I’m hoping I posted this thread in the right category this time lol. If not - feel free to correct me!
Hi there! A few months ago I started work on a little non-ambitious, text based RPG with graphics. I got the basics finished, and I’m still working on it here and there, adding RPG elements wherever possible, and it’s shaping up to become quite a fun, ambitious projects I hope to entertain my friends with once I have a demo ready. My goal is to make a proper modern game with ‘the simplicity of a puddle’, while retaining the ‘depth of a lake’.
My question is - is it possible for a simple idea like this to become too ‘deep’? Am I limiting myself by keeping it text based? Because I really, really wanna go for the text game approach.
I’m not looking to make money from the project, it’s just something I hope people will enjoy and have a good time with. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! If I’m unclear or if this is the wrong category, feel free to mention it Thank you!
Below are some pictures of how the game looks roughly, just to give you an idea:
One example of easy to learn but hard to master would be chess. The rules of chess are fairly simple. There are only 6 pieces to memorize and their behavior is relatively simple. However, every time a simple move is made, it has complex repercussions across the entire system.
Other games can be questioned with these traits in mind. How many rules are you asking players to memorize before they can get to the good stuff? That kind of complexity isn’t enjoyable. If you’ve ever gone to a party where you need to sit through a 5 minute lecture on the game rules before you can make your first move, you know how miserable that is. The more enjoyable complexity will come from exploring how the different mechanics interact with each other. A player may not completely understand the nuances of every mechanic when they start, but that lack of understanding makes playing the game interesting.
There’s not a lot to go off of based on the screenshots provided. If it were me, I’d look for ways to simplify the UI so it isn’t as intimidating.
That’s quite an interesting philosophy! Thanks for sharing it, definitely gonna use that as a rule of thumb in the future!
I’m probably gonna put in a basic tutorial of sorts, where the simple mechanics will be explained, the more complex parts of the game could be explained via a codex, or small tutorial messages. As long as the player learns these things gradually, I think it should work.
Thank you!
