5 Slither.io-style mash-ups we'd love to see
From Katamar.io to massively multiplayer Pikmin
Games like Agar.io and Slither.io have taken over the App Store charts, thanks to their feisty multiplayer fun, and the sheer joy of getting bigger and bigger and bigger until you're the biggest big thing there has ever been.
So perhaps some other developers could borrow this formula to bring their games to mobile. With that in mind, here are 5 franchises that should get the .io treatment.
Katamar.io
You saw this one coming. This trippy cult classic is about a teeny tiny prince who rolls up everyday objects to make enormous great balls of garbage, before giving them to his dad. Who just so happens to be the king of space.
It's all about getting bigger and bigger so you can roll up everything from pagodas to traffic lights to stadiums. But what if you added other players to the mix, so you could roll up anyone who happens to be smaller than you.
Not only is Katamari the perfect fit for one of these .io games, but it would be a lot more fun than that dull as dirt clicker game Namco's putting out.
fl.Ow
Before Flower and long before Journey, ThatGameCompany started out with a rather simple game called flOw.
It's all about munching on other, smaller sea creatures in a quest to get bigger and bigger until you can take on the most terrifying critters in the ocean.
Now, the PS3 game is supposed to be about letting the player choose their own level of difficulty as they dive deeper or surface into shallower waters to meet more or less deadly opponents.
But if Sony brought the game to mobile it could ditch this system and turn the automated opponents into real life players.
Best of all, fl.Ow could mix up the formula and let other players just steal bits of your body - instead of outright killing you. That way, getting munched on would be a momentary set back rather than game over.
HungrySha.rk
Ubisoft just put out a new Hungry Shark game. But in a post Slither.io world, it feels ever so... lonely.
The game's all about being a big toothy fish in a side-scrolling ocean of sealife and sunken treasure.
Eating loads of animals lets you level up and unlock bigger and more brutal sharks (right up the Great White), that can take down even larger prey.
Just imagine if the ocean was filled with other players, though. Not only would you have to worry about constantly eating to stay alive, but also the legions of rival fish on your tail.
Pac.Man
Namco has always been smart about reinventing Pac-Man. He's been in platformers, racing games, that weird DS game about drawing pictures, an endless runner or two, and a manic neon-dipped arcade thingy.
So how about a massively multiplayer Agar.io-style game? You've already got the dots - just make it so that Pac-Man balloons in size every time he gobbles one down.
And how do you let a small player take on a massive great Pac-Monster? With a power pellet, of course.
These rare power-ups will let one lucky player go on a mad munching rampage, allowing them to chew through dozens of other players before their reign of terror comes to an end.
Pikm.in
Nintendo's always looking for ways to bring its classic franchises to mobile. So how about this for a pitch: a Pikmin game where hundreds of space captains race each other to collect the most Pikmin for their tiny team of pintsize warriors.
You could toss coloured Pikmin out from your entourage to slow down other players, and chaotic enemies could roam the landscape to ruin the day of any player who gets too close. I mean, come on guys, the game designs itself!
Want more Slither.io stuff? Then check out the following bits:
Got an idea of a game that could benefit from the .io treatment? Then keep it to yourself. You don't have to share every idle thought that creeps into your brain, you know.