Video game ideas, we've all had 'em

So I think it's pretty much a given that anyone who plays games has had ideas for games. I've had many over the years though I've forgotten most of them. When I was little I used to sketch out the levels and all the super powers the main character would have. These days I just create design documents.

SO LET'S SHARE OUR BRILLIANT CREATIONS!

I had this dream a while ago that I was playing this Mario style game. There were all these little pockets of "negative space" floating around that I could jump off of. At one point the negative space started growing and to get away from it I had to run back to the beginning of the level where I found a secret passage that I escaped through where I had to find a secret key. I think this would actually make for some pretty good ground work since the idea of the negative space itself is pretty loosely defined and thus could be versatile within a game.

I've also had this idea for a while now for a beat 'em up style game called "Get the Treasure!" You pick your class from the usual assortment of D&D archetypes but rather than trying to save the land from an evildoer, you're just trying to amass wealth. So let's say you come across a town that's overrun with evil goblins. You can choose to drive off the goblins for a price, or you can decline the offer in hopes that if things get worse the elders will make you a better offer. However, if things get TOO bad they won't have anything left to pay you with. Similarly, you can haggle over fees for going on quests to slay dragons etc. Money would simply be reffered to as "treasure". You can use your treasure to buy more weapons since weapons CAN and WILL break. You will also find treasure in dungeons in chests and dropped by defeated enemies. This is pretty standard, but certain treasures can also be used as items. So you have to choose between having more treasure and getting the effects of the items. Some treasures can be used to open more paths of the world map (the game would be non-linear) and some could be used as weapons in battle. Bosses would be so huge that the screen would have to scale back just to show them. Your character would be really tiny, but this is also when you'll be using all the powerful weapons/spells you've been hoarding. The powerful weapons will be HUGE. I'm talking bigger than the buster sword. And you can throw them. The powerful spells will have huge effects to match the size of the bosses. The whole game will essentially be an over-the-top battle of greedy heroes vs. treasure hoarding evildoers.

So what are your ideas?

That's funny, I used to draw the Mario 3 flying ships all the time, but one time I freaked out and ripped them all up when my dad was trying to look at them. Meeeemories

Even though I probably never will due to severe lack of programming skills, I've always wanted to bring back the 16-32 bit RPG. With the lack of graphic enhancements, I think those games made the best of everything else available to them. And today with the technology available to us, a 16 or 32-bit game would look pretty damn kick-ass.

When I was little I always wanted to have a farming game. Oh, and the player could be the animals if they wanted to.


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Sorry I'm lame. T_T lol

So you invented Harvest Moon? You should sue Natsume. Sorta like how I should sue Nintendo since I came up with Link to the Past years before it came out. THEY TOTALLY STOLED MY IDEAS FOR A BOOK WITH A LANGUAGE IN IT!

For content... I've got this idea for an overhead action/adventure like Zelda. Instead of tools you get spells with elemental attributes. Only instead of, say, making a fireball and shooting it at someone, you can only control what's already around you. You can only shoot fireballs at your enemies if there's already fire on the screen. This would lead to some puzzley boss fights, only you would have multiple ways of using the elements in the room against the boss. So for example, a lava boss has an oil lamp that he's using to attack you. You could make the flame extinguish or you could also cause it to flare up and suck the oxygen out of the room. You could even make the fire shoot across the room to the wall which could burn away a barricade leading to some secret.

On the subject of Zelda clones, I've got an idea for one presently that involves classical music as the main theme. You play as a child-prodigy who can play songs which have various effects. These effects would change depending on which instrument they were played on. You can even summon various famous composers to inflict massive damage. Rather than just doing damage in battle though, they would also act as party members who could affect conversations. For example, Brahms could use his lullaby to calm a screaming child, Handel might do something to gain a Bishop's favor, and Tchaikovsky would hit on you constantly. There would be some plot element linking the hero to the villain who has a dark, mysterious past or something.

I've never even heard of that game! It looks so fun! I saw some videos for "Animal March" and it makes we wish I could play it.

