My next game idea

Looking back at my old games' prototypes

My initial idea for a prototype never seems to look much like the final game. Even if I think I have a perfect idea for the game, I always get all sorts of ideas for how I could improve the game or change it into something else entirely.

My first idea for Chessplosion was to make a game like Mega Man Battle Network meets chess, where two players stand on opposite sides of a board and launch chess pieces towards each other:
As a result of prototyping and testing this game idea, I changed the game design to be what Chessplosion is today. But a modified version of the original prototype gameplay still made it into the final game as the Tennis Battle mode.

The initial idea for Ducky's Delivery Service was very different too. It had the same movement physics, but instead of delivering packages you were flying through dungeons, dodging bullets, shooting at enemies and upgrading your character:
This was fun, but I felt like the best parts of the game were the flight physics and the feeling of skillfully avoiding predictable obstacles like the spinning laser beams, which eventually turned into windmills in Ducky's Delivery Service. Shooting enemies and reacting to their attacks was fine, but it just wasn't quite as fun as the other parts of the game to me.

On top of that, Chessplosion's dungeon mode and the popularity of games like Vampire Survivors had shown me that I have a very different taste in action roguelikes to most people. I prefer them to mostly just be action games with a bit of random spice added on top, mostly in the form of giving players interesting terrain to interact with. Whereas most action roguelike fans seem to prefer games where you can create wild overpowered builds and grind for progression. To make matters worse, flying was so difficult that I had to make the player's weapons automatically aim at enemies, which meant I didn't really have many options for making fun interactable terrain like the destructible worlds of Spelunky or most traditional roguelikes. Because of this, I couldn't really make the action roguelike aspects of the game work in the way that I wanted them to.

So I decided to concentrate on my favorite parts of the prototype and make a game about mastering the fun flying physics and avoiding obstacles. Ducky's Delivery Service was born! I would love to make another game with the Ducky's Delivery Service flying physics one day, and it might even be a game about avoiding attacks and shooting at things. But that depends on how I feel when I've finished making my next game, and who knows what I'll want to make at that point.

My next game's prototype

So given that Chessplosion started as Mega Man Battle Network with chess piece attacks, and Ducky's Delivery Service started as an arena shooter roguelike with autoaimed attacks and Balloon Fight movement physics, what will my next game start as?

I'm going to try making a top-down action game with the same grid-based movement physics as Chessplosion, along with the same emphasis on dodging projectiles and avoiding enemy attacks. But instead of attacking enemies by dropping chess piece bombs, you'll attack them by bumping into them like in Crypt of the Necrodancer or Ys. I also want to experiment with adding some beat em up mechanics, such as grabbing enemies and throwing them around. And because there's no friendly fire to worry about this time, I could try adding online co-op!

I'm not sure what the game's art direction will be yet, but here's a crudely drawn mockup of Ducky with a sword and shield and recolored old witch hat sprite to give you a vague idea of my current plan:
So if Chessplosion is chess meets Bomberman, and Ducky's Delivery Service is Balloon Fight meets Crazy Taxi, I suppose this new game idea is Castle Crashers meets Crypt of the Necrodancer. Or Castle Crashers meets Chessplosion, if you're the type of person who is reading this newsletter and knows what a Chessplosion is.

I have no idea how this idea will turn out in the end, but I think it's worth making a prototype and seeing how it feels. Let me know what you think, and I'll give an update on my progress next week!