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My game is a top down mobile game where the player clicks a tile to walk to it.

However, it isn't clear where tile boundaries are from just looking at a level, so you could click on the edge of a tile expecting the player to walk there- but they walk to the center.

For instance, you could click on the center of the island shown below expecting it to be a tile- but the center is actually a corner in-between 4 tiles- so clicking there could result in walking to any of the 4 surrounding tiles.

enter image description here

Should I let the player walk freely, even between tiles, or is there a better solution in terms of UX?

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I noticed that Oskar Stålberg's games like Bad North and Townscaper flirt with this ambiguity in the way they distort and disguise the tile grid to make the world feel more organic.

To solve the UX problem this could cause, they overlay an affordance that highlights the tile to be selected, or all tiles when a move is about to be issued.

Townscaper highlight on hover Bad North highlight when selecting a move

This gives the player clarity and confidence about what moves are possible and what the outcome of their action will be, without changing the underlying aesthetic of the tileset when not actively navigating.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ This is a great answer! I should have clarified though, this is a mobile game with a touch screen ;-; \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 18, 2020 at 13:22
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    \$\begingroup\$ Bad North runs on tablets as well, which I think is why it goes the "highlight all tiles" route rather than only the hovered tile. You could also highlight on press, and execute the move on release, so a player has an opportunity to hold and slide their finger to the precise tile they intended if the first touchdown picked the wrong one. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 18, 2020 at 13:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ For highlighting only the destination, you may even consider leaving the tile highlighted until the character reaches the destination. This will allow the player to realize they've selected the wrong tile after releasing the touch, which may be useful if they have fat fingers so didn't see while pressing, allowing them to quickly change the destination. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 19, 2020 at 7:30

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