Use of design patterns for mobile game development

Abstract: Design patterns have been a valuable asset to software developers for a long time. All kind of software, including games, benefit from re-using the well known solutions to the common problems. Building a game from scratch requires a carefully made design and this is where design patterns come handy. However, the approach to game development has changed lately. The importance to learn the design patterns has been de-emphasized as frameworks and complete game engines emerge. Many design approaches provided by them are used out the box, often taken as some kind of standard. The purpose of this paper is to show how some of the classical design patterns can be used in game development and how some of the modern technologies adopt them. To research the importance of design patterns in game development, a small mobile game project has been done. As problems arose, a number of potentially useful design patterns were identified and analyzed. Those design patterns were practically applied to the project and their potential use with other related technologies was discussed. The paper emphasizes the important role of design patterns in game development and gives some insights into how design patterns are implemented in some of the modern middleware.