In my current project, I have run into the problem that the game may just be too weird. If you''re curious you can check it out here: http://www.msu.edu/~meyermi5 but back to the question: Just how much weirdness will gamers tolerate? One of the trends I see in electronic gaming is that the most successful games seem to be the ones that are very similar to previous games. There are a few notable exceptions, but by and large this is what I see. So how much originality can a game have before the wierdness causes it to lose its audience? Is a non-humanoid character something that players react badly too? Must a shooter have weapons and ammo lying all over the place? Are there ways to draw a player into a weird setting that would overcome these obstacles? The idea of a game being TOO weird is a pretty new concept to me, being so used to the majority of games being so alike within any genre, so I''d love to get into a good discussion about it.

hey, i think it looks pretty cool.

So a spider-like creature that shoots lasers at chess pieces, doesn''t skirt the boundary of what may be too strange?

sorry, it''s just that there wasn''t much to that reply...

I think that among gamers there is a fairly open-minded subset who not only don''t mind weird ideas in games but actively hunger for innovation. When a game comes out that is not only entirely different from any previous game, but also (and this is key) fun to play, it usually does quite well. The "bizarro factor" draws in the curious, and the solid gameplay makes them stick with it and recommend it to their dubious friends. See the "games that do things differently" thread for examples.

So in short, I''d say "too weird" in and of itself is not a big problem. I''d say your game looks quite interesting and I''m intending to download it immediately.

And apropos of nothing: MSU eh? I''m at U of M, so in theory we are as mortal enemies as the cobra and the mongoose. Let the bond of gaming overcome our natural enmity.

I have some friends at U of M.
I''m certainly not gonna think less of anyone for going there. I almost did.
I think MSU was the right choice, tho.

but back to the topic:
I find myself belonging to that subset of gamers, and so my games kinda take lean toward the bizarre. Gameplay-wise this one isn''t all that amazingly different. It reminds me of Jedi Knight 2 if you have level 3 force jump and force speed and a bit of super smash brothers(the major inspiration). The thing people don''t seem to like is the bizarre character.

I hope that good gameplay can overcome that. and I hope my game has gameplay that good.

I''m gonna go check out the "games that do things differently" thread

I agree with the previous individual who said that "too weird" by itself is not a problem, so long as the gameplay is fun.

With your game, I''d say that it has plenty of potential -- but there are some things I''d consider working on. For starters, Players don''t mind weird, but they need a point of reference. Be sure to explain in some way, what the spider thing IS, what its for, or why its there. Gamers generally want SOME kind of explanation of WHY your game is the way it is, even if the excuse is as meaningless as "This is a dream, and here''s what happens in it."

Also, I think there will need to be a little more to do -- just fighting chess pieces over and over sounds a bit mundane to begin with, and after awhile its bound to get tedious, I should think. The worlds are colorful, but consider enriching them a bit with more enemies, or simply with more detail.

Also, I don''t really feel motivated in the beginning to go fight a bunch of chess pieces. In the game itself, there isn''t even any clue that its what you''re supposed to be doing. Make sure the gamer has a firm understanding of their objective, and give them some kind of motivation to go after it. Anything from "The princess has been captured" (*rolls eyes*) to "You won''t wake up until you do this." Or whatever you want, you''re the designer, just make sure players get at least that much.


Brian Lacy
Smoking Monkey Studios

Comments? Questions? Curious?
brian@smoking-monkey.org

"I create. Therefore I am."

As long as the game is simple and playable, the wierder the better in my opinion.

It''s weird, but no weirder than a little yellow guy that eats dots while being chased by 4 ghosts. I like the game by the way...pretty fun

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