Self Study 4: Game Ideas

Some game ideas I created for Self Study 4. 

Game Idea 1: Horde Defender

Many games have a "Horde mode", where you use the game mechanics, whether it be an FPS or a hack-and-slash, to defend an area against hordes of enemies. Horde Defender would be a game focused on this kind of gameplay - defeating incoming hordes of enemies would give a currency, which can be used to buy upgrades, buffs, unlock more areas etcetera. The game would be 3rd person and the character would have various abilities and a basic attack (similar to Risk of Rain 2). Thematically, the game could be themed after anything - an immune cell versus viruses, a warrior defending against alien invaders, etcetera. The prototype would likely be simple, with a player character, enemies, and a currency implemented. 

I think this kind of game has a particular appeal to people that enjoy gameplay that involves increasing their numbers and feeling more powerful as a game progresses - a similar feeling to playing Cookie Clicker, or levelling up/buying items in a MOBA. The gamemode has proven to be popular - e.g Call of Duty's Zombies mode. The game would be able to appeal to a wide audience and age range with easy to adjust difficulty settings.

Game Idea 2: Possession Strategy

The idea of Possession Strategy is a hybrid between strategy (perhaps real-time) and first person shooter. The first phases in the game would involve building the army, and the second phase is leading it into battle against an enemy army. You don't personally control your troops, as they fight automatically. The game would have a simple graphical style - holographic theme, with a lot of solid/semi-transparent colours. The idea wouldn't be easy to execute, as it requires a few difficult things - implementing two different systems, and creating AI for the non-player troops in the second phase, but the appeal to players of strategy games (Starcraft), automatic strategy games (Teamfight Tactics, Dota Auto Chess), and first person shooters is clear. 

The prototype of the game would likely have a very simple first phase - there is a resource, the player selects how to allocate their resources on certain troops. The player character in the second phase would have one projectile weapon, and there would be a basic AI that tells the spawned troops to deal damage to the enemy. The prototype, and perhaps even further versions of the game, would not have multiplayer. There would likely instead be "levels" the player progresses through, that have progressively tougher enemies.

Game Idea 3: Reaction Brawler

The core gameplay loop of Reaction Brawler is pressing a button at the right time in response to visual input, like an enemy swinging a sword at you. Think rhythm games, or games with dodging/deflecting (e.g Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice). The core button press would have to be refined, and the fun of the game comes from learning animation patterns of enemies to see when their weapons will finally intersect with your "block area" collider, which means the bulk of the development effort would go into animations and timing/trigger collider detection. This game appeals to a wide audience due to its simple control scheme - only one additional button press in addition to movement. The popularity of the aforementioned genres increase this game's chances of success.

The prototype would likely have a single enemy due to time constraints on animations, and movement would be very basic, without momentum. The focus would be on the rhythm game l nature - the player wouldn't fight back, but must block a certain amount of attacks to "defeat" the enemy.

Theme Relation

Game Idea 1: "Connected" would relate to the main character's desire to seek a world where they are not alone and being constantly attacked. They want to be connected. Perhaps after reaching a certain point in the horde defence, the main character finally meets another version of themselves that went through the same experience.

Game Idea 2: The player connects with their troops by possessing one - quite a literal connection.

Game Idea 3: The connection between body and blade is physical, and must be avoided at all costs. Maybe the graphics/thematics can relate to this (a martial art/mystical theme where fighting is an extension of what the player is thinking).