The idea is not to use the touchscreen at all in a game for a smartphone, but to reassign the hardware buttons?

Question

Android

Often in Android games, control is done by dragging the game character with your finger.
this is inconvenient, and the finger obscures the screen.
You can instead make a virtual joystick / buttons.
but the correct joystick should lie outside the playing field, so as not to overshadow. and in this case we lose the area of ​​the field.
and still not very convenient.
It seems to me that the best option is not to use the touchscreen at all, but to use the hardware buttons.
So, take your smartphone in landscape and see:
on the one hand:

• Volume rocker is Left-Right
  
• the enable button is Ctrl-1
  

on the other side:

• menu button is Up (or Down, depending on screen rotation)
  
• the back button is Down (or, respectively, Up)
  
• home button is Ctrl-2
  

Well, if we need to adjust the volume in the game or just leave this world of ergonomics, then we open the virtual Game Menu button in the corner of the screen, the game is paused, the screen dims, the Dialog with the menu opens and now all buttons work as standard.
Important note:
I don't use tablets at all.
it is likely that on a 10-inch shovel it will be complete nonsense, so I do not rule out that on a tablet in no case should you make this option by default.
but the game process will become much more pleasant on a smartphone

Answer 1

It's not a question. These are wet fantasies. If you want, do it.
By the way, as soon as the smart does not have hardware back buttons and others, you will get it.

Answer 2

Bad idea. For example LG G3 volume rockers on the back. Somewhere on the side. Not very convenient in my opinion.

Answer 3

I think you're reinventing the wheel. There are already a lot of full-fledged game joysticks for phones on sale
. What is your idea better?