Inspired by Impossible Creatures, this is also a game where you can tinker with animals' DNA. Its design is a little more in depth; in the lab you operate on the gene level so you splice specific genes from various animals together. Many genes influence each other and sometimes in unexpected ways so the resulting creature can have surprise abilities and characteristics, many of which can be desirable, which I think is important for keeping things fresh and as incentive to keep trying new combinations. Once the player has a combination they like, they might want to save it as a "blueprint" so they can easily replicate it again.

Players battle with their creatures one-on-one, opponents being randomly selected (although level locked) in the same manner as games like Hearthstone. Exp and coins won by battling will unlock new equipment for the lab, which in turn will unlock new animals and research new genes. It would be possible to reload an existing blueprint and update it with new genes should the player want to.

Image source: http://inspired.daikynguyenvn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/27-anh-dong-vat-lai-3.jpg

Inspired by Rocket League and the real life existence of Horseball, this is is a console sport game combining the two. Single player mode can be played between the player and a single AI opponent but ideally this will be a multiplayer game with two opposing teams, each of up to four horses+riders. The player uses the joystick to control the speed and direction of the horse and button combinations to have the rider grapple another for the ball, to pass it to another rider or to attempt to score.

An alternative idea (perhaps for advanced gameplay) is to have the controls for a horse and its rider separate, with two players controlling the unit; this could add more challenge and hilarity as the rider and horse have to communicate with each other least the rider and the horse end up going in opposite directions (with the great likelihood of losing the ball and losing opportunities while getting back on!)

For the rest, the rules play out much like the game does in reality. Perhaps adding some customization to team colours and other cosmetics at the beginning of the game also.

Image source: http://content.horsezone.co.uk/ampse/newsImages/HB%201_0c6w_fs.jpg

A survival game game where you play as a Japanese macaque living in a snowy mountain region of northern Japan. The aim of the game is to survive the winter until spring; traverse the landscape foraging for food to keep yourself full, and getting back to your troop's sleeping place for the night time without accident and without letting your body temperature get too low. Instances for game over include your body temperature dropping below 32°C (normal is 37°C, which doesn't seem like a huge difference but since you are adapted to a cold environment, this drops relatively slowly. Meta UI elements will trigger around 33°C to alert you to deal with it.), if you slip or fall a large distance from a tree or the mountainside, if your stomach hits empty, or if you don't make it back to your troop before nightfall.

A good way to keep your body temperature up is to locate the hot pools scattered around the mountain; sitting in one for a few seconds will bump your temperature up several points of a degree. If a blizzard kicks up, you'll definitely want to quickly find a pool to jump in as your temperature will otherwise quickly be whittled down.
Carefully choosing your route as well as not going too fast for your steering ability will help avoid accidents (how well your stomach and body temperature is doing also helps the responsiveness of the controls).
Food is fairly plentiful but in small portions; you can dig out bulbs and plants from under the snow to eat, some of the tress will have leaves and bark that's edible and you could try catching insects.

The difficulty of the game escalates as winter drags on; the weather gets harsher and you exhaust the resources closer to your troop's hangout, meaning you have to forage (and get back from) further in colder weather, the more the game nears to the coming of spring.

Image source: https://nz.pinterest.com/pin/442478732113711772/

This idea originally inspired by the pod-racing scene in Star Wars.

This is a 3rd person racing game, set in a Steampunk universe and with various fantastical themed racecourses; one course. for example, gives the feeling that the contestants are flying about the inner works of a giant clock. Another has them racing through a network of caves, where you need to be careful of the flooded ones as the octopi are not friendly (or too friendly, depending on the way you look at it).

There is a single player mode but a large part of the appeal of the game is racing against others and seeing what crafts they've built. Customization is a big part of the game, as you cobble together your craft from various steam and clockwork powered part options. Speed and responsiveness are the obvious things you'll be working to improve, but you might want to build in some defenses and a good gun too! Aside from the sabotage, the race unfolds much like any other racing game as you race to beat everyone else to the finish line (or beat your personal best in the single player).

