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.