Having recently come across some new mutations in cats - to be specific, the one known as the Kangaroo cat - the game idea is for the player to attempt to survive in the wild, using their choice of mutated cat. For examples, I'd suggest cats suffering from dwarfism or polydactyl cats. To survive, you'd need to hunt, defend yourself, stay warm and dry while neither dying or being caught by animal control. Success would be measured by the age that the player survived too in comparison to the average age that feral cats survive too

More submissions by KaitlinRobinson for MDS GDV110 - 'One Game a Day' Assignment

A exploration based game using myths and legends to form levels, where the player controls a character from the legend or myth and learns about the culture it originated from.

Spanning from the Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2100 BC) to more modern legends, such as Diarmiud or Cu Chulainn. While game play would have to change with each character, the different legends would require different play styles. Working back from the oldest legends, moving from country to country would be a difficult task, given the number of legends and conflicting versions. Some legends focus on battles, which would serve as action levels, while others are more sedate or would reward stealth. Longer legends, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh or King Arthur, would be split into episodes. Legends such as Alexander the Great and Joan of Arc could be interesting for players, allowing them to consider the impact their actions could have. Potentially, game play could be extended by allowing the player to change the actions of the hero or distort the myth, then observing the potential changes that could occur in history.

Well and truly inspired by FATE/Staynight and FATE/Zero, the only time you'd ever see King Arthur and Hercules in the same city.

Image sourced from http://photos.klepeer.com/pic/970, author unknown.

Orienteering used to be a training exercise for military officers. While integrating it into a game is difficult, this idea attempts to link the physical sport and a game. As a PC based game with an accompanying app or a smartphone based game, teams and individuals could compete locally and globally. The other portion of the game would be a form of simulator, potentially allowing players to create courses or have avatars they could gain items for by completing courses. Achievements would unlock some items, and monthly events could add items or extra routes.

Levels could be made using maps of the local area, picking locations within walking distance and challenging teams to take their phones and find the control points along the route, using the app, which would contain a compass, a topographic map and a control description sheet. At each control point, players would receive direction to the next location. This could be done by phone. but may be easier on phone data chaarges if done at a pc. Team events could be hosted locally, with a physical prize at each control point for the first group to collect.

Levels would mostly be based around foot orienteering, and would include a gps in the app for if players managed to get completely lost.

Mounted orienteering, where only the vicinity of the control point is marked on the map and players must use the control description sheet to locate the control point could be offered as a higher difficulty.

Existing courses could be used.

For anyone interested, permanent orienteering courses can be found here: http://www.orienteering.org.nz/about-orienteering/...


Image result for orienteeringThis image can be located at http://sa.orienteering.asn.au/about/

Battle having been and gone, your job, as a well trained dog, is to help in the process of demining in order for the land to be used. Sniff out the scent of explosives and show your handler where it is, the stand back and watch the humans do the heavy work. Levels would increase the number of mines and decrease the scent indicator, forcing the player to pay closer attention. Triggering a mine or failing to detect it would cause the level to restart. Cleared levels could develop overtime and be revisited to see changes. Changes could be influenced by the player, or minesweeper levels could be followed by sim-city like management of cleared land. The game could be potentially endless, but most likely would have a set number of levels. After completing the levels, developing the cleared land would give the player more to do. Players could chose between several dog breeds to play as, potentially serving as lives in that once used, a breed cannot be selected anymore. Find out more about demining dogs at http://www.un.org/disarmament/education/Movies/dem... .


Image sourced from http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2006/68021.htm, from the To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action report issued in June, 2006.

As the mascot of a typical group of magical girls, manage recruitment, coordinate the daily struggle against evil and withhold information.

Sadly, this is based off Puella Magi Madoka Magica. There's no such thing as a happy ending here. Instead, you can struggle to keep your team together and working for you as everything falls apart. The idea behind this was watching more of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and wondering exactly what was going through Kyuubey's head as it manipulated everyone.

As such, the player takes on Kyuubey's role, presumably in a visual novel format as he never takes part in conflict. Collect the items retrieved by defeating enemies to gather energy, contract potential magical girls and maintain their mental health. You can manage the areas of the city that each magical girl patrols, while also having to gather enough energy from thier opponents to maintain them.

