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[William Broom]

If you and your opponent both attack at the same time, you can use 'jinx' to paralyze them.

[Zest]

And you have to have one of your teammates say your name, otherwise you can't move.

[Seth]

um yeah but the most important part of a childhood game is cheating

[TheCube]

I've always wanted to play a game based on Calvinball, but I think it would be difficult to make an action game where you can literally make up rules on the spot.  It's not cheating if it's in the rules though!

[Zest]

What if it was like Fluxx, where you can take turns changing the rules?

[Captain_404]

Ladies and gentlemen, from a few pages back, I present to you an early prototype of QWOP with Laser Beams!

There's no graphics yet, the lasers are invisible, there's no objective set in place, and the laser won't actually affect the other player, but the basic idea is there. It's imagination time, m'kay?

player 1 :: move: QW/RT laser: D

player 2 :: move: YU/OP laser: K

My apologies to European keyboards, I'll make a control set for you if I ever decide to work on this again. This was more just to see if I could do it than anything else.

[Inanimate]

 

[Zest]

Another mechanic I'd like to propose: Henna tattoos. Maybe it could be done as a power-up system like FFXII's grid system, but the idea would be that each piece represents a skill or ability, and would create a radial pattern that would appear on the character's skin. The design would have to be a color that really popped off the skin color, but how cool would it be to run into a boss that was covered in a beautifully intricate design, and think, "Oh, crap..."

[BlueSweatshirt]

Another mechanic I'd like to propose: Henna tattoos. Maybe it could be done as a power-up system like FFXII's grid system, but the idea would be that each piece represents a skill or ability, and would create a radial pattern that would appear on the character's skin. The design would have to be a color that really popped off the skin color, but how cool would it be to run into a boss that was covered in a beautifully intricate design, and think, "Oh, crap..."

That sounds sexy. 

As much as I disliked FFXII, it's grid(license) system for expanding your characters was near brilliant.
Branching it out to being henna tattoos on characters sounds awesome. But wouldn't they be black? If not... A glowing azure blue?

[Zest]

Well, the henna tattoo I've got on (what gave me the idea) is actually a brownish-orange, but glowing-blue might work. All depends on the character design, really.

[Jason Bakker]

A mashup between a dungeon crawler and tower defense. You can play on one of two sides, Robin Hood or the Sheriff. The game would involve you placing traps and men to defend key areas of your territory or to trap unsuspecting foes whilst simultaneously trying to gain access to your opponents territory to steal gold and rescue your comrades. Use your wildest imagination to trap your foes and upload your creations to the web to share with others. People can vote on the best ones and become infamous for their devilishly crafted levels.

Sounds pretty cool! I'd like this to actually be Robin Hood themed 

[synapse]

Farmville clone

[resistor]

A 2D space stealth game.  You're a black ops/recon pilot tasked with completing covert missions.  To do so, you have to navigate around levels without being detected.  However, beyond just having a sight radius, enemies can also sense the exhaust that you trail whenever you fire your engines.  The exhaust trail is a fluid dynamics simulation that can interact with environment effect, other ships, obstacles, etc.  There's essentially no friction, so gameplay is about timing and minimizing your engine bursts to mask your exhaust output.  Add in different kinds of ships with different exhaust characteristics, and you're golden!

[dbb]

...You're a black ops/recon pilot tasked with completing covert missions.  To do so, you have to navigate around levels without being detected.  However, beyond just having a sight radius, enemies can also sense the exhaust that you trail whenever you fire your engines...

That's a really interesting idea. I've read a few hard-ish SF novels where they've talked about this kind of stuff influencing space battles. One of Iain M. Bank's - the Algebraist, I think, and Alistair Reynold's "Revelation Space" series come to mind.

In the examples I'm thinking of, the authors talked a lot about how you're less visible when accellerating towards an enemy, because the hull of your ship hides your exhaust flare, but if you start decellerating while pointing at the enemy, you suddenly become way more visible.

I could imagine it could become a bit like submarine warfare, with both sides trying to pinpoint the other while remaining as stealthy as possible. You/the enemy could have passive sensors that are short-range/inaccurate but don't give your position away, and active sensors that can pinpoint the enemy over a long range but also make you visible.

So yeah, as you can probably tell, I've given this kind of thing some thought before, in a vague, wouldn't-it-be-cool-if sense. Basically, any space combat game that used hard-SF tropes to create interesting gameplay mechanics gets my vote.

Especially if, if the stealthy stuff gets boring, the player always has the option to think "ah, fuck it" and totally flip out like they're playing a standard scrolling shmup. Being grossly UNstealthy should always be an option in stealth games, imho.

[Cokho]

Another mechanic I'd like to propose: Henna tattoos. Maybe it could be done as a power-up system like FFXII's grid system, but the idea would be that each piece represents a skill or ability, and would create a radial pattern that would appear on the character's skin. The design would have to be a color that really popped off the skin color, but how cool would it be to run into a boss that was covered in a beautifully intricate design, and think, "Oh, crap..."

Looks sooo nice! I'm pretty sure it can be something great! We just need a good henna artist and I think it's OK! Too bad it's allready past diwali   

[Ashkin]

I've been thinking about a ninja game controlled completely with the mouse. Move to the side to walk, farther away to run. Flick upwards to jump. String together combos, such as Flick upwards > Spin mouse around character > Flick mouse down to slam into the ground.
Also, you can slash a sword by clicking, which can be incorporated into combos.
My goal as a developer would be to make the mouse an extension of the player's body. To be able to fluidly control the ninja, and kick enemy tail.
 

[JasonPickering]

i am working on a breakout/space invaders mash up now. but my next game might be a "fighting game". more of a puzzle/rhythm game like punch out where you need to figure out the enemy pattern and then attack them appropriatly. for the art im thinking giant papercraft monsters battling in a city. Kaiju Craft!

[Vulf]

A platforming action game written as an engine only. The style, locales, characters, and story are then determined by playing a Mad Lib with people on the internet. The game is then finished and released.

BONUS: Can be used again and again for endless unique and quirky games.

DRAWBACK: High chance of accidentally recreating Cave Story.

[dspencer]

Day and Night

A run and gun, where everything acts differently during the day and during the night. For instance, powerups manifest themselves as guns during the night time (different weapons) but as movement abilities during the day (high jump, stomp, etc). There are beds scattered throughout the level in order to switch what time of day it is. Certain situations would require daytime to get through, while others require night.

[Paint by Numbers]

Another mechanic I'd like to propose: Henna tattoos. Maybe it could be done as a power-up system like FFXII's grid system, but the idea would be that each piece represents a skill or ability, and would create a radial pattern that would appear on the character's skin. The design would have to be a color that really popped off the skin color, but how cool would it be to run into a boss that was covered in a beautifully intricate design, and think, "Oh, crap..."

This sounds downright wonderful. It reminds me of The World Ends With You's art style, although in that game a given monster's power isn't directly related to how fancy their abstract-graffiti bits are.

Are there any henna artists here on this forum? I think that idea has a lot of merit. If I had any programming skills I would have been trying it already.

As a side note, I also really like...

Platformer Mad Libs

and

Hell Yeah, Mouse-Controlled Ninja Game

...although Vulf's would be ruined if anybody (and I name no names, 4chan) decided to screw with it. "You're the FAGGOT on a quest to destroy the evil NIGGERFAGGOT! Take your COCK in hand and begin your journey!"