Image source: http://www.3dartistonline.com/users/134/thm1024/arque_final.jpg

In this game you are put in the shoes of Kitty, the resident animal dentist at a zoo, and the game unfolds as you make your rounds making sure everyone has squeaky clean teeth. You essentially control a toothbrush which you must brush the animal's teeth with, keeping an eye out for any sign of it about to chow down on your hand. Getting bitten is bad because it places a cap on the speed of your toothbrush, meaning you get a little slower each time you get bitten. This is particularly undesirable because you also have to get the job done within a certain amount of time before before the animal gets totally fed up and escapes you.

In the beginning you deal with creatures like the otters, who are fussy about how they're handled but their bites inflict less damage. You then work your way up to the crocodile and big cats, all of which are super cranky and have wickedly fast chompers.

Image source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/10/article-0-1304F333000005DC-530_634x423.jpg

You play as the boss of an alcohol smuggling circle during the Prohibition era. The game has an incremental element since your main goal is simply to build your business and open as many illicit bars as you can (and keep them operating). There are various tactics you could use- relocating your operations frequently is a stealthier option, whereas knocking off policemen is definitely more on the offensive. Leading government officials and law enforcers astray have bigger safety benefits but they're not too reliable and getting it wrong will mean your business will be more greatly jeopardized than if you stick on the civilian level.

As much life as possible should be given to the setting of 1920s USA and the reoccurring characters you'll find within it, on the side of law and order and in the crime gangs, and the ones who are just out to get a drink.

Image credit: http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Heij-Your-New-Speakeasy-Bar-1200.jpg

In this third person rhythm game you play as a performing ballerina. Controls will change depending on the platform used to play, but essentially you are to input a command (for example on a console, pressing X and pushing the joystick left) with the correct timing so that the ballerina performs the desired dance move correctly in its proper place in the music. An incorrect command will mean the ballerina fails to perform the move, while being late or early with the command will mean she is also and if you don't correct your timing quickly you won't score well and won't be able to progress.

Performances will start off small and the controls/moves simple, gradually increasing in scale and difficulty until the final level where the ballerina dances the primary role in a large production. The tutorial level will be of the young girl in ballet class, with the command(s) for the current move displayed center bottom. These prompts will also flash up in the performance levels, but only for the first execution of a move new in the level. Every few levels these new moves will be introduced via a "dress rehearsal" stage, so players will have an opportunity to practice a bit before attempting to beat the level. In the last three levels which emulate famous ballet productions (where you first dance in a chorus, the next as a major supporting role, and the last as the principle dancer) command prompts are not given.

Image source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/02/15/20/313D0CDD00000578-3448209-image-m-78_1455568033306.jpg

A top-down 2D puzzle game where you are a beaver trying to get a specific log back to your lodge. The problem is that there are so many branches/logs that fell into the river from the surrounding trees that you and your log are in a gridlock. You need to pull and push the reject wood in a specific order in order to make enough space to squeeze your intended log through the gaps to make it all the way downstream. The game is made a bit harder by requiring the beaver to travel only on the larger branches/logs (no swimming for you!). So the player needs to work out which branch/log they need to nudge back, forward, left or right, find a way to it via branches of a particular size or larger, move it, then find their way back to the marked log and move it. Rinse and repeat. You win/advance to the next puzzle by reaching the other side of the screen/mess of floating wood. Potentially could implement high scores recording how few moves (of wood pieces) you took to solve the puzzle.

Image source: https://ywguiding.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/beaver-on-a-log.jpg

A 3D third person game for the PC, where you play as a coyote fleeing from a group of cowboys convinced that you've been attacking their stock. The game world consists of an arid rocky landscape modeled after the Red Rock Canyon in California, and the aim is to shake off your pursuers within the rocky labyrinth before escaping. Striking a balance with the AI will be crucial, to make it not very easy (it's important to make it feel fast paced and urgent) but also not creating an AI that tracks you so accurately that it breaks believability/immersion.

