The Game Idea Thread

[Oddysseus]

Idea:

"Grognax Does Some Minor Repairs"

Mr. and Mrs. Dalrymple have just bought their first house.  They put themselves massively in debt and maxed-out their credit cards, but their fully furnished Victorian was well worth it.  But this story isn't about the Dalrymples - it's about Grognax, alien ne'erdowell.

You play as Grognax, who (after a spectacular intergalactic bender) has crashlanded his small spacecraft into the Dalrymple's living room while they are out on holiday.  You must use the appliances and raw materials of the house to fix your ship.  The catch is, every item you use weakens the structural integrity of the house - 'borrowing' some of the plumbing pipes causes the kitchen to flood, using the blender to jumpstart your engines creates an electrical surge, etc.  Can you repair your ship before the house caves in around you?

If you do, the jet-stream exhaust from your engines will incinerate the house to ashes in front of the returning Dalrymples as you soar off into the night sky.  But who cares?  You're off to see the six-breasted strippers at the new Neptunian orbiting casino!

It's good to be an alien.

[Crimson Wizard]

I had this idea saved for MAGS, but since I haven't won yet, so I think maybe it will be useful to someone.

Recall all the quests you played as an uber-cool-hero... Whether you are vile or good, you always do the same: sneak into people houses, take their posessons, ask tonns of deadly stupid questions... And those pathetic non-player characters just stand on their predefined places watching you pass by, stealing all their items...

They had Enough!! It is time for

Background Characters Revolution!!!

This is generic idea, not bound to any particular character or characters. But there should be a character or multiple characters being robbed by so-called "hero". He or she was on another one extra silly mission to save galaxy (find treasure, beat ghost pirate Le Chuck, or whatever), and thought he could take every useful item you had in your house. Well... He was f***ng wrong! Background character(s) is/are set on quest to teach that social chauvinist some respect.

[Clarvalon]

Game Idea threads seem to be quite prevalent at the moment, so here's a link to a post about several abandoned/abortive ideas I've had for the Xbox Live Indie Games channel - there's some crossover with adventure games towards the end:

http://clarvalon.blogspot.com/2009/12/abortive-xblig-ideas.html

[Oddysseus]

I like Crimson Wizard's idea.  And clarvalon's (on his site) to make a game based on an average woman's experience with pregnancy/childbirth.

It just occurred to me that it would be cool to play a game based on deciphering a missing character's journal (like Rorschach's journal in Watchmen).  You could read the whole thing at any time, but parts would be totally incomprehensible until later in the game, when you could put them in context.  Also, pages would be torn out and you would find them as you retraced the person's steps (he would be hiding them in plain sight like breadcrumbs for you to follow).  And of course, the last few pages would only APPEAR blank, until you realize that they were written on in (say it with me) invisible ink!

Eventually, you would find where the character was being held against his will, and defeat the big baddy.  Of course.

[Wonkyth]

Yeah, CWs idea is nice.
Why is it that you always have to play a dick of a character?

[Oddysseus]

Trigger Happy

You play as Trigger, a robot revolver with legs created by eccentric toy designer Gustave Monroe.  Unfortunately, Monroe has just been murdered.  You take it upon yourself to find the killer and bring him to justice.  You are aided in your quest by your 6 specialized kinds of ammo:

Truth Serum: perfect for getting intel from a prisoner.
Acid-Tipped: for those pesky locked doors.
Silenced Stun Dart: for those stealthy situations.
Glow-in-the-dark Paintball: lights up anything it richochets off of.
Explosive: no explanation necessary.
Electromagnet with Filament: acts as a grappling gun; simply fire it at a metal target, and reel yourself over. Cut the power and the magnet comes right off!

(ammo would either be infinite, or you'd be able to make new ammo yourself by scrounging bits of metal from the environment)

I couldn't help making some sprites of the little guy (plus I needed the practice):

x1
x2

Feel free to use these sprites if you feel like it.

[Scarab]

You play as Trigger, a robot revolver with legs created by eccentric toy designer Gustave Monroe.  Unfortunately, Monroe has just been murdered.  You take it upon yourself to find the killer and bring him to justice. 

I think I see a fairly obvious twist there waiting for you

Spoiler

It was You!!!11!!1ONE!

[close]

[Oddysseus]

I had an idea for a zombie game.  Nothing revolutionary, but it won't stop bugging me until I write it down.