The image is a clip from the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime, written by Gen Urobuchi

Action games, first person shooters, in fact almost any game with enemies have something in common. Namely, the damage caused to your surroundings and the conspicuous lack of clean-up crews for hire. As such, having no other job prospects, the player now undertakes the wonderful work of cleaning up after your protagonist has been through. Levels could take inspiration from various games. Co-op play would allow other players to join in on adding damage to the environment, while you attempt to clean up. The player would remain armed, as monsters may remain to ambush players during clean up. Potentially, this could function as an MMO by setting two teams in a area to kill monsters and tracking kill counts per team, leaving the loosing team with janitorial work.

This game is entirely inspired by games with persistent corpses/ bugs that cause corpses to stalk you eternally. Thank you, Skyrim.

Image sourced from http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/54274/?, from the Dragon Stalking Fix by sevencardz.

As a complex social structure, a wolf pack is interesting. With the set social hierarchy determined by combat and politics, it's a interesting format for players to work in. PvP would allow for rank to be settled, quests- such as hunting, securing territory and fighting off predators such as bears and mountain lions would focus on day to day survival needs and guilds would form as packs. The player would begin as a wolf that had recently dispersed from it's pack and travel throughout an open world environment, hunting small prey and teaming up with other players to hunt more dangerous prey, which may require strategy or for relay style runs to wear it out enough to catch. Guilds could hold territory and prevent or tax entrance to their territory. While the game would be more of a sandbox, it could also serve as educational, considering the many breeds of wolf that are endangered.

<img src="https://farm1.static.flickr.com/472/20397546822_55826be685_m.jpg" alt="Aidan and Luna • <a style="font-size:0.8em;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/111498098@N08/20397546822/" target="_blank" data-verified=" redactor"="">

Image sourced from http://www.wolf.org/



Having watched another episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, I think a similar situation could become an interesting challenge. It would probably work best in a visual novel format, focusing on the effects of the player character's interactions and their effects. The many possible bad ends would loop the player back to the start of the novel, with some new information about their enemies and their allies. Combat would be similar to the early Final Fantasy games, with the player controlling their character and any characters they have high enough friendship with. Other characters would be A.I controlled. The main feature off the game would be the possibilities for Interaction with other characters, which should track the endings achieved by the player, using the new information to add new options for dialouge.

Based off a mystery that's gone unsolved for 127 years, explore Whitechapel in 1888, in search of a person known as Jack The Ripper, (and also the Whitechapel Murderer and Leather Apron.) Learn about the suspects and use 19th century police forensics to form your opinion. Also learn about the development of forensic science, the early days of Scotland yard and life in London during the 19th century. The image to the right is of the 'Openshaw Letter' received by Thomas Horrocks Openshaw on October 29 1888, from Jack the Ripper. Participate in interrogations of the suspects and propose your own. All information should be sourced from police records, media of the time and modern 'Ripperology' studies.

For anyone interested in the history of Jack the Ripper and Ripperology, I would recomend visiting this site;

http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/dst-so.html

While I am uncertain as to if this entry will be deemed appropriate, I will be happy to modify it or replace it if one of the lecturers could let me know.

Meanwhile, At A Villains Bar...

As a minor league villain - you know, the ones that show up to introduce the new filler arc - your new objective is to survive. See, your boss... isn't very good at being a villain. You generally run things around the place, make sure their orders are carried out, ensure that the minions who, quite frankly, rank up there with team rocket when it comes to competency - are assigned jobs well away from any local heroes. But you're fairly genre-savvy, and given that your boss just challenged the local heroes, you'd like to make sure you have a retirement fund. And an exit plan.

A management simulator, attempting to get minions that can't remember how to tie their own shoes some days to pull off successful heists and skim a little off the top, all the while using you limited diplomatic ability to avoid having to fight the local heroes. If you do, well.... dodging is a good option. And running away very fast. Mostly, it would focus on planning the heists. After all, there is no such thing as fool proof. (If there was, the universe would create a bigger fool to spite you.) Heist should fail in unique, humorous ways, potentially with achievements for obtaining all possible failures.


