I've played quite a lot of console games, and some of the game menus tend to go pretty deep. It might go something like:

Home Screen -> Play -> Multiplayer -> Online -> Create Room -> Customize.

I was wondering if that is acceptable in the mobile world (Board game genre)? On paper, the design looked great and isolating the decisions to only what matters, but when I started testing the actual build, it felt too deep. Here is the Menu navigation tree sample:

Home
|
|__> Play
     |
     |__> Singleplayer -> customize screen
     |
     |__> Multiplayer
          |
          |__> Local -> start game
          |
          |__> Online
               |
               |__> Rooms -> ...
               |
               |__> Matchmaking
                    |
                    |__> Ranked -> searching for opponent
                    |
                    |__> Unranked -> searching for opponent

Looking at what I have, I can foresee three possible reactions:

1. Cut the depth! Short circuit some choices ... I don't think this is possible, without sacrificing focus and simplicity.
2. There is nothing wrong with that, this is perfectly normal even for mobile gamers (given the genre is board games). Yay!
3. It depends on the graphical representation. In that case, I am using side menus that push in from the left, and hide the previous menu:

 _________      __________
|         |    |back      |
|     play| -> |    single|
|_________|    |_____multi|

It doesn't actually take up the whole screen, just pushes in enough to reveal the new menu.

If I had to give some justification as to why it is that way, it's because each menu now is kind of logically coherent. The home screen, for example, has a huge PLAY button, as well as settings, leaderboards, and account. The rest should be self explanatory.

I've played quite a lot of console games, and some of the game menus tend to go pretty deep. It might go something like:

Home Screen -> Play -> Multiplayer -> Online -> Create Room -> Customize.

I was wondering if that is acceptable in the mobile world (Board game genre)? On paper, the design looked great and isolating the decisions to only what matters, but when I started testing the actual build, it felt too deep. Here is the Menu navigation tree sample:

Home
|
|__> Play
     |
     |__> Singleplayer -> customize screen
     |
     |__> Multiplayer
          |
          |__> Local -> start game
          |
          |__> Online
               |
               |__> Rooms -> ...
               |
               |__> Matchmaking
                    |
                    |__> Ranked -> searching for opponent
                    |
                    |__> Unranked -> searching for opponent

Looking at what I have, I can foresee three possible reactions:

1. Cut the depth! Short circuit some choices ... I don't think this is possible, without sacrificing focus and simplicity.
2. There is nothing wrong with that, this is perfectly normal even for mobile gamers (given the genre is board games). Yay!
3. It depends on the graphical representation. In that case, I am using side menus that push in from the left, and hide the previous menu:

 _________      __________
|         |    |back      |
|     play| -> |    single|
|_________|    |_____multi|

It doesn't actually take up the whole screen, just pushes in enough to reveal the new menu.

If I had to give some justification as to why it is that way, it's because each menu now is kind of logically coherent. The home screen, for example, has a huge PLAY button, as well as settings, leaderboards, and account. The rest should be self explanatory.

Just to clarify The goal is to reach a design where the user isn't lost in menus, and doesn't feel burdened to launch the game and start playing.