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What is a cut scene in a mobile game?
It is the story beat that pauses play. These examples fill the frame with the moment and keep the shop and the match controls off it.
Scroll for moreCut Scene Patterns in Mobile Games
A cut scene is the story beat that pauses play. Strong ones fill the frame with the moment, keep the shop and the match controls off the picture, and offer at most one way on: a tap, a check, or Skip.
What repeats
- The picture fills the frame. Play and the shop stay off it.
- At most one way forward: a tap chevron, a check, or Skip.
- When there is text, it is one line: a caption, a speech bubble, or the name of the moment.
What varies
- Angry Birds Dream Blast and Stardew Valley hold on the picture. The birds sleep in a wooden room. Grandfather rests with a sealed letter. There is no button and no line to read.
- Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle pages a comic and leaves a yellow chevron to advance. Cozy Grove puts the line in a box and offers Skip story?. Clash of Clans keeps the village and the resource counters up while the villager talks. Fate/Grand Order stamps Excalibur, NP Lv. 1, and Charge 100% on the cinematic.
Questions
How do Angry Birds Dream Blast and Cozy Grove use the pause?
Dream Blast shows the sleeping birds and nothing else. Cozy Grove puts the line in a caption box and offers Skip story?.
How should a designer use these references?
Let the picture carry the beat. Add one line or one skip, and leave Play for the screen that follows.
Examples from shipping games
More Cut Scene stills
Angry Birds Dream Blast
Red, Chuck, and Bomb asleep in a sunlit wooden room. The fireplace and the loft are the scene. No button and no caption.
Stardew Valley
Grandfather rests in bed with a sealed letter, a fire in the grate, and a starry window. The bedroom is the whole frame.
Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle
Manga panels of Piccolo and Goku trading threats, with speech balloons and a yellow chevron at the bottom of the page.
Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit
A camper van on black, a caption box reading 99 traumatized souls to befriend, and Skip story? in the corner.
Fate/Grand Order
Artoria raises Excalibur. The banner reads Noble Phantasm, Excalibur, NP Lv. 1, and Charge 100%.
Clash of Clans
The villager says This is our new Village! beside the Town Hall. Gold, elixir, and gems stay in the corner.
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The 6 screens above are the public sample of cut scene screens. An account opens the rest of the library, including flows and mechanics.
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