The next big thing: Mobile devs need to embrace the leap to touchscreen desktops

The age of tablets was only the beginning. When Windows 8 launched last year, its calling card was its position as an identical interface shared between tablet and desktop devices.

That small innovation gave manufacturers the opportunity to build desktop machines with the same touch support as their tablet cousins.

In 2013 we've seen more and more touch-controlled laptops, as well as dedicated touch monitors and All-in-One touchscreen PCs - all designed to make use of the Windows 8 interface.

These include Lenovo's 27-inch IdeaCentre Horizon, positioned by the firm's advertising as a much for the family in the living room as well as for desktop computing. 27 inches of touch sensitivity is enough to make games we would never have dreamed possible on small tablets.

In fact, as touchscreen technology gets cheaper and cheaper to produce, there's no doubt that we're going to see touchscreen PCs as standard in the next couple of years. With giant screens to match.

Designers with mobile and tablet experience are well-placed to make the most of these interfaces. But what design decisions must be made to make the most of this scale? Will developers be creating brand new content or adapting existing work to larger screens?

Indeed, what are the commercial opportunities for large-format touchscreen games?

The next generation of touch games

This year I was a finalist in Intel's App Innovation Contest, which meant I got to get my hands dirty developing for a 27-inch All-in-One PC.

I got to explore how existing Windows 8 games fared at this scale, and developed something new of my own: Tap Happy Sabotage!.

The opportunity to expand this kind of design to 27-inch hardware was too exciting to refuse. I wanted the game to allow as many players to share the device as possible. I wanted to use this extra space to get people to push, shove, cheat and play dirty.

But the extra screen space offers more than just the capacity for more full-on multiplayer.

Fruit Ninja's subtle slices on iPhone are even more invigorating as large sweeping gestures on a monitor. The expanded real-estate could allow games like Where's My Water to include more delicate nooks and crannies in their level design, using the space for more nuanced movement.

When it comes to touch, bigger really is better.

So who's ready for the big screen?

Clearly any game that runs on Windows and processes touch inputs is ready for a large-screen interface. If it's on the Windows Store right now a customer with a 27-inch All-in-One will already be able to play it large-scale.

So is it worth seeing large-scale touch as a separate format at all? Should developers make bespoke features for these larger screens?

My answer is yes: it would simply be a shame to see this rich interactivity go to waste.

But if you want your game to capitalise both on the wide mobile/tablet marketplace and on the incredible spectacle of the giant screen you need to consider the differences between the technologies.

A large touch monitor and a small tablet are very different physical experiences. Moving your hands around an upstanding monitor on a desk is not as comfortable as a tablet on your lap or phone in your hand - certainly not over long periods.

Fruit Ninja works great because you're taking a lot of short, sharp motions.

In fact, it works even better than the exact same game on tablet. Similarly, Angry Birds requires very small hand motions, and gives plenty of time to rest your hands between shots, so it's never a tiring experience.

However, games with long and slow motions can feel laborious. In these cases the space would be better used to allow intricacy of movement, rather than simply upping the scale of existing levels.

Of course, a game sold on the Windows 8 store needs to be compatible with all Windows 8 devices, large or small.

As it's impossible for an app to tell the physical size of a player's screen, it makes it difficult to split an app into a large-scale version and a small-scale one. But as touch monitors become the norm, we will find solutions to this issue.

After all, the disparity of pixel densities is an issue which affects all touch-ready PC applications - not just games. This is simply a challenge calling for smart developers.

Embracing big

Giant touch screens are a new opportunity to push boundaries.

Playtesting Tap Happy Sabotage! with my family was the most hilarious time we've spent playing games together since Wii Sports.

The screen is such an intuitive interface that it allows everyone to join in, including non-gamers. Its physicality can get everybody clambering over each other, encouraging physical interaction and creating a social experience to be remembered.

This is just one example of the kind of play that wouldn't be possible without these devices. As a designer it would be madness to miss out. A smart use of new technology like this could put your studio on the map.

Indeed, for the manufacturers it makes sense to promote these games to show what their awesome new hardware is capable of.

This includes Microsoft, whose OS already supports this kind of content - it's certainly in its best interests to promote those experiences that its rivals just can't offer.

Giant touchscreens are a technology that opens up vast possibilities for groundbreaking games. So let's grab this with both hands and create something truly special.

Alistair Aitcheson is a one-man studio working in Wiltshire, UK. He is the developer of the Greedy Bankers series of iOS games and a founding member of indie collective Full Indie UK.