Your Zelda-type of game sounds really complicated, but after the player masters the controls I'm sure it could be so fun!

So for some reason the concept behind Life Force has always creeped me out. This gave me an idea to expound on the creepiness of being inside a giant space beast. The way this video is presented also influenced my idea. Skip ahead to 2:28 to see just how unnerving a 2D side scroller can be.

Now, it's been about 10 years since gross looking monsters have been able to creep me out, but I still enjoy a good mindfuck. The fact that Silent Hill is one of my favorite games ever demonstrates what I like in a horror game. I like the type of fear that sets in slowly and unnerves you as opposed to zombies jumping through the window. So I had this idea to combine that sort of mindfuckery with a side scrolling shooter. Can it be done? I think so. You just have to set it up properly.

A strange asteroid/planet/gigantic space beast is destoying everything in its path. The space station (insert generic sci-fi name here) sends out a squadron of fighters to destroy it. If they cannot accomplish their goal within a set time limit, the station will drain all the power in its generators to fire its fusion cannons, even if the fleet is destroyed in the process. This gives the game a reason to have a time limit. You play as the squad leader and your squad mates will swoop in and out as you fly. They can also contact you over the radio to add dialogue.

Each stage is based on a different type of phobia and is thus named after it. The only exception is stage 1 which, like any good Gradius game, is just you and your squad mates flying through space as encouraging music plays. You then fly in through the jaws of the beast. This is all set up to make you feel brave and confident.

Stage 2 is called hemophobia. It starts out ordinarily enough but then everything goes pitch black. Your squad mates break up over the radio until there's nothing but static. Then suddenly there's a loud scream and you're surrounded by images of torture and mutilation. Live people are thrown right in your path and if you don't shoot them your ship will crash. In the background you'll see one of the ships of your squad being pulled into a wall of flesh by strange tendrils. The radio turns back on just in time for you to hear his horrible death screams.

And it just gets worse from there. I don't have a name for this game but I think it'd be great to finally add horror elements to genres that don't involve inserting ancient jewel A into mystical statue B to open the blue door so you can find the plotline.

Give this man a contract!

I'm still waiting for you to talk about Project Gakuen.

I heard a disturbing statistic, recently, saying that only 1/3 of all Americans can name the three branches of government. Now, I'm not the most politically aware person, but I DID watch School House Rock so I'm well aware of the three-ring circus system we have in place. It seems to me that video games could be used as a vehicle to deliver important information such as this to people who would otherwise be pre-occupied with learning the complex damage algorithms involved with pokeymans. What we need, fellow TCBeers, is a JRPG that teaches American history.

The story would be that the evil British Empire is stealing people's souls to power their death cannon. Only a lone group of Colonial rebels can stop their nefarious scheme. George Washington would naturally be the androgynous main character and he'd have a ridiculous haircut and be very insecure. Betsy Ross would be the token scantily clad chick whose special attacks would always employ a camera angle that conveniently looks up her skirt. She'd also probably be a white mage since that's all girls can do in JRPGs without coming off as... You know... Fans of the Indigo Girls. Thomas Jefferson would be like Edgar since he'd be extremely wealthy and a huge flirt. Benjamin Franklin would the powerhouse tank and master of the broadaxe but also extremely shy and soft-spoken. Alexander Hamilton would be a master sniper. Halfway through the game Aaron Burr would descend from the ceiling and kill him with a katana as Hamilton drops a holy materia. John Hancock would be like Relm only he'd write instead of sketch. Samuel Adams would be a foul mouthed dragon knight.

So you'd lead the founding fathers through a fantastic adventure through ancient castles, ice caves and robot fortresses to rally support from colonial leaders. Along the way you would have to fight off dragons, imps, werewolves and filthy savages. There would also be a game similar to Triple Triad only instead of cards, you would win blankets that you could trade to the natives for advanced magic spells. There would be another compelling mini game wherein every so often in a random battle you would encounter a wild negro who would run away on his first turn unless you used the collared greens sold by the local traders. If you win the battle you catch the negro and you can take it to the stables where you can name it and have it work in the cotton fields to make you a little extra money. You can also breed it with other nergoes until you manage to create the legendary high-yellow negro who can get you the best summon magic in the game (and Jefferson will totally be into into her if it's a girl).

