for a familiar look and feel. We tried to keep the UI as simple to understand as possible, with clean and clear visuals, dynamic localized texts and intuitive controls. No login or complex steps were needed to start a game; our core design goal was Pick-Up & Play.
Final consideration was to support the plans for potentially more games under the "GO" brand, which further reinforced our choice of a visually laid-back UI style, being generic and extensible enough to fit in many games.
Ultimately, the game launched to some early success in most metrics, but plans to continue development fell short due to structural changes in the parent organization. Nonetheless, I feel proud of what we were able to achieve in this short-lived yet challenging project.