The cowboys have the advantage of numbers and firearms. You have the advantage of speed, stealth and you are able to climb/jump up some of the rocky outcrops, unlike their horses. However, being higher increases the chance of at least one cowboy spotting you and it's not possible to stay out of rifle range all the time.

It's a game over scenario if you are caught/trapped/shot, and you win by reaching the exit of the canyon complex (having to locate it! Scaling some of the higher rock formations can give you a general idea of where the canyon ends) without a cowboy within a certain range of you (as a proxy for not being tracked).

Image source: http://www.dailyventure.com/media/highres/sedona_helicopter_06.jpg

This game is based on something mentioned in a video by Big Cat Rescue, where the owner wished for a virtual reality experience that provided a more intimate experience of meeting animals than what the exotic animal trade currently offers. This is in hope that it will undermine the business of backyard zoos, petting/photo experiences and other aspects of the exotic pet trade.

The player sees the game world through the "eyes" of a field drone operated by an animal behaviour researcher. To help with the immersion the aim is to produce a completely diegetic UI; you can see the research tasks and bonus challenges on the main screen, the GUI of which is set out like a whiteboard in a lunchroom, while the menu options slide out from the side resembling research notes in a field book (so it looks like the drone's camera has been turned to face the page).

There are various locations/biomes that the player can visit, with famous places unlockable after certain challenges are completed. Additional abilities such as tracking specific animals is also unlockable. So there is incentive to fulfill challenges, however if the player is happy to just fly around looking at animals for themselves, they can easily just do that.

Challenges start off with simple tasks, like "spot an elephant", but will increase in specificity and difficulty, to things like "observe the first hunt of Shambala (tiger; tracking microchip IN1975F)". The player can access the researcher's notes through the menu to check where certain animals were tagged/recorded.

The Fieldwork mode loading screen is the ground level view from the drone as it powers up, and the view as it starts rising. From there the idea is for the player to completely forget about what body they're in, aside from the odd glimpse of the drone's shadow, and for them to be able to observe animals in their natural habitat in as realistic a fashion as possible.

Image source: http://www.poossin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/451783798-1.jpg

A 3D game in close-up 3rd person, where you play as a little robin caught in the midst of large scale human warfare.

Being a bird you can fly, but not that high (around 20m up) and being higher might in some cases be more dangerous than sticking closer to the ground. The aim of the game is simply to escape the battlefield- made very difficult by gunfire, grenades, mines, bombs, shrapnel, vehicles, and other traps. Many of the traps you might not set off yourself but you can get caught in the blast if you're not careful, and it can get confusing when visibility is limited and there are a lot of people running around.

The chance of dying for the little bird is very high, as this game is supposed to give the player a feeling of frustrated desperation, but at an optimum level of vexation to keep trying despite it seeming hopeless.

Also key to the experience of the game is the feeling of flight; the bird's movement needs to feel very smooth and soft, in contrast to the grungy and chaotic surroundings.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2014/11/23/09/43/blackbird-542460_960_720.jpg

A 2D puzzle game where you play as a squirrel making its way through some old ruins in a forest, on its way home with that day's collection of nuts. The squirrel can run and jump (quite high, but not so far) as well as spit out a nut from its stash. It can then pick it up said nut, drop it, or throw it.

Turns out the nuts are really useful for navigating through the crumbling buildings though- whether it be tossing one into a gap, jamming one into a hinge or hitting something to open up something else Rube Goldberg machine style. The aim is to get through the ruins in the most efficient fashion, using up the least amount of nuts. You need them for winter after all! Running out in the middle of the ruins would be a disaster too and will result in a game over.

Image source: https://65.media.tumblr.com/03b47935255c9587f44d8ab729115a12/tumblr_o4rrpiEl021uia135o1_540.jpg

In this 2D game you play as a perfumer, tasked with mixing compounds correctly to create the scent(s) requested by fancy clients that can afford and want custom perfumes.