The zombie apocalypse has happened... on spring break, of course.  Typical.  You and five friends are the only survivors on the tiny tropical island you were vacationing on.  During the last zombie rush, you got bit on the arm, but the others didn't notice.  You'd tell them, but you're the only one who can shoot worth a damn, and they'd never make it without you.  You have to get them through town to the beach, where hopefully  there will be some boats they can take off the island.  And you have to do it before you go full-on zombie on their butts.

Features:

-Zombie-related puzzles.  Use the environment to distract, kill, or sneak past zombies.  For example, toss a cat to lure a zombie in front of a wrecking ball, then let 'em have it.
-Insta-puzzle-solver.  Your rifle has three rounds, so if you can't get past one or two puzzles with brainpower, do so with firepower!
-Non-linear gameplay.  The gameworld is setup as a grid, with individual 'rooms' being squares in the grid.  You start at the bottom and have to travel to the top, but the route you take is up to you.
-Time-limit.  If you don't beat the game in the alloted time, you become a zombie and chow down on your buddies.  Sad day for you.
-No cliche happy ending.  Assuming you get your friends to the boats, you'll still wind up a zombie.  I'm thinking the game should end with the boat sailing off into the distance, and then the sound of a single gunshot as you shoot yourself before the transformation takes place (assuming you have ammo left).

that's it. short and sweet.

[Anian]

Wouldn't non-linear gameplay be kinda ruined by a time limit? I mean, if you had a limited time you'd be finding the shortest way on the grid - you could make it so the shortest path has the hardest/most time taking puzzles but that kinda leads the player a bit too much and so you might as well have only 3-4 paths (I'm assuming that "the grid" would have more than that) and that's it.
I'm all for "just use the gun" solutions, it can always be limited (for example make the room flooded or gas leak or some other situation where you can't use a gun). And then you can make a point on grid into a gun shop (not an out of context shop, I mean like a real gun shop or a gun locker or a safe and you'd steal ammo but this requiers solving a hard puzzle etc.

Non-cliche endings (especially if multiple, are always great, and if there's a few of them then they don't have to be too far from a cliche, cause it's variety and that's enough. Now making plot points like an infected hiding his byte and thus turns into a zombie when story demands it - if you can avoid those, that would be even better. 

[darrkchylde]

youplay as a ghost hauntin a castel who was killd by the king but you cant get revenge cause the king is protectd by magicians who use magic. You gotta posess people wit diffrent abilites to kill the 4 magicians than you can kill the king

[Eggie]

Wouldn't non-linear gameplay be kinda ruined by a time limit? I mean, if you had a limited time you'd be finding the shortest way on the grid - you could make it so the shortest path has the hardest/most time taking puzzles but that kinda leads the player a bit too much and so you might as well have only 3-4 paths (I'm assuming that "the grid" would have more than that) and that's it.
I'm all for "just use the gun" solutions, it can always be limited (for example make the room flooded or gas leak or some other situation where you can't use a gun). And then you can make a point on grid into a gun shop (not an out of context shop, I mean like a real gun shop or a gun locker or a safe and you'd steal ammo but this requiers solving a hard puzzle etc.

Non-cliche endings (especially if multiple, are always great, and if there's a few of them then they don't have to be too far from a cliche, cause it's variety and that's enough. Now making plot points like an infected hiding his byte and thus turns into a zombie when story demands it - if you can avoid those, that would be even better. 

I think it would be neat if the game forced you to sacrifice a friend to solve some puzzles when you screwed up.
Like a very literal version of the 'lives remaining' in old computer games.

[Wonkyth]

'Friends Remaining' 

[Oddysseus]

I like the idea of losing a member of your party if you screw up.  How did I not think of that? (well, I guess that's what this thread is for - to get those creative juices flowing.)

To that end, another idea:

"Colonel Swifty Saves the Day... Eventually"

Colonel Swifty was the fastest superhero in the world... back when fighting Nazis was still cool and new.  Now, he's gotten old, and he travels around Peaceful Palisades Retirement Home in his motorized wheelchair most of the time.  But should the need arise, he can still put out a jolt of superspeed... he thinks.

Hopefully he thinks right, because the need has just arisen!  Lord Immortal has been murdered, and the culprit can only be one of the other residents of the super-retirement home.  Is there a super villain hiding in their midst?  Is this death just the beginning of a scheme by an old nemesis to bump off all the heroes who know his one true weakness?  Will Swifty finally be able to get it on with his old partner Amerigal now that dementia has set in, and she has forgotten how much she hates him?

To answer these questions, Colonel Swifty will have to team up with a bunch of other old coots to form a new superteam, the Golden Oldies!

