It feels like episodic gaming has failed to deliver more often than it has succeeded. But in the handheld space where the buzz term 'snackable' is fast replacing 'casual', it seems to make more sense than ever.

Indeed, the App Store’s digital distribution method has helped spur a renewed round of good intentions.

Bite-sized chunks

Top of the list of examples is Pocket God, a frivolous play thing in which you can merrily bedevil the days of unsuspecting tropical island pygmies with a catastrophe pick n’ mix.

Currently 26 updates strong, rather than spread meatier offerings with new storylines and levels across a longer timeframe, developer Bolt Creative has opted to introduce new elements to Pocket God on a near weekly basis, theming each and hailing them as episodes, as opposed to mere updates.

The new content though small, gives the player fresh tools with which to experience Pocket God’s diabolically mischievous world.

But though Bolt Creative has successfully shifted upwards of 1.2 million copies of its game, free updates or episodes cannot be infinitely sustainable. Pocket God’s current episode, Dead Pygmy Haunting, is the first to include optional micro-transactions.

Too much, too early

Where Pocket God’s episodic element apparently came about unplanned - see our making of interview with Bolt Creative’s lead brain, Dave Castlenuovo - other iPhone titles have over promised and as yet, under delivered.

Notably, Bulky Pix’s Hysteria Project, a game originally billed as episodic with several promised installments, mysteriously fails to mention anything of the sort on its current iTunes listing.

Similarly, Agharta Studio's impressive 1112 Episode 1 has not managed to build on its initial promise with no Episode 2 in sight.

They seem more like TV pilots that didn't really find an audience.

Strike the right balance

Apple’s distribution method and the platform may both be conducive to episodic releases, but much like in the PC space, the propensity for projects to stall, or at least suffer crippling delays (hello Half Life 2 Episode 3) seems equally likely.

Episodic gaming’s future, on handhelds anyway, may be as uncertain and hard to define as it is in other industry sectors, but it seems clear that its evolution as a concept is necessary if it’s to become part of gaming’s permanent landscape.

Remaining stubbornly linked to the televisual definition, rather than playing to gaming’s strengths is not the way to go.

It might seem like a question of semantics when all is said and done. What exactly constitutes an episodic experience?

Is Pocket God offering updates disguised as episodes?

Are companies like Bulky Pix and Agharta Studio being too dogged in their loyalty to a traditional episodic format?

Get 'em coming back for more
Pocket God may not offer episodic gaming in the way it's been predicted, but definitions aside, its approach gives players a renewed weekly impetus to 'tune-in' for another session, snack or episode, whatever you want to call it.

Importantly, each weekly session is both a continuation of the last and an expansion upon it - surely the very definition of episodic?

Either way, Bolt Creative’s successes and the collective developer enthusiasm surrounding micro-transactions on the App Store are bound to encourage more in the way of episodically structured games.

Whether we’ll keep calling them titles episodic, remains to be seen.