So, I have a lot of ideas, I try my best to write them all down, and I’m never worried about someone “stealing the idea“ because that just means I get to play it without having to invest my time and effort into making it exist, seems like a win win. As of late I’ve been working on improving my creative thinking and I think the best way to really build an idea is with community, so how about we collectively spitball some ideas, and ask questions about others?
For an example of what I’m thinking of, I was watching this video on designing an invincible soldier, and part of the worldbuilding for this was a lot of “Okay so I’ll do X, what about Y? Well, Z.“ Then just a million questions leading to more and more unique answers. In the end they wound up with a very compelling cursed puppet-like soldier, functionally fairly immortal, but with such depth and drawbacks. That sort of question asking is really difficult to do yourself (Though I’m sure it could be learned), so how about we lean on each other?
So! Let’s spitball some dream games! This isn’t about the technical specifics of games or even the time it’d take to make it. Even if you’re not a gamedev or designer I’m sure you have some kind of game you wish existed, or some existing game you wish you could change just a few things to. You’d be surprised how small of a change could lead to drastically different designs! Let your inner idea guy burst out!
I’ll start with an idea I haven’t spent a lot of time on at all, and if people ask enough questions about it, maybe I’ll wind up with a full idea eventually!
Punch Out + Fantasy RPG. I really love the punch out series’ combat. The fast paced dodges and requirement of learning an enemy’s moveset is really fun. I think it would translate well to an RPG. To some extent, I think this kind of exists in the form of games like Monster Hunter and Crypt of the Necrodancer, but I’m thinking to keep the same sort of perspective and gameplay that punch out has. No positioning or rhythm game constraints, just good ol “Oh the enemy’s about to attack, better use a dodge to the right!“ And I think it’d work good with that classic dungeon crawler perspective view from those dungeons and dragons games. Pairing that kind of combat with equipment/weapons that change your attack timings, and having to balance item usage with needing to occasionally dodge I think would lead to some fairly interesting combat. Maybe multiple enemy encounters at the same time too!
I am person of simple ambitions. My dream game is a recreation / homage to Yoda Stories. Hell, I could set it during the time period of The Mandalorian and make it Baby Yoda Stories.
Seriously though, I want to make a top-down adventure game with randomized maps, lock-and-key puzzles, simple control, and funny little dialogs.
Oooo I’ve definitely thought about that too, I love me some adventure games but have always hated the thought of creating one because I’d think if I placed everything there’d be nothing for me to actually discover. Buuuuuut, procgen would totally solve that.
I was thinking about this since I was promoting my video on narrative truck sim Rig ‘n’ Roll on Bluesky yesterday, that it did things that no truck sim had done before or has done since, and given time and budget, I can imagine a sequel that really expands on what it does well. In spite of being a janky mess, it has a level of admiration for trucker culture that modern truck sims with their corporate sterility just don’t have. So imagine a truck sim set in a 10:1 recreation of some state, but you also get to leave your truck and do life sim stuff. There’s truck stops to pause at, there’s maybe a home base you can decorate and improve upon, there are relationships you can build, factions you can befriend or make enemies of, detailed My Summer Car-like maintenance of your truck… Basically the GTA of truck sims that Rig ‘n’ Roll showed signs of becoming.
Would it cost $100 million to make? Maybe, but not if… We limit it to PS2 quality graphics, baby!
top down adventure rpg sorta game with weird obscure math puzzles scattered around (as a means of distributing secrets) but with the main focus being a card collector/battler and also you’re a witch in space
Another idea I’ve had bouncing around in my head for a long time, tangentially related to the Rig ‘n’ Roll sequel above I suppose because coincidentally it’s related to trucker culture, is a Smokey and the Bandit roguelike. Basically an action driving game with randomly generated roads across the southern United States in which you have to strategically distract cops and other assorted ruffians from stopping your trucker buddy carrying contraband over state lines or whatever. Car upgrades, road variation, maybe even playing as the trucker. Lots of opportunity for fun there.
I need to stop being stubborn and just use it!! but I’ve been wanting to use GBDK cuz a lotta custom stuff is made easier with that and it’s cooler to say I used gbdk yannow?
one of my favorite things to do in some of the need for speed games was just sorta ride around the big circular highway and antangonize the cops so if this were more dynamic and endless I’d probably lose so many hours doing exactly that constantly lol
Woooooah! Crossed Swords looks very similar to what I had in mind! It’s interesting that many of the comments to that video call it boring. I guess seeing the gameplay, it is pretty repetitive. Maybe there’s not enough player expression or enemy variety. I’ll definitely have to give this a shot sometime. I can’t say I’ve played any Neo Geo game, I’ve never even seen it in person lol
Oh yeah, it really ain’t perfect, but considering it came out very early on in the platform’s lifecycle, I guess it makes sense that it’s a pretty simplistic game… but I’d definitely recommend you to check out the Neo Geo library, it’s a treasure trove of cool retro games (especially if you’re into 2D fighting games). Plus most of it is pretty accessible nowadays, with official ports being sold on Steam/GOG/PSN/Xbox/Switch.
I had a nebulous idea the other night while playing a game with a friend. I think it would be interesting to make a game where players have a large, intricately-designed space to explore, but it’s entirely covered in darkness. This darkness is significant, to the point where even if you could survey the entire game’s map from a specific vantage point, you wouldn’t see anything.
Without any kind of in-game map, players would have to navigate their surroundings and find a way to generate light. Then there’d be a whole lot of actual game stuff - you know, totally trivial and definitely not load-bearing to whatever this design is - I can think of it later.
But the core of the vision would be slowly lighting up the entire world as you explored and overcame its challenges. So that the black abyss you started looking out into becomes visible over time, and at the end reveals the crazy nature of the place you’re in.
I think Minecraft probably had a hand in my thoughts on this - putting down torches and combating the night is a fun experience, and it’s always interesting to see the before and after of settled areas in terms of lighting.