Polar Opposites?

After finally going through the game trade publications I picked up at GDC Eu / Gamescom, a few new ideas started floating around in my head.

The one I am currently pondering most about is the possibility of mashing up the sandbox and point and click adventure genres.

In the former the player is given a universe and some tools to play with. Testing the boundaries, coming up with creative ideas and generally letting the players find their own way to have fun is what it's all about.

The latter has a very rigid and linear construction, and when the rules aren't followed, the player will find himself stuck.

I'm currently favoring an episodic approach to a possible genre bender: On one level the player will have a world to play with, but will unlock certain pixel hunting, inventory combining at designated points. 

One example might be a part of a pantheon of gods: Part of the game would involve building, populating and molding a world of your own, but to gain further skills you must perform fetch quests for the other gods working with you.

New theme idea

Popped into my head while thinking about Venture bros. and Sentinels of the Universe: giving my programmable deck builder a super hero (or rather super villian) theme.

Instead of exploring the galaxy or the wild west, each player would control an organized crime group, along the lines of the guild of calamitous intent, with a basic deck of henchmen to run around and create chaos in a city, gaining notoriety to hire more henchmen and eventually attract super villains with better skills, earn money and fight of AI police and superheroes trying to thwart them.

Drafthouse Poker

Came up with a card game using some of the rules of poker. Still fiddling with the rules, as usual, but I wonder how it would play.

Dealer starts by giving every player 2 face up cards. Antes up and draws 2 himself.

Places on of the cards next to his starting 2. Face down to keep it hidden, or face up to use it's ability.

The next player, in a clockwise direction may then fold or ante up. If he antes, the dealer then gives him his remaining card. He then draws another, chooses one to place and play continues.

When all players have 5 cards in front of them, the last card is discarded face up. All those still in the game reveal their hands, highest hand, according to poker rules wins the round. Dealer changes, play resumes.

Face up cards may have effects such as reversing play order, drawing an extra card, discarding and drawing 2 new cards, etc.

That part is still a work in progress.

Also considering changing the number of suits, number of face cards, number of number cards (will those have an effect as well?) and with the names of the cards, just to make it a little more unique.

New theme for my game

Been playing around with the theme for my programmable action deck builder, changing it from a space opera to a game about going an expedition to explore north America, in the same vein as Lewis & Clark.

Players would start at a major city, a set amount of money and supplies and a basic deck. Before heading out to explore, they would bid on a random set of cards to enhance their deck, with the player who payed the least (or has the fewest cards, or a similar device) starting first.
Each player could move forward at least one space. Those falling behind could move faster, as the territory was already explored, giving a bit of a catch up mechanic and something players must consider. Those discovering new territory would also flip over an event card, with various beneficial, harmful or neutral effects.
Moving would also exhaust supplies which would have to be replenished through hunting or bought at various checkpoints (towns/forts) along the way.
Recruiting people such as European traders or native guides would also be an option along the way, with these having benefits over the basic cards.
Some cards would go onto a players board, rather than into his deck, giving a permanent effect.

Finally, the length of the game could be changed to suit players wishes by giving different paths to explore.

Musician brand - another thought exercise

Went to the GameIS convention last week.
Didn't really change anything about how I feel about the Israel game industry and my chances of breaking in through it. Brought my portfolio, but only showed it to a couple of people. Met a few familiar faces and a few new ones, collected the few freebies available and sat through a few sessions.

One of the sessions talked about music in games and how difficult it is to license for a low budget production. On the other hand, using the name/image/brand of an artist is easier to accomplish, and adds theme to a game.

This lead me to think about board games, and if that can be applied.
I'm sure there are board games out there with a musical theme, mostly of the party / trivia variety, but I can't think of anything that uses a personality like Michael Jackson or Ozzy Osbourne as a theme.
Been thinking if something like that could work.
Not looking for another Monopoly or Love Letter retheming, but something custom.
Probably something small in physical size, like a deck of cards and a few counters, with a set of simple rules that would draw non-gamers into the fold.

Stripping the Theme Out

My deck building programmable action card game is still popping up in my thoughts. I like the science fiction theme I started with, but I have some issues making it all fit.
Sometimes I think it is an entire race/culture you are controlling, but then I have an issues with the mechanics of area control.
Sometimes I think a player controls a space ship, but then I have issues with some of the player interaction.
Sometimes I think of a completely different theme, such as sailing ships at the age of exploration.

I think that stripping out the theme and concentrating on pure mechanics may be the way to go for now, and figure thematic issues once everything is ticking well enough for testing.

A track for laying down actions and having them unfold is a must.
Powerful deck customization is also important, with the possibility of adding or removing multiple cards from the deck in one turn, searching the deck and combining cards for powerful combos, etc. - something that Dominion still does very well.
I also like the idea of adding customization to the player board during gameplay.

Now to figure out how the cards could interact.

Post-KGC Thoughts

The theme of this year's KGC was "Hello World Beyond Korea," and many of the talks that were either in English or simultaneously translated had been about localization, and a lot of that had been about art styles.
One of the keynote speeches was about the Oculus and how much potential it has for exposure when compared with the flooded PC and mobile markets.
I also sat through a session talking about the production of Tearaway, a game with a very fresh papercraft art style, developed by Media Molecule, the guys who made Little Big Planet, another game with an unusual crafted look to it.

All these elements came together for me in the form of an idea of a Super Sentai game for the Oculus rift, putting the player in command of a sword wielding mega robot, trying to defend a city from giant monsters.
I think that taking the cheesy route isn't something that we see a lot and could have a lot of international appeal. Monsters would look a suit built around a person with a central theme, buildings looking like models with camera angles to make them look larger, colorful and nonsensical explosions all the time, and more.
While most of the Movies and TV shows that inspired this - the Super Sentai / Power Rangers series, Ultraman, Godzilla, Voltron, use cool themes for their monsters such as animals and vehicles, I'm trying to think of weird ideas to make my game more unique - such as a mutated chair. ;)

I'm also giving some thought to the control scheme - I don't really see myself strapped into an omnitread  to walk around a virtual world, so they should revolve around a game pad. I've been thinking of giving it "loose" controls, like you find in Octodad or Surgeon Simulator.
I think it fits the Power Rangers theme, in which a group of teenagers jump into a giant robot and somehow they all coordinate their attacks together via gesture.