My suggestion for the name: Tales of Colonaesia

Yesterday someone's typo on GameFAQs gave me an idea for a new game: a Bear 'em Up.

It'd be like the old Konami and Capcom beat 'em ups, but you play as bears. There'd be a grizzly, a polar bear, a black bear, and a panda. The first level might be an escape from the zoo, where you'd fight past other animals. Another might be in a national park, where you're stealing pic-a-nic baskets while mauling campers and rangers.

Like the best beat 'em ups, you could smash trash cans to find food that will restore your health. These foods would be honey and salmon.

>>> Tv and final fantasy destroyed all my creativity..
well if it counts, im making a ff1 hack..

Tons of ideas lately. Gotta write them down before I forget.


When I was a kid I LOVED Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was my favorite game show by far and I desperately wanted a game based on it. That never happened so I just forgot about it eventually. That is, until I saw La Mulana. Suddenly those desires for such a game came surging back.

I envision it thusly. You play as a non-descript archeologist who ventures, unarmed, into in Incan ruin. This would serve as the intro level. You explore and learn the basics of play armed with little more than your torch to get through the ancient temple. Then, after a boss battle, you find Olmec, the talking stone head. He tells you about other ruins all across the world that you must explore and retrieve the treasures of for whatever reason. These ruins wouldn't be interconnected but you could play them in any order. However, certain areas of the ruins would, naturally, require items from other ruins in order to pass. So you go to ancient temples from Egypt, Greece, Babylon, and other places with sections based on chambers from the show. What's the point of all this? Got me there, this was a spur of the moment idea. I haven't thought this out. I'm sure there's some evil power that will appear in 2012 unless you can bring all the treasures to Olmec and then do something in a big, scary, final dungeon.


I've had this idea for a survival horror game since highschool. It'd be like a cross between Metroid and The Lost Vikings with a plotline liberally borrowed from Alien. There's a space station that accidentally wanders into an area that an alien species considers home. The station gets boarded, taken over, and ravaged. The game starts after this and you can pick from one of 3 survivors to play as. You've got a nurse named Dennis, an experimental cyborg named Matt, and a space marine named Jessica. All three have different capabilities. Dennis can heal the other players as well as any other survivors you might encounter as well as use tranquilizers on enemies to avoid them. However, these tranquilizer darts will be hard to come by, so any time you play as Dennis you have to be very careful. As Matt you can interface with the computer and your cyber arm is good for close combat with enemies, but his health is very low so he's really not a good choice for a fighter. Jessica is the token fighter and is faster than the others, can jump higher, has better health, and she's proficient with firearms. So why play as anyone but her? She's only good at fighting, so any time an obstacle that requires more than brute force is encountered she has to take a back seat.

As you explore the space station you'll find wounded survivors. You can optionally save them to get more items, but that means you'll have fewer healing items for your party. You'll also have the option of putting them out of their misery in case you don't have any healing items left or think they might not survive anyway. This won't result in a "moral choice" system whose only options are Hitler or Jesus, but it will affect the gameplay. The more people you save, the more time Dennis has to spend making sure they recover, so the longer he'll be out of your party.

Speaking of the party, while you can switch between characters at any time, they'll stay together for the most part until circumstances dictate their separation. For example, Jessica might be able to jump over a wall that Matt and Dennis are stuck behind. The game will constantly break up the group so that you're never completely safe with your fighter, healer and door unlocker all in one group. You'll fight the early boss battles together, but soon you'll be forced to fight them one on one. Sometimes you'll even have the option of chosing which character to use in boss battles so you can decide if you want a more vanilla action approach or something more cerebral.


