There are nearly 3 billion gamers who play on their phones or tablets, and the market has been projected to surpass $200 billion by 2023. These days, many phone games are as fully developed as their console and PC counterparts.
Then why are phones often still considered a lesser way to play games? Perhaps it's the hardware. Even great software depends heavily on the device it's played on, and though phones have many advantages thanks to their portability, touchscreens, and gyroscopic abilities, they do sometimes force gamers to deal with wonky touch controls, lag, and lack of support for things like video capturing and social features. The Backbone One MFi is a controller built for iPhones, and it has changed everything for me.
Mobile gaming is real gaming, and always has been, but now I'm doing it a lot more than any other kind of playing.
The Backbone One adds console-style controls to your iPhone. You fit the built-in Lightning connector to your iPhone's charging port and stretch the sides of the device to clamp. The gadget works with any iPhone that has iOS 13 or newer. (Find out if your iPhone is compatible here.) It fits snugly around the phone, and attaching it is fairly foolproof.
It has the exact buttons, triggers, and joysticks you find on a console controller, with a plastic design that feel similar to a PlayStation pad, but with very clicky, snappy buttons like the Nintendo Switch. On the bottom right-hand side, there's a Lightning port, which enables pass-through charging without the cord getting in your way. The left-hand side has a headphone jack, making it more audio-friendly than the iPhone itself. (Headphones with mics also work.)
I mostly use it at home, but you'd need a bag to carry it with you on the go. It's too awkward to keep it on your phone between gaming sessions. It's also incompatible with phone cases and grips. I don't mind slipping my iPhone 11's thin silicone case off, but if you use something like an Otterbox, the removal process might be too cumbersome. It also doesn't yet come in additional colors.
Android phones are not supported, and at this point, the company isn't sure whether it will delve into that world. For now, at least, Backbone is iOS only.
When I first started testing Backbone One, I realized the phone games I typically play aren't controller-compatible. I trawled through the App Store's controller-friendly recommendations, playing Don't Starve and Transitor. Both worked well, and I was delighted by the combination of console-like joystick movements and button presses paired with native iPhone touchscreen controls.
Then I gave Stardew Valley a shot. And that changed everything. I have played it for 43 hours so far—longer than I ever did on the Nintendo Switch. I was fully immersed. I played it so much that I began to reach out and try to claw for my phone to try and Google a villager's dislikes without realizing I was already staring at it.