This game idea seeks inspiration from the fairy tale "Die Wichtelmänner" (Brothers Grimm), commonly known as "The Elves and the Shoemaker" in which a poor shoemaker receives much-needed help from elves.

In Cobbler Collaboration (Cobbler Collab) you take on the role of the helpful elf (fairy/pixie), aiding a fragile, old man whose ability to make and repair footwear is deteriorating with age. Your only objective in this game is to fix the shoes whilst the old man is sleeping, so that his customers will remain happy with the quality and restore the confidence in the old man. However if you fail to fix a shoe to a certain standard, he will either choose to retire by closing the shop for good – or he will be shut down by a third party.

Game Mechanics:

• Your only job is to fix shoes, but the Cobbler should not know of your existence. Therefore when it hits 10:00pm the old man will depart to go sleep, this gives you eight hours (eight real life minutes) until 6:00am, to fix his shoes for the day, failure to do so will result in a game over
• As days pass, the old man's ability to make/repair shoes worsens, which in turn makes it harder for you to fix. When his skill falls below a certain threshold, he'll start suffering from insomnia and get up to check on the shoes. This is when stealth is involved or simply putting a pause on fixing, because if you're spotted, then the old man will realise he lacks talent, therefore personally shutting down his shop
• In regards to shoes, there will be a range of different types and materials, resulting in varying difficulties. Shoe types may include/but are not restricted to: shoes, boots, sandal, clogs and moccasins.

Features:

• Time pressure (eight minutes per night)
• Stealth after a certain amount of days
• Increasing difficulty with each day
• Scoring based off consecutive days completed

I am currently undecided on which platforms it would be available for, because with third-person, 3-dimensional manoeuvrability and stealth mechanics it would be best for PC, Xbox One and Play Station 4. However this idea could also be well executed in a 2-dimensional fashion for mobile devices (iOS/Android) with more ease in regards to interaction with repairing.

Reference Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4931317900/in/set-72157621991259423/

You're alone on a desert planet, and you play as a cactus humanoid alien character thing called 'Cactus Evergreen', your only means of survival is to locate water. Armed with a divining rod and a straw, you hunt the dunes following the twitches of your rod to what you hope to be water. Time is precious as you have a thirst meter, which is constantly draining, and your goal is to find water to fill it back up. If the divining rod seems highly responsive in a certain area, you can jump into the sand (temporarily planting yourself) refilling the thirst-meter significantly, however if you missed the water spring/damp area, you take a harsh increase in thirst. If you don't quite trust your instincts you can in turn, stab your straw into the sand and drink what little water you assume to be in the sand. Failing this process only slightly increases your thirst, but if you do locate water (and sip it through your straw), you will refill the thirst-meter a certain amount, but not as much as the planting yourself strategy.

Why the divining rod? Damp patches and underground springs spawn randomly and cannot be seen from above, think of it like the item-finder from the pokemon games, except without the 100% certainty that you're on the right spot.

What reason is there for the player to keep attempting to complete longer runs?

Leaderboards, duh. You'll be timed for each run, and the longer the time the higher the score and the juicier the bragging rights. Also, reaching certain time goals will unlock new skins for the player, and who doesn't like cosmetics? (also can be used as a non pay-to-win microtransaction)

This game is intended for mobile devices (iOS, Android) and potentially PC (Windows/Steam)

Main Features:

• -Pixel Art Style
• -Time Pressure
• -Replayability
• -Super straw sipping action!
• -Sand. A lot of sand.