With the advent of mobile games and the according growing and competitive market, game user research can provide valuable insights and a competitive edge if methods and procedures are employed that match the distinct challenges that mobile devices, games and usage scenarios induce. We present a summary of parameters that frame the research setup and procedure, focusing on the trade-offs between lab and field studies and the related decision whether to pursue large-scale and quantitative or small-scale focused research accompanied by qualitative methods. We then illustrate the implications of these considerations on real world projects along the lines of two evaluations of different input methods for the action-puzzle mobile game Somyeol: a local study with 37 participants and a mixed design of qualitative and quantitative methods, and the strictly quantitative analysis of game-play data from 117,118 users. The findings underline the importance of small-scale evaluations prior to release.

翻译：随着移动游戏的到来以及日益扩大的竞争性市场的到来,如果采用与移动设备、游戏和使用情景所引发的独特挑战相匹配的方法和程序,游戏使用者研究可以提供宝贵的见解和竞争优势;我们提出一个参数摘要,以研究设置和程序为框架,重点是实验室和实地研究之间的权衡,以及是否在采用定性方法的同时进行大规模和定量或小规模重点研究的相关决定;然后,我们按照对行动喷射移动游戏Somyeol的不同输入方法进行两次评价的思路,说明这些考虑因素对现实世界项目的影响:由37人参加的局部研究,定性和定量方法的混合设计,以及117 118个用户对游戏数据的严格定量分析;结论强调了在发布之前进行小规模评估的重要性。