Featuring:

The Spectacular Spectacles! His x-ray vision still works... mostly.  It's gotten a little blurrier over the years, but he can still make out the outlines of shapes.

Big Ear! His superhearing works fine.  Unfortunately, concentration isn't his strong suit- so he only catches every couple of words.

Magic Pants! The hero known only as Magic Pants was gifted at an early age with the psychic ability to perceive an object's history just by touching it!  Except touching it with his fingers never works... it only works if the object touches his penis.  So he has to shove an object down his pants to learns its secrets.  But still, that's a neat power, right?  Kinda?  Where are you going?

Can Colonel Swifty catch the murderor before Jello Tuesday is canceled?  Only with YOUR help!

[Eggie]

Here is my one and only note on this idea:

Old person's home for Superheroes been done stop Make whole game about Magic Pants stop.

Ooh yeah; idea I had the other day: multi-floored themed restaurant First Person Shooter. You play as a waitress you needs to collect tips to buy better weapons against, like, chefs who throw pizza and you and and each level is a different themed restaurant cliche and and and and spatulas.

[Oddysseus]

Forgot to upload this one last time:


"Pluto's Awesome Journey"

An idea for an edutainment game that would teach kids about the planets in the solar system:

Pluto has just heard that some scientists on Earth have taken away his planet status.  He decides to visit those scientists and give them a piece of his mind.  Of course, it's a long trip to Earth, and there are plenty of obstacles in his way.  He'll have to get help from each planet he passes along the way (and after he passes Mars, he'll accidentally overshoot Earth, so he can talk to the Sun, Venus, and Mercury).

Each planet will personally give him some interesting factoids:

Jupiter: "I'm fucking huge, and I've got this big-ass red spot on me that's actually a giant storm.  Isn't that awesome!?!"
Saturn: "I've got rings and shit."
Uranus: "Can you help me up?  I'm the only planet that rotates on its side.  I'm also frequently used in toilet humor."

(Obviously the cursing is just me having a little fun.  The actual game would feature kid-appropriate language).

When he finally gets to Earth, the scientists are so freaked out to be scolded by a celestial body that they reinstate Pluto as a planet and he goes back to his orbit, the end.

[ddq]

Forgot to upload this one last time:


"Pluto's Awesome Journey"

An idea for an edutainment game that would teach kids about the planets in the solar system:

Pluto has just heard that some scientists on Earth have taken away his planet status.  He decides to visit those scientists and give them a piece of his mind.  Of course, it's a long trip to Earth, and there are plenty of obstacles in his way.  He'll have to get help from each planet he passes along the way (and after he passes Mars, he'll accidentally overshoot Earth, so he can talk to the Sun, Venus, and Mercury).

Each planet will personally give him some interesting factoids:

Jupiter: "I'm fucking huge, and I've got this big-ass red spot on me that's actually a giant storm.  Isn't that awesome!?!"
Saturn: "I've got rings and shit."
Uranus: "Can you help me up?  I'm the only planet that rotates on its side.  I'm also frequently used in toilet humor."

(Obviously the cursing is just me having a little fun.  The actual game would feature kid-appropriate language).

When he finally gets to Earth, the scientists are so freaked out to be scolded by a celestial body that they reinstate Pluto as a planet and he goes back to his orbit, the end.

And I assume it'd have convenient planetary alignment like Magic School Bus. Also, don't forget the asteroid belt.

[MrCheminee]

The AD(H)D experience

The player has to make it through a week of school, work and other appointments.
Obstacles are:
Focus/hyperfocus (parts of the screen get blurry)
Distorted timeperception (time goes at a random speed)
Forgetfulness (List of wat to do's is contstantly changing...)

Instead of a healthbar, Happyness, energy and focus are monitored.

Player wins by not walking under a car, or losing all his friends...

[darrkchylde]

Life ofa Hooker- have sex wit peopl 4 money. sometines they try ta kil you.

[Oddysseus]

How about a game where you play as a Dr. Frankenstein-in-training mad scientist.  You have to figure out how to "misplace" parts at the organ donor facility where you work, while pinning the blame on someone else so you don't get fired.

Of course, once you have enough pieces to build your evil creation, there'd be no need for secrecy. Just snap your fingers, and it would crush your former employers.  Unless it goes nuts and disobeys you... but that never happens.

[Cyrus]

A LucasArts/Noir detective or LucasArts/Lovecraft crossover. Probably DOTT/Lovecraft, since they both involve tentacles