Tips and Ideas for Designing the Ideal Gaming Website

Gaming websites of any kind are a lot more complex than the average site for obvious reasons. Their servers are comparatively more resource intensive as well, because even a moderately sized gaming webpage might have to host several hundred different games and players simultaneously. On the other hand, you could be looking to build a Wiki site like Gamepedia, which would not be as resource intensive as a casino or a casual games site, but it will still require immense manual work to build up a list of comprehensive content.

From a web designer’s perspective though, the most important aspect would be to make it all look good, irrespective of what the main content is. While there is not much anyone can suggest without knowing any specifics of the website to be designed, there are a few rules, tips and ideas that might help you avoid common mistakes.

Visit Some of the Top Gaming Websites in the Genre

In the absence of context and reference, there would be little to build on here. Visit some of the leading game sites in the same genre that your project will belong to on completion. Online casinos are by far the most popular online gaming sites in the UK, so let us take that as a point of reference here. Since you should only be drawing inspiration for your own future designs from the best web designs, just pay a quick visit to theOnline Casinos guidance website first. They exclusively list the best casinos online, each of which are registered and regulated in the UK, so you can find the highest-quality casinos available that are in an easy spot for you. Online Casinos is a site designed to provide all the help that any new or experienced gambler might need to get started or stay updated, therefore the site’s own design is an excellent reference point for designers looking to build a gaming Wiki/Guide site.

Do Not Copy, But Assimilate

As you visit several gaming sites relevant to your target genre, it is easy to make the mistake of thinking that you can copy your way to success. That is not entirely impossible as several websites have indeed copied their way to success in the past. That being said, it may not work as well today as it did perhaps five years ago.

Both your clients and a majority of their customer base are likely well aware of how the other popular websites in the genre look. Unless your client specifically wants a site that looks like a cheap replica of something much more popular and well-established, that is a bad design idea to pitch or follow up on. Instead, assimilate several different ideas from the various sites you visit and like. See how much of it can be worked into your own versions of them in each page you design for the gaming site’s primary and secondary content. There is a thin line between being inspired and copy-pasting, so take care to mind that line.

ResponsiveWeb Design is a Must

This should become a standard rule by now, and yet, so many websites fail in this department. It is no longer sufficient to just have a single desktop version of any site. In fact, neither is it sufficient to have an additional mobile version of the main site. Both are outdated web design elements which must be replaced by what is known as responsive web design.

The main idea here concerns designing a website that responds to the dimensions of any display on which its pages are being viewed by dynamically adjusting its own dimensions, so as to provide the best viewing experience possible. There are several advantages to adopting a responsive web design for gaming sites in 2021 because: 

• The hardware and software in smartphones and tablets are more than capable of displaying fully fledged webpages these days

• The hardware and software upgrades have also made it possible for Android and iOS devices to access gaming sites and play browser-based games without a hitch

• It’s cheaper to maintain just one responsive website than several versions of the same content

• Smartphone users gain easy access to the gaming site as well, opening it up to a much, much wider range of traffic

Work Closely with Your Developer

If the web designer and the web developer are two different entities, they have to work together. If they do not, there is no possible way for the website to be a success. Both professionals are essential for the web development process, but it’s usually the developer who has to deal with all core technical specifics. Collaboration is key here, so work in perfect sync with your web developer, especially if it is a gaming website with actual online games being hosted on the cloud. It might even be ideal for the web designer to complete a crash course on web development beforehand, if only to get themselves acquainted with the likes of Ruby, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, and HTML.

Master the Magic of Colours: Get to Know the Colour Schemes

There is a vast difference between what we think we like and what we really like. The job of a web designer is to figure out what the potential customers of the site in development are likely to really want. Superficiality is irrelevant to someone visiting a website, so this is easier than it sounds when it comes to gaming websites at least.

A good example would be the fact that older gamers often seem to be attracted to the darker, greyer hues in video games, while the younger audience like popping colours a lot more. On the other hand, hard facts state that everyone loves popping colours in games a lot more than they care to admit! To put facts behind the claim, let us take a look at three of the top three highest selling games, as of 2021:

1. Minecraft (200,000,000+ copies sold): Pixelated, blocky chunks of beautiful coloursin all hues that pop

2.       GTA V (145,000,000+ copies sold): Hyper realistic sceneries, popping with surrealistic colours and explosions

3.       Tetris by EA (100,000,000+ copies sold): The game quite literally consists of symmetrical and asymmetrical blocks of popping hues

In short, find a colour scheme that doesn’t end up looking like an eyesore in respect to the gaming content, and then make it pop. It will not work for a business site, but as far as games, relaxation and enjoyment are concerned, we associate them with vibrant hues subconsciously.

As previously mentioned, there are very few rules that are universally applicable to all gaming websites. Nonetheless, you are now aware of the few important ones that are indeed there.