Genre: puzzle/platformer
Perspective: 2.5d isometric
Hook: Out run and out think the world you're trapped in as the ground collapses behind you in this blend of exploration, simple puzzles, and fast paced platforming.
-Short burst game play: Each run can be consider a self contained 2-3 minute game play session as the player explores. However each run ties into the player's over arching goal of escaping, inventory, and knowledge of the game world. Each failure is a successful exploration of the environment. Players can try something new with each run and explore a new approach.
-Flow and optimization based game play: As players keep running without stopping, they pick up speed. Learning the game world and optimizing is the key to escaping in time. To reach the edge you'll need to discover and flow through an escape route.
One minute of awesome: The tension of the final minute of each run as you try to push out further with the ground collapsing behind you.
Trapped at the center of a strange world, the land starts to collapse away behind you every time you try to escape. When you fall, you find yourself back at the beginning. Explore the environment in this open 360 degree puzzle. You can start running in any direction, encountering puzzles and exploring, attempting to reach the edge. If you do not escape, you start at the beginning with armed with new knowledge and any items you found.
At the core is simple run and jump platforming mechanics, exploration, and a simple tension cycle.
Similar games: Downfall builds on the optimization style gameplay of games like bitrip runner, combined with simple puzzles, a more open world for exploration, and more tense and visible time limit. As draws from drop in and play games and distance games, like Jet Pack Joyride.
Story: The ground is falling, run! (We might be able to reveal more as the player explores, but nothing more would be revealed at the beginning and it's not a narrative heavy sort of game. I haven't really developed this area yet)
Target audience: Puzzle platformer fans, although it does go in artsy directions with it's exploration of exploration and minimal instruction. Not to mention it's asking for a cool minimalist and slightly dark mood in the visual style.
Technical: Note that the world does not need to be very big, especially since a lot of it will be replayed and reused by the player.
Game seems very vague with the constant use of subjective terms like "flow" and "pressure." I don't see how this game will work because gameplay is only vaguely mentioned, and "each failure is a successful exploration of the enviroment?" Huh?
ReplyDeleteThe main problem i'm seeing is scale, you mention the world as a 360 puzzle, and that's fine, but that also means you have to have puzzles and enemies and platform at some point you have one of four paths you can take.
ReplyDeletein all directions. Unless it's like Bastion and
Which leads to the second thing, i'm not exactly sure how it works, you say there's platforming and puzzles and inventory that's a lot to do. Also who's the main character? How is he solving the puzzles? Exploring the world? Etc. I want to know who i'm playing as. Also if we can't stop running how do we solve puzzles? It's too vague for me to get behind at the moment
Things I like:
ReplyDelete- constant tension.
- free world feel.
- trial and error style that builds up after each try.
Concerns:
- Jumping in an isometric camera might be hard for the player to gauge.
- Gonna need lots of balancing.
Things I like:
ReplyDelete- constant tension.
- free world feel.
- trial and error style that builds up after each try.
Concerns:
- Jumping in an isometric camera might be hard for the player to gauge.
- Gonna need lots of balancing.
This is actually my favorite idea, I think it has potential for us to tweak it easily, use different platforms or add minor things to it help it differentiate itself.
ReplyDeleteI personally wanted to combine the idea of capsules with it. I'm thinking the ground is falling, and you need to get to the next level or platform before your times up on the current platform. So you toss out the capsules that pop open and reveal a spring board to bounce upward and higher, a hand that can push your quickly across a wide area, a set of hooks to climb up a wall, etc. They could be randomized, or shown like 1 or 2 at a time in advance to allow a play to make an escape plan.