Don't forget that we aren't building a MMO, but a casual game. Read the articles from Aum86...Aum88 to see why.
I understand this that George is looking for an idea for a casual game, right?
Let me talk about the idea of a "slide puzzle", again.
Sorry for throwing in my idea in my first post without further explanations. Did anyone get the idea at least a bit?
The substance of the game is a number of equal squares that fill a certain rectangle. Only one square is left, and the player can use this free space to move a square beside the free space. This is as well the rule, you can shift only one of the squares into the free space, you can't lift them or 'jump', and only vertical and horizontal moves are aloud.
Now, the addition in the Wallace and Gromit Sequence from Telltale Games to this rule is that you can't certain squares, if they come near certain other squares.
The goal is traditionally to puzzle a picture that is printed on the squares, or to reach a certain combination of numbers that are printed on the squares.
The goal in the Wallace and Gromit episode is to place a certain square at a certain place, Wallace has to reach the bared window to call Gromit for help.
I think it might be a worth modificating these rules and goals.
Let's say one square has to cross the rectangle from one end to the other, when the square reaches the square at the other edge the level is won. But, there are certain squares that you have to avoid touching. Others have to stay in an even bigger distance. Then, there are other squares that have to go in front of the player's square to sort of 'prepare' or 'clean' the way.
Let's say we increase the size of the given rectangle and thus the number of squares from level to level, let's say, we increase the number of different properties of the squares, this might lead to the need of more free spaces than one, and this decision leads to further rules.
So much about the substance, now, let's talk about the design.
The main idea is already realized by the W&G episode: the squares are personalized, each square is a person.
The restriction of the person's movement is rectified by the fiction that the persons stuck in sand.
I think the persons have to be combined with the squares to make it sort of plausible - that's what design is about, right? Making rules and conditions and goals of a game plausible and obvious.
Okay, here my idea for a game design:
The rectangle is a sea, the squares are monsters without legs, who swim on square formed platforms, sort of rafts.
Some of the monsters are fire monsters that could melt the player's platform of the player, some parts of the sea have acid on its surface which has to be cleaned off by other monsters first before the player can cross them... and so on - I'm quite sure that, after we have a first prototype the ideas for further features are coming.
. Can't really tell if this theme is appealing to mainstream players or not. Anything historic has my preference as well. But I won't walk away from sci-fi or anything else. Just less motivation ^^.
