Thursday, September 6, 2012

MagnetBot and 5 games

First of all, I want you to know that MagnetBot has been placed in the top 8 games of the 32 pitches.  So now we have a team of 4 people (who are amazing) working together to create a prototype of Magnetbot.  We will then re-pitch the idea in front of a panel of professionals actually working in the industry and they will help select the top 2-3 games of the 8, and those will be turned into actual games. 

I'm loving my team's input and ideas and Magnetbot is turning into an amazing game idea.  We are all super excited to build the prototype and have high hopes we will make it into the top 2-3. 

So I tried to find 5 games with similar aspects to Magnetbot so I could review them and get ideas of what does and doesn't work.  I couldn't find any games with our exact gameplay dynamic, but some had similarities. 

1. VVVVVV:   This game has a robot-like character that flips from the floor to the ceiling when you change gravity.  I actually played this one and had a ton of fun with it.  What makes it a fun game is the creativity of the levels.  You have to flip gravity and move in just the right way to progress through the level.  It is often fast paced too.  The graphics are extremely simplistic.  I want Magnetbot to be simple as well, but a little more beautiful.  Gravity changes are not part of Magnetbot, so that gameplay will not be involved.  The creativity of the level-design can be taken into consideration though. 

2. Gravbot:  Another gravity based game.  In this one, the entire level shifts in a 90 degree rotation at your command.  This game had much better graphics and felt very polished.   I like that general feel for Magnetbot.  Again, the gameplay dynamic was not the same, but the levels were clever, and that is what we are going for.  Overall this was a fun game to play, and I certainly want to utilize similar quality of graphics and polished feel. 

3.  Give Up, Robot:  Another robot game.  This one involves a grappling hook which in some ways can be similar to the "pull" aspect of our gameplay.  It adds a very cool dynamic to the game and I certainly want to incorporate some of the pulling ideas they used in the game.  Magnetbot will be very visually different and the level design will be more creative with more options as to how one completes a level.

4.  Metallic Industries, Inc.:  This game has a very cliche platformer control scheme.  I certainly do not want to just make another platformer game.  One stood out in this game is the unbelievable art style.  The levels are wonderfully polished and have a cool 2.5D layout.  I love the fluid dynamics used and want to incorporate some of the art design into Magnetbot.

5.  Rapt:  I did not love this game.  It involved a robot traveling through levels, but there was not much that was unique.  Did not have a good hook to pull in a user.  I will likely use very little from this game.  It was a better example of what not to do.

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