How to Design Unique Systems for Your Game
Believe it or not, there are still unique game concepts out there ready to be discovered!
If you an independent game designer, one of your primary focuses should be compelling game mechanics and systems. Besides polish and game feel, uniqueness is the number one trait your game should possess. But how many times have you begun crafting what you think is a “unique” game, only for it to be a reskin of an existing hit game?
Bear with me for one moment, and listen to this game idea. Your character controls in a 2D top-down world, and must reach the goal by solving puzzles to get there. Sounds like a dime-a-dozen idea. But what if we, say, add in a system in which the player can manipulate the game rules directly in the play-field? Then, my friends, you have “Baba Is You”, a hit indie game that has amassed tons of sales and praise for its creative approach to the puzzle genre.
Turn the Common Into the Uncommon
The lesson to be learned? One must think outside of the traditional box for developing systems in games. Game genres are generally arbitrary means of defining a game; For example “Halo ”is both FPS, Strategy, Puzzle, and Action all rolled into one. What makes it a successful game is the exact combination of…
