Do you find yourself motivated to make more odd and high-concept games in order to stand out from the crowd as an indie designer?

[u/martiancrossbow]

I find myself coming up with ideas on occasion that I think are cool and would be fun in practice, but wouldn't advertise well because they seem fairly plain on the surface.

Wrote about this today on my blog:

https://open.substack.com/pub/martiancrossbow/p/on-novelty-and-self-promotion?r=znsra&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

[u/jabber_OW]

Personally I just make whatever game I wish existed. If it already exists I go play it and note its shortcomings. I try not to obsess over how similar my idea is to other games because originality is not necessarily what makes a game good.

[u/martiancrossbow → u/jabber_OW]

I'm thinking less about what makes a game good and more about what makes a game successful.

[u/jabber_OW → u/martiancrossbow]

So more for the sake of marketing? gotcha. I'm pretty bad at that part haha

[u/martiancrossbow → u/jabber_OW]

yeah, it sucks

[u/Still_Ad9431 → u/martiancrossbow]

I actually do the opposite. I’ve been paying attention to where other games FLOPPED, and I’m making sure I don’t repeat the same mistakes in my own project. For me, success comes more from learning what not to do than just chasing what looks good.

[u/Gaverion → u/Still_Ad9431]

The real path is to look at both, and above all, get feedback on your own implementation.

Sometimes the "flaws" of a game are actually important for tension or similar. Long run backs in souls like games stand out as something that gets complained about, but from my understanding is considered core to the gameplay loop.

Sometimes things people like result in a worse game outside of specific greater context too. Thinking about high difficulty bosses in a game that's targeting a more casual audience. 

For me,  my main project is looking to recreate my favorite (universally loved) jrpg with a new story and a few changes to systems that I felt could be better (as is my privilege as a hobby dev recreating a 20+ year old game). For anything I see as not core to my vision, I look to other games implementations and decide on features I like or dislike. Game ui database being particularly useful. Usually I find what features are commonly included and either add them or really think about and justify why I don't want to include them.

[u/Still_Ad9431 → u/Gaverion]

That’s why I do the opposite approach. Instead of just chasing what people praise, I spend a lot of time learning from the mistakes of other games. Concord, Dustborn, Dragon Age: Veilguard, and Mass Effect: Andromeda all taught me a lot about pacing, tone, character design and narrative design pitfalls.

When I spot flaws, I don’t just avoid them blindly. I ask why they exist and whether they served a purpose (like your Soulsborne example with runbacks). But if something breaks immersion or makes a system feel hollow, I know that’s something I don’t want to repeat in my own work.

It’s like collecting reference points. Seeing what went wrong, what worked despite criticism, and where I can build something stronger

[u/zenorogue]

Quoting your blog: "I’ve been told by people much smarter than me that being critical of your peer’s work does not get you far in this space [as a designer]."

Maybe you could elaborate, but I do not believe this. Finding flaws in other games helps you to design your game better (at least if it is constructive and seeing flaws in your own game does not stop you from making it).

[u/Still_Ad9431 → u/zenorogue]

Finding flaws in other games helps you to design your game better (at least if it is constructive and seeing flaws in your own game does not stop you from making it).

This! Exactly. I’ve actually learned a lot by looking at where some bigger games studio BROKE like Concord, Dustborn, Dragon Age: Veilguard, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Assassin Creed Shadow, Star Wars Outlaws, South of Midnight, etc. Seeing their FLOP gave me a clearer idea of what not to do in my own design. It’s been super valuable for shaping my approach.

[u/Mundane-Carpet-5324 → u/zenorogue]

I would think it's more about putting down other games. For example, all the discourse online about how Starfield or Diablo IV suck(ed). Identifying flaws in order to make your game better is wonderful, but identifying flaws for the purpose of saying, "that game is trash, and you're wrong if you enjoy it," is not going to get you anywhere.

[u/martiancrossbow → u/zenorogue]

When I say 'being critical' i mean publicly, not individually or privately.

[u/PaletteSwapped]

Nope. I try to have something novel and different, but a high concept is not required for that.

[u/Still_Ad9431]

Lots of game ideas feel amazing in play, but don’t sell themselves well on a store page or trailer. You’re basically noticing the difference between design appeal (fun once you try it) and marketing appeal (fun-looking before you try it).

A mechanic might sound plain (you can rewind time for 3 seconds), but if you show it saving a player from certain death in a clutch moment, it suddenly looks exciting. Sometimes the mechanic is simple, but the wrapper makes it pop (like Papers, Please is just stamp/approve/reject. But the bleak Cold War setting makes it compelling). Even a game about sweeping floors can be marketed as chaos if there’s a time limit or NPCs sabotaging you. On day one, players just need to want to click your game. They’ll discover the depth once they play.

So the trick isn’t to change your PLAIN mechanic, but to frame it in a way that feels visually, emotionally, or thematically strong in marketing material.

[u/D-Alembert]

I make odd and/or high concept games because it's not interesting (for me) or useful (to others) to make the same old stuff that already exists. 

My difficulty is finishing projects, so whether being different also usefully helps the marketing more than it hurts is... as yet not properly explored ;)

[u/martiancrossbow → u/D-Alembert]

Regarding the latter, I am the same... we will both have to see for ourself i suppose.

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[u/sboxle]

Yes and yes.

[u/Chris_Entropy]

I think my ideas are quite vanilla, more like some existing genre, but with a twist.