So very recently I had a vague idea for a game that I want some thoughts on.
- Players spawn alone in an empty room. Each player spawns in their own room. The room is a simple room–four walls, no windows, one door.
- Randomly each room will be matched to another room. When this happens two rooms will be connected by their doorway, walking through the door of one room will enter its opposing room.
- For some time the two players of both rooms will fight. This will happen to all players, players who went unmatched will be turned into an observer for one fight.
- When one player wins the fight they are given: 1 item/upgrade choice from the losing player, 2 item/upgrade choices, 1 room item/upgrade.
- The losing player: loses 1 item/upgrade if the other player chooses to take one, is placed onto one of two losing teams.
- If no player wins within the given time they will simply be separated and re-matched normally, without rewards.
- All rooms will be re-matched, as done before, and players will continue to fight and collect rewards. Eventually one player will remain, having defeated all other competitors they met.
- All losing players will have been separated into two losing teams. These two teams are placed into one giant room each, connected to each other by a larger door. The two teams will fight until one side loses all its players, the winning team will be revived, and that team will have to choose their rewards from the losing team and random choices.
The sole winning player from before will be an observer and also gets random item/upgrade choices. - The sole winning player will then face off against the winning team, the sole player’s room is matched with the giant room. Ideally the sole player will be more powerful as they were able to reap the best items/upgrades from their opponents. The winning team is meant to win using numbers, teamwork, and adequate items/upgrades.
- The fight continues until one side loses and points are awarded to the winning team. The game then repeats from the beginning.
Explanations for some things
- Item choices are things like weapons and armor, with different stats and effects.
- Upgrade choices increase item stats and improve item effects, alternatively upgrades can affect the player’s speed, jump, health, base damage, etc.
- The level (strength of, rarity, relevance, etc) of items and upgrades rises as the game progresses.
- Room items/upgrades are things players can use to customize their empty room. Things such as ramps, walls, room size, jump pads, brightness, etc. Room items/upgrades are meant to allow players to create the ideal combat area for their build (a range-focused player would want a large room with few obstructions, a melee-focused player would want a small room).
- In team fights, taking items/upgrades from the losing team is first-come-first-serve.
- Points (rewarded at the end of the tournament) are simply used to buy aesthetics.
My Thoughts
I figure this game is simple enough to quickly learn and fun enough to keep playing. Ideally it has good replayability and intensity. Two big problems are: getting enough players for a fun tournament (since the level of items/upgrades depends on how long the game goes) and whether players are willing to keep playing if they lose (y’know short attention span and all).
I was also thinking about whether players should be able to choose a starter item/upgrade so that players have some control over their build and playstyle. Currently I plan for players to just start with nothing so that the gameplay is unpredictable. Building on that the game can be redesigned to allow players to plan their items/upgrades as they win fights, so each stage of the tournament is more consistent and by the end it’ll be the most ideal builds against the most ideal builds.