Ideas For Games

From IFWiki

Some random ideas which may inspire creators of IF (being aware of IF Cliches ...)

Contents 1 Settings and Genres 2 Protagonist 3 Plot Ideas 4 Techniques 5 Links

Settings and Genres

See also discussions about genres, themes and types of IF on the rec.arts.int-fiction newsgroup
See also TV Settings

• Existing categories (mostly from Baf's Guide)
  • Adaptation, Allegory, Beginner's, Children's, Collegiate, Educational, Epic, Espionage, Fantasy (Arthurian, Cave Crawl, Eastern, Mythological, Tolkeinesque, Zorkian), Historical, Horror (Haunted House, Kaiju, Lovecraftian, Vampire), Humor, Legal / Forensic, Mystery / Detective, No Inventory, Observational, One Room Game, Pirates, Pornographic, RPG, Religious, Romance, Science Fiction (Alien Visitation, Space Exploration, Time Travel), Seasonal, Simulation, Slice of life, Superhero, Surreal, Travel, Western, Wordplay

• Interesting locations
  • Under water, in the air, up in the trees, precariously balanced on something
  • Jungle, volcano, desert, ice and snow, mountains, chasms, swampland, lakes and rivers, rising waters, floating city
  • Mines, quarry, tunnels, ice caverns, glaciers
  • Nuclear wasteland, ruins, perfectly preserved town, artificially recreated town
  • Islands, reefs, secluded valley, paradise / seemingly perfect place, easily damaged / disturbed place
  • Space craft, odd gravitational fields
  • Inside another creature (cf. movie The Incredible Journey)
  • Mansion, castle, citadel, pyramid, tower

Protagonist

• Unusual PC
  • See also Games with Animal Protagonists .. Games with Robot Protagonists
  • Limited or different kinds of senses (blindness, sonar, short term prediction of the future)
  • Special abilities: magic, superpowers, specialist skills. Using these may be at a cost, or may draw unwelcome attention (cf. using the ring's invisibility in Lord of the Rings)
  • PC is someone who would normally be the enemy
  • PC is unimportant / powerless in the normal scheme of things (eg. a child)
  • Huge, tiny or amorphous character
  • Inanimate object
• Multiple PCs
  • Player controls a group of characters who must cooperate to achieve a goal (cf. Suspended)
  • Player has limited control over change of character (Dr Jeckyl & Mr Hyde), or can't become the same character again
• No PC
  • Player has no physical form, but may influence characters in the story

Plot Ideas

See also The Big List of RPG Plots .. The 36 Basic Plots .. TV Plots

• Interesting events
  • Natural events
    • Storm, blizzard, avalanche
    • Famine, floods, earthquakes, fire, hail, wind, sandstorm
    • Eclipse, comet / meteor, collision of bodies
    • Atmosphere is changing (poisonous, or less breathable air)

• Creatures
  • Baby creature (maybe orphaned)
  • Hibernating / dormant creature
  • Wounded animal
• Encounters with creatures
  • PC comes across tracks of creature, or realises he is being hunted
  • Creature mistakenly thinks PC is one of its kind (eg. mother, child, rival male)
  • (Annoyingly) follows PC around, giving away PC's location
  • PC helps creature, and creature later remembers and helps PC
  • PC encounters baby creature first, then its (big) mother appears to protect its young
  • Creature is attracted to something PC is carrying (unknowingly)

Techniques

• An Unreliable narrator, possibly antagonistic or merely uninformed
• A PC with a mind of his own (may disagree with player's commands)
• Non standard perspective (past tense, first/third person, etc)

Links

• The Making of The Infinite Ocean - Jonas Kyratzes talks about the origins and ideas in making his game.
• Where do game ideas come from? - article at Reviews Exchange.