The artist of the image is Vlade, and it can be found here: https://www.memecenter.com/fun/5822225/meanwhile-at-a-villains-bar

Partly inspired by 'One Week Friends', this game idea would have the player character's memories reset every seven days. This could be accomplished by randomising the characters around them, the environment they are in and other parts of the game. Progress made with a friendship would remain, but only information recorded by the player can be remembered - for example, writing a description of a person, location or item would cause it to retain the characteristics mentioned.the gameplay would focus on socialisation, and could draw from descriptions of people who have suffered from amnesia to make the interactions feel realistic

Welcome to St. Briavel's Castle. Claimed as the most haunted building in the world, you and your team will remain there for a week, using up to date equipment to monitor possible supernatural activity and residing within the building itself.

I strongly recommend the room that doesn't contain the entrance to the Oubliette. Someone comes along and cleans it out every few years, but it's a place for forgetting for a reason. Monitor temperature changes and strange acoustics, document manifestations and explore an building filled with reported supernatural phenomena.

Keep an eye on your team members - is anyone acting strangely? Are some of your belonging moved or missing?

I'd recommend avoiding being alone at night.

Partly inspired by the Ghost Hunt manga and anime. View the beginning of episode that inspired this at https://youtu.be/9BJwOyLbwEE?t=8m30s

Image sourced from, http://www.madman.co.nz/series/home/15550/ghost-hunt. No artist listed.

The book on St. Briavel's castle can be previewed here.

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=vm4DBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT14&lpg=PT14&dq=way+out+of+an+oubliette&source=bl&ots=S9l2nQIrBH&sig=q1bNXtGt57yAwaAJl7FeHlmHZRc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEYQ6AEwCWoVChMIm6yn5em-xwIVg-WmCh3e9Ah8#v=onepage&q&f=false

As a 2-dimensional character that slipped through the gaps into the real world, master the art of holding very still and turning on the spot to avoid detection. Slip between cracks to enter a 2d representation of the area, which may open up new paths and allow you to avoid combat. As you exist only in 2 dimensions, if your edge faces a 3d character,they can't see you. Retrieve a selection of other objects that have slipped out of your world and return them to their rightful place. Avoid detection or enter combat, utilizing your 2d characteristics to avoid blows while attacking. Rotation of the character and 3d to 2d would be important mechanics.


This screenshot shows the 2D characters interacting in the 3D environment. Image courtesy of Noticia's Anime United.sourced from http://sheattack.com/danganronpa-trigger-happy-havoc-hits-u-s-shelves/, Image courtesy of Noticia's Anime United.

I'd like to see time loops as a mechanic. A seemingly endless Groundhog Day - that occasionally is different. Perhaps the player has a one in five chance of a variant of their game; perhaps one where their controls are reversed, previously friendly HPCs are hostile and previously inaccessible areas can be reached. Or a one in seven chance of a fused loop, that might change the setting, the character or the plot into something completely different. On other occasions, play would resume as normal after death. Npcs and quests would need several possible permutations for possible variants, and dialogue could be slightly different each time. The time loops could easily become a plot on their own, given that some characters could retain knowledge from previous loops at random or begin looping theirselves.


In a world where smoke blots out the sky, climb atop of buildings with Christmas lights and kites to make your own. Explore the city to find the areas where it's needed most, plan out locations and assess security on buildings where you could fly kites. Attend school to communicate with your group, recruit new helpers and pass your coursework. At night, fill the sky with stars - without getting charged for breaking and entering/trespassing.

Inspired by http://yuumei.deviantart.com/art/Knite-Chapter-1-151132545, a flash-comic by Yuumei.

A stealth/exploration game, with the player controlling a kudagitsune belonging to a noble of the Emperors court. Explore, find blackmail, listen in on conversations and either help your owner achieve favor with the Emperor or ensure he leaves the court in disgrace - preferably without you in tow. Explore the world from floor level - slip through mouse holes and dart under tables. As a highly coveted mythological creature, you really don't want to get caught. You might be able to talk them out of it, once you get some practice in...

