Platform - Games

In gaming, 'platform' refers to both the physical hardware running a game and the virtual surfaces players navigate. As a design element, platforms create verticality, pacing, and challenge—think Mario's bricks or Celeste's mountain ledges. They demand precision timing and spatial awareness, forming the literal foundation of many genres from 2D side-scrollers to 3D adventures. Symbolically, platforms represent progression: each jump is a small victory, each gap a risk. They teach players to read environments as puzzles of elevation and momentum. Whether as floating islands in indie games or crumbling ruins in AAA titles, platforms remain a timeless, tactile core of interactive design.