Brainstorming topics for my game

 In this blog post I intend on running through some possible ideas for the game that I am going to create. I will discuss where I got the inspiration for the game from, my ideas for the art style and mechanics I would like to include.

Idea 1- Cat simulator

My cat Ham, the inspiration for my cat sim

My first idea is for a Nintendogs style game where you keep and care for cats. Another big part of why I would want to make a game in this style is that I recently got a kitten and I would like to share this experience with others. Ideally I would like this game to be a relaxing and more casual game. I would like the art style to be relatively simple, in recent years there has been a revival of cell shading and other less detailed art styles in games and I believe that this kind of style would suit a game like this. In terms of mechanics in this game I would like to include ways to play with your cat, feed them, bathe them and I would like to add some unique cats with very distinct personalites for the players to adopt.

Idea 2- Soulsborne inspired 2D game

My second idea is for a soulsborne inspired 2D game, the best way I could describe this possible game would be something similar to ' Hollow Knight ' which was developed by Team Cherry and released in 2017 ( trailer ). I would like this game to be skill based much like souls games where it would be incredibly difficult at first but with a bit of time and effort the game would become much more manageable. I would like the game to have a sprite based art style much like Hollow Knight and other similar games. In keeping with the style of soulsborne games I would like to include a mechanic where upon death the player would loose some sort of collectable that can be regained when they respawn by defeating a certain enemy or collecting it from the spot they died at.

Idea 3- Visual novel

Hatoful Boyfriend
link

My third idea is for a visual novel, this style of game has become particularly popular in the last few years. The specific type of visual novel I've noticed gaining popularity in the last few years or so is the subgenre of what I can only describe as ' strange dating sims ' games I would include in this subgenre would be Hatoful Boyfriend the pigeon dating simulator and Dream Daddy the dad dating simulator where you create your own dad-sona and you date other dads. I feel like with my unique sense of humor I could put an interesting twist on this type of visual novel. Many of these visual novels include illustrations of characters which would be something that is very suited to me because I have a background in art. Visual novels like this are also full of choice and I would enjoy coming up with various different outcomes for each unique dialogue choice.

Idea 4- Quirky RPG

My forth idea is to create what I can only describe as a ' quirky ' RPG in the style of Earthbound and Undertale. To me both of these games have such an interesting sense of humor and incredibly interesting mechanics. I would like to play with the traditional structure of an RPG much like Earthbound and Undertale did. For example I could change up the setting of the game, typically RPGs are set in some sort of fantastic world but I think it would be interesting to instead explore a more ' normal ' world like an office, art gallery or a shopping center. I believe that moving away from the focus on combat much like Undertale did would also be interesting. For example instead of combat being your main way of leveling up maybe interactions with other characters or doing tasks could be the main way of leveling up your character.