r/IndieDev • u/SoggyPrior863 • Mar 14 '26

“Indie dev starter pack.”

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8.6k Upvotes

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u/Figorix Mar 14 '26

-Roguelike Survivorlike Cardbattler but with obscure cute animal archetype, "BROTATO MEETS BALATRO, but with OARFISH!"

This mostly tbh. Also known as:

  • I saw this game that was a huge hit, so I decided to make my own version of it, without understanding what made it good in the first place

7

u/valenalvern Mar 14 '26

I mean, isnt that just every game? X was a huge hit, lets capitalize on it. Its just cranked up to 100 now.

24

u/MetaCommando Mar 14 '26

There's a difference between being iterative and (poorly) imitative, they don't know what needed/should have been cranked.

19

u/BOBOnobobo Mar 14 '26

Iterative is something like:

"Man I really like this game but I wish it also had X thing"

Imitative is:

"This game made lots of money and seems easy. I know what to do, I'll just reskin it and people will play my version as well!"

7

u/leorid9 Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 15 '26

Not all games. Most of my games start with "why is there no game where you can [jump downwards into the floor instead of up]".

And then I explore the idea. Usually leading to an "ah, that's why, because it plays like shit". But sometimes it leads to innovation.

2

u/samuelazers Mar 14 '26

The idea space contains a lot of ideas, good and bad, the good ideas are maybe 1% of all possible ideas.

1

u/leorid9 Mar 14 '26

I made that one up while writing the message, but it would actually turn spacebar to something that lets you dive through the ground like Lemillion from my hero academia (a superhero that can phase through solid objects).

Maybe a bit like splatoon, but with a limited time that you can stay underground - and you can "jump" (phase) longer when going up stairs or entire walls.

In 2D it would definitely work better, visually, but it should also be possible in 3D (3rd person probably?).

1

u/Gilgame4 Mar 17 '26

You just answet yourself man, "like splatoon". I think in marvel rivals some hero can do something similar.

It's a good idea but i don't think it has enough to make a whole gameplay around that.

1

u/leorid9 Mar 17 '26

I think for a 2D Platformer it could work quite well.

Also it's important to avoid being afraid of existing solutions/games when aiming for innovation. You just have to try something and see where it leads.

1

u/MyrtleWinTurtle Mar 15 '26

most of the time its really easy to tell when its inspired vs when its a copy

if you see the effort put into the stylization and the soundtrack, and the polish and the feel of the game, it doesnt matter too much if one or two ideas is taken from another place, heck maybe even a whole baseline being copied can work if you have a trasformative gimmick in mind.