Gather secrets, blackmail, shiny trinkets and chase mice out of the palace. Also, meddle with the local pecking order. Who doesn't enjoy a bit of chaos now and then?

Kadekitsune by inicImage sourced from http://inic.deviantart.com/art/Kadekitsune-39091235, by inic

Pulling inspiration from here, a British docufiction known as The Last Dragon, or as Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real.

Play as a prehistoric Dragon, secure your territory, hunt, fight and ensure the survival of your species.

-Fight over prime nesting grounds, territory, hunting areas and breeding rights.

-Gather materials to nest, experience flight and aerial battles .

Flight would require the air sacks in the chest cavity to have filled with hydrogen and methane - lighter than air and combustible. Keep an eye on your supply while flying, as crash landings would inflict serious or life threatening injuries. Injuries would add a challenge to the game - land bound and crippled, keep yourself alive long enough to heal.

If the player did well enough, time could progress past prehistoric and into, say medieval times.

Barbecued Saint George, anyone?


Congratulations, you've been hired by an organisation defending earth from

whatever it is this time with the traditional giant robots.. Unfortunately, you were hired by the accounting department. Manage the budget, prevent the earth from destruction and deal with the insurance claims from the battles. Battles should happen at random or on a timer against progressively stronger enemies. A budget grant is given each month, from which salaries are paid, research and development is funded and repairs made.

I'd like to suggest setting this in something similar to Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The sheer level of destruction in most anime with giant robots would let you do something fairly generic. Or Gundam Wing, except you'd be working for the bad guys.

Extra funding could be obtained through research grants, bake sales and embezzling/extorting from major governments.

Image sourced from http://siato0.deviantart.com/art/Evangelion-Motiva..., by Siato0.


Taking inspiration from http://persinetteinthetower.tumblr.com/post/113953...

Let's look at fairy-tales from before the brothers Grimm sanitized and modified them. Exploring the castle as one of the servants, uncovering the original story - although you'd probably have to sanitize those too. I guess this would work similarly to Gone Home, and could cover other fairy-tales as well. The (one of the, depends which version) author of Bluebeard left a moral condemning the curiosity of women. Lets expand on that - play as one of Bluebeard's wives, see how long you survive before your serial-killer husband gets bored. Or, discover the other bodies and hope you can run fast enough.

Sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard, 19th century illustration by Gustave Doré

Having played The World Ends With You/It's A Wonderful World last semester, I'd like to see another game that uses the split screen battles in the same fashion. Controlling two characters in separate rooms, fighting the same enemy (sometimes on both screens, sometimes switching between the two) was an excellent challenge. Fortunately, the player could leave the second character to an AI when necessary. It's a mechanic well suited to Nintendo DS and potentially to PC games as well. Even forcing players to share the same healthbar made battles much less forgiving.

Also, clothing required bravery to wear and gave stats boosts based on local brand popularity. If only all armor and weapons required as much thought. Synchronization boosts and timing penalties certainly had me paying more attention to my characters than then repeatedly clicking the enemy. A fantasy adaptation would be difficult, but not impossible. So long as the villains say "Prepare to be spicy tuna rolled!", I'd enjoy it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjiy0zy2n5g&spfreload=10




Having just finished all three segments of Sigils of Elohim, a companion/teaser for the Talos Principle, I'd like to do more puzzles in the same style. Each section was color coded by difficulty and included 8 puzzles per difficulty. It's free on Steam, so if you'd like to spend two or three hours giving yourself a headache while listening to music and admiring pretty geometric patterns, go play it. Then put your time in the comments. The time to beat is 17 minutes for section A, 15 for section B and 20 for section C.

The idea is to use the same mechanics from this game with more levels. If they could be computer generated (and thus allow as many levels a the player wants to play), that would be great. Using it as a teaser that unlocks extras in the main game was certainly a wonderful idea, and I found myself replaying puzzle to try and solve them differently. Having a limited selection of pieces and a box to fill requires you to make guesses and even start all over again.



MDS GDV110 - 'One Game a Day' Assignment

Media Design School's GDV110 students come up with a game idea a day.

daily from 2015-07-21 to 2015-09-11