I also just had an idea for a horror game that's a lot like The Cell, though I actually didn't base it on that. You play as a person who has the ability to dive inside the mind of a killer to retrace his steps. What this means is you'll see his memories through his eyes. You'll be able to find out what really happened, so naturally there will be some twists, but you'll also have to carry out the things he did. This means you'll have to commit the same murders he did and watch innocent people die. Some of the murders will be particularly gruesome in a Saw like manner.

The memories play out like stages. The point is that you have to string together events to find out the truth, but the events happen in reverse order so it's a bit like Memento.


I like all of these ideas, but the one I get the most excited to think about is a little project I've pet named "First Frontier". It's a JRPG so I could probably make this in RPG Maker if I really wanted to. The setting would be the wild west and it would have more wacky characters than you can shake a stick at!

You ride into town one day and go to the first saloon you come to. "Whiskey" you say in a gruff but emotionless voice. The man at the table has his eye on you and not in a good way. He draws near and asks if you were ever in Montana before. "I've been a lot of places" you reply, sizing him up. He tells you that a man with your description killed his brother in Montana 3 years ago and he's been looking for someone like you ever since. "You don't say" you snarkily answer back while sipping your whiskey. He reaches for his gun but by the time he draws you've already fired. A boy in the corner, maybe 15 years old, immediately becomes your biggest fan and clings to you. It becomes clear that this town is overrun by bad men and they have to be dealt with, and this boy is one of their many victims. You start to teach him in the ways of gunslinging, and one by one, the two of you start running out the corrupt ones holding the town hostage. You think you're finished with them when a man in black arrives in town, not terribly happy at how his men are feeding the local worms. He comes to shoot you down.

And he does.

From here on you play as the boy who was taken apprentice. You vow revenge on the man in black but along the way you meet many others who will help you on your way. You befriend a native medicine man who becomes the group's healer, an outlaw ex-confederate sharpshooter, a charismatic Mexican bandit, an expatriated Shaolin monk and a steam powered clockwork man. Why yes, these characters ARE all homages to famous characters from westerns, thank you very much. You'll help out various small emcapments and makeshift towns with thier various problems (mostly involving gangs who need to be dealt with), fight legendary native American monsters, and witness amazing feats of steampunk science. By the time you find the man in black again, it's already clear that he's only part of the big picture. Without spoiling too much, let's just say that a very wealthy man is pulling together many unsavory characters for some quite despicable ends.

Ooh! Just had another one! You know how Rez gets called a rhythm shooter even though it's just an abstract version of Panzer Dragoon? I just did a little reading on the Exile series and apparently it has a gameplay mechanic that was never really implemented to its fullest potential that could make an ACTUAL rhythm action game.

In Exile you have a heartbeat which affects how much damage you do and how much damage you take. It doesn't make a HUGE difference and really just has the same effect as a random number generator. So your attack might do 15 damage on one hit and then 18 on the next. Since the difference is so marginal you won't mind up paying much attention to it and this renders it a bit useless. But what if you made it central to gameplay?

Take this feature to its logical extension and it's not just your character's heartbeat, it's also the beat of the music. Your attacks do MUCH more damage when you're on beat and almost nothing when you're way off.

But that's just the start. Any good rhythm game has you doing more than pushing buttons on quarter notes. Let's say you have to mix it up a little. Let's also say that as you beat up enemies you progress within the song to further parts that have different instruments, sort of like the layers from Rez. You've been doing well enough at mimicking the four to the floor kick drum, but what about the jangly guitar riffs? Can you stay on beat with those as you pound your enemies? A little meter would display when the "beats" are so you wouldn't have to guess. And even if you're off beat it's not like you'll lose health, you'll just do less damage.

Then just to add some variety, you'll have a power meter that's increased by something or another. When it's full you can unleash a super attack that follows the beat of an instrument doing a crazy solo. The timing won't be super strict, but if you mess up the attack is canceled. Also, enemies will be frozen in place for the duration of this attack and they will be auto-targetted so you don't have to worry about moving around and you can focus entirely on getting the timing right.

I'd call this game Beats of Rage if that weren't already taken. Instead I think a name like "Pulse Pounder" would be fun.