Post by Ponydragon in What are the worst game ideas you can think of?

Viewing post in What are the worst game ideas you can think of?

I am not sure if I understand the term "game concept" correctly in context of a premise.

A premise would be more of a story thing. Like the classic boy meets girl. And most of the concepts I read are rather mechanics. And ways to frustrate the player. But player frustration is a rather well working concept ( I am looking at you, Dark Souls). And even the silliest concepts like idle games do exist. Cookie Clicker was specifically designed to be a non-game. So I am not sure, if there even is such a thing, as a bad game concept. Because, well, everything that is new is exciting, therefore, if you manage to come up with a bad concept it would be new and exciting and it were a good concept for the novelty alone.

(Oh, and watching paint dry? Seriously? People will use it as an awesome screensaver. Also, would not be a game, but a movie. You woud have to add blow dryers, open windows, use a fan, etc, (but that would be the awesome execution probably))

That being said:

A typing learning game, but the words are spelled wrong.

A game about being invisible in an unlit room.

A match-1 game.

Examples for previously thought of "bad concepts", to illustrate my point ...

A game where you have to control passports.

A game where your character can die permanently.

A game where you try to score with the ladies. But fail.

A game where you have to read. Lots and lots.

Like Reply

omegabutton1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

I think you got what I meant in terms of game concepts! I was using “premise” and “concept” interchangeably to mean a basic idea, what you would use to pitch a game in one sentence. But you’re right that “premise” is more associated with story.

What you said about the paint drying concept illustrates the exact thing I was going for: something that sounds bad on paper but can be done well. The “bad concepts” you listed fit great, but I also see what you’re saying. (You are listing existing games, right? I recognize “Papers, Please”.) When you look for a “bad” idea that could theoretically make a good game, it does kind of circle back around to a good idea, doesn’t it?

That being said, I am enjoying the bad mechanic ideas, yours included! Especially the “match-1 game”. That’s hilarious.

Like Reply

Ponydragon1 year ago

Glory to Arstotzka! Hehe. When I thought about it, the permadeath came to mind. People whined about it in Diablo, but is was optional. And with all the rogue likes, the concept is almost a sign of a good game concept now. So yeah, bad game concepts are hard to think of. It might be, that it is always just bad execution. The other ones were of course the Larry games and the whole genre of visual novels.

I am sure many known good game concepts could be pitched in a way that they sound boring, nonsensical or just like a bad idea in general.

There are just too many existing games that do well, but are not appealing as a game concept to many. Kinetic novels for instance. Even if I would like the story, it just would not be a game to me. As soon as you have any type of input that the player can optimize, the gaming part starts. That is one reason to play a game, but there are many more.

You cannot even pitch a bad concept like: let's make a game about x, but the graphics are bad. Because, already done and working, see pixelart games and of course Minecraft. Some people even made a fighting game ... with only on button. I believe that is even a genre now.

Like Reply

itch.io

Viewing post in What are the worst game ideas you can think of?