The Apple Watch's Earliest Game Makers Want Five Seconds of Your Time

Many people are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Apple Watch, but few share Aki Järvilehto's glee at just how annoying it will be. The game designer feels certain that the tiny screen and novel interface will make it a drag to play wrist-based versions of the world’s most popular smartphone apps. “Games like Angry Birds or Clash of Clans aren’t going to be more fun on such a small screen,” he says. “The games are going to have to be built from scratch.”

Enter Everywear Games, the studio Järvilehto launched last month and staffed with veterans of well-known mobile-gaming companies such as Rovio and Remedy. When pre-orders for the Apple Watch begin flowing on Friday, his team will be one of a few focusing solely on games for the wrist. It seems a safe assumption that there will inevitably be games for the Apple Watch—even if no one is sure yet what a brilliant watch game will look like. The initial list of Apple Watch apps includes some puzzle games, and mobile app companies are also working to create versions of existing titles for the wrist. Such moves are bound to fail, says Ariel Vardi, the chief executive of Little Labs, another newly-minted smartwatch development studio, "due to the nature of the platform, the limited size of its screen and touch input, but also the inherent differences in user behaviors."