You start off in the tutorial stage of the game by being introduced to the outrageously French proprietor of the boutique, who chats to you as they are creating a perfume.
As they work they will explain to you that every perfume has a top, heart, and base note; the top note is the compound/scent that evaporates from the skin first, so it acts as the prelude before the heart note begins to join in. The heart note is so named because it ties together the lighter scent of the top note and the richer base note, and acts as the "heart" of the scent. It also mellows the beginning scent of the base note, which can be too sharp by itself as it first begins evaporating. The base note adds richness and depth to the other two scents and is the slowest to be perceived by the nose, so it acts very much like the percussion and brass in an orchestra and also serves as the "aftertaste". So for perfumers it's important to choose compounds that work together harmoniously, both in scent but also timing. However, you will get some bizarre costumes that desire some very odd perfumes, so you might learn enough to be able to make those too! All the while having to withstand your boss and his dramatic enthusiasm.

Image source: http://www.punmiris.com/himg/o.22946.jpg

This game is based on an art exercise as well as taking inspiration from 90 Second Portraits (Tangram Games).

The player is presented with a viewpoint of an abstract object and given a set amount of time to draw another view of it. The score for the challenge is calculated by how closely the player can correctly guess the reality of the object; meaning that the game has the object divided up into parts that it references and compares to the inputted drawings, and each part that matches awards points. So the final score can be bumped up by not only correctly drawing one side, but by attempting to draw as many viewpoints (to cover as many parts) as possible within the time limit. There will be a multitude of starting shapes to avoid too much repetition, but the player will probably get more than one try at each object since the game doesn't show the player the correct views, just highlights areas on their drawings that were incorrect along with displaying the final score. Scoring above a certain threshold in a challenge though flags that object so that the game does not present it again, and additionally unlocks more complicated objects to keep up the challenge.

Image source: http://paintings.culturesite.org/_jpg/Maurits_Cornelis_Escher_Tetrahedral_Planetoid_26845.jpg

A 2D endless runner game for PC. The main difference from a lot of the games in the genre being that you play as an Ibex running along mountain tracks in the middle of a landslide, so the terrain is crumbling and breaking apart around you. It takes quick reflexes to speedily choose a path and successfully time your jumps, all while trying to avoid getting hit by the large boulders falling down the mountainside.

Scattered around are wild flowers which you collect as you touch them. They award points, but the distance you make it before falling or being hit by a boulder makes up the largest part of your score.

Like app game runners such as Robot Unicorn 2 the game presents daily challenges for scores, distance and amount of items collected; completing these challenges will reward you with greater amounts of flowers. Flowers are important because, aside from earning point bonuses for your runs, they are trade-able for temporary buffs that you can equip per run, such as "a save from one boulder".

Image source: http://www.epicadamwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/alpine-ibex-goat.jpg

Some species of butterfly are extremely particular about the kind of plant they lay their eggs on; in this 3D open world game you play as a rare butterfly that only lays its eggs on blue roses. It's an "atmospheric" game similar to Flower and Journey (both by Thatgamecompany), but there are some dangers to avoid.

The main issue for the butterfly is the weather; while beautiful, both heavy rain and snow affect its health. The player can replenish the butterfly's health by sipping at the nectar of flowers, but be aware that both heavy rain and snow can destroy flowers so they need to be quick and also stock up on healthy nectar when they can.
In fine weather it's other insects that present the biggest danger, especially preying mantises which can disguise themselves on flowers so be sure to look carefully.

You win the game by staying alive long enough to locate the single patch of blue roses that grows in the game world.

Image source: https://kiwicdn.akamaized.net/79MpmDfSAkNEGiVuHqNDGX.jpg

A first person VR experience of a Peregrine falcon's hunt.

You use the position of your head to steer and hand movements to flap and propel yourself forward, to flare your wings to break, or to tuck your wings back and dive. Your aim is simple in concept- you are presented with a flock of pigeons and have to catch one.

In execution though it's quite difficult as the controls take some practice to get used to, your prey has quick reactions, and it can be difficult to lock on to one individual in amongst the mass of the flock. The game does have a few levels ranging from very easy to moderately hard. There is no "real hard" level as Peregrines in reality can dive to a speed of 389 km/h, and humans simply can't. The moderately hard level would be plenty enough for you to walk away with very likely nausea and a new-found respect for falcons. You also would have been great entertainment for everyone else watching you.

Image source: http://cdn.lightgalleries.net/4d2232afad625/images/Birds_of_prey__jpg_Neon_Sky036-1.jpg

A console fighting game with an RPG element tossed in to switch things up a bit and some thematic borrowing from Avatar The Last Airbender to tie them together. The aim is to create a fighting game that keeps things fresher for longer, increase player investment and to keep opponents guessing.

At the first loading of this game everyone starts out with the same five fighters, covering the main attacking types (looking to Street Fighter for examples) Rushdown, Zoning, Grappler, Neutral and Mix-up. These characters don't start with magic attacks though; you will gain exp for a character each time you fight using them (earning more if you win the match), and said exp will help you unlock abilities along one elemental skill tree of your choosing for that character.
(You can start over with a character you decide you made the wrong choice for, but you'll lose all their exp and really there aren't supposed to be any real right or wrong choices, just different strategies.)

There will be four elements to choose from: water, fire, air and earth. Once a character reaches a very high level of exp, they can unlock an additional tier of specialized abilities. The Water skill tree, for example, can later diverge into Ice based attacks.

You can use these elemental attacks on their own, or by trading in an amount of exp you can fuse it with one of the character's existing physical attacks to create your own special and combo attacks.

For example you may choose to unlock the fire element for your ranged attack specialist; as you gain exp for that character you may unlock a fireball attack which you can use as its own attack, or you can fuse it to a kick attack for more damage. Fusions can be compounded, so say that you've reached a high level of exp with that fire character and you've unlocked all of the fire-based attacks plus started into the lightning attacks (fire's high tier attacks). If you fuse a lightning strike with a kick attack it will deal a certain amount and type of damage, but if you select a kick attack which already has a fireball attack and fuse the lightning on top of that, that attack will have a differing (more) amount and type of damage.

Image source: http://recentlyheard.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/tumblr_nep37hwcuj1ryt548o1_500.gif

Taking inspiration from such games as Qwop, in this 2D game you have to maintain a pillar of cats.

You start as a solitary cat wanting to get to the bird's nest in a neighbour's tree, but with the fence in the way it can't reach the trunk to climb it. As it yowls other cats are attracted to it and they all jump on top of each other to try and reach the target branch. The player has to keep this growing pillar of cats stable via each individual cat, holding down the appropriate number key (each cat is assigned a number in order of its joining the pillar) and using the left and right arrow keys to make it lean forward or back. This is made especially difficult each time a new cat climbs its way up the pillar and upsets the balance of the existing cats!

The player wins when the top cat makes it to the branch! There will be a number of levels, each with a higher target.

Image source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2249/2214149648_5a980d4c26_o.jpg

Another food-orientated app game! You play as a baker specializing in custom cakes. There are two areas to the game; the kitchen, and your cake store. You start out with a basic cake recipe, ingredients, kitchen and store, and have to build your way up from there. Ingredients and baking equipment cost in-game currency which you earn through either selling your ready-made cakes (which earn you less and is unreliable in that you don't know how quickly they will sell- and cakes do eventually spoil!) or fulfilling custom orders (which serve as the game's daily challenges). As you gain exp (which you earn along with the money reward upon completing custom orders) and money you unlock new ingredients, new recipes (like how exactly to make a sugar flower) and new items you can decorate your store with (which also cost money, but provide boosts to your store's selling rate).

The challenges/custom orders provide a puzzle element to the game as you receive a description of the client's wishes, which you then have to work out the recipe for using what recipes you know already, keeping in mind that you need to be able to make everything within the time limit.

In the higher levels when the orders are complicated and take a fair amount of time you will have unlocked the option to hire a helper- meaning that you still have to work out the recipe and check you have all the ingredients, but the player can then click a button and not be required to have the game open for hours at a time.

The monetization of the game for the developers will lie with an extra currency that can be bought and can be used alternatively for items in the game but also to speed up baking times. The usual free-to-play tropes really!

Image source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/04/29/article-2316418-1989504F000005DC-818_638x631.jpg