This would be a sort of defense game where you click and drag your turrets ( in this case flying wizards ) about the screen.

One of my best experiences with criticism was using Flash Game License First Impressions.  Sure there were times when people posted perfectly useless reviews and suggestions, but there was a little button that you could click to post that the review use useless, and it would vanish the next day.

It is a shame that all things in life didn't work that way.

Personally negative reviews are some of my favorite, and I use them as quick way to reverse the trend that one foul review turns quickly into a litany of insane negative criticism.

What you do is really dig into the pointless negative review of say, " I don't like shooter games with big ugly pixels, and I can't barely press the buttons where they are.  It's sad because I want to play it but you get a 0/100.  I would play it if it wasn't that way.  Probably a 100/100 then."

I like to respond with something SUPER postive like " Dude, you are having issues with the controls?  I can see how that would happen.  Shoot me a PM with a suggestion, and maybe we can work it out.  Also, I the sprite was intended to look that way.  I know some people don't dig it, but I just couldn't help myself.  I am glad you enjoyed the parts you did though!"

Next thing you know you have a new fan, and better yet the damned flame flood has been blocked.  Even though some people are angry and inarticulate, that doesn't mean they don't want to play the game.  They really do.  So feather in my cap.

Haha, it may have been because I played through the whole game with my wife, and she was pretty evil to me if I bounced her in to a pit.

No body put's baby into a flaming death pit.

----

Now, competing was so much fun!  Especially trying to kill each other on the Skeleton roller coaster thing!

The topic is pretty damn entertaining!  I really enjoy reading about people's firsts, and some of these were fun to look at and play.  I liked Cows in Space especially.  Why wouldn't there be trucks flying at you in space?

My first attempt was in Qbasic, and I had a nearly completed graphical nethack style swords and sorcery game called HellStalker.  Gone, lost.  Hard drive crash and no backup.  Terrible feeling that.  Well, the game wasn't so great REALLY.  I did a pretty HORRIBLE job coding it. I had to clear the stacks and write out to file what was happening in the game every screen because my graphics engine was shite.

The first game I ever completed was Mage Craft.  I still have a fond place in my heart for that game.  Something of a cousin to what I was trying to do in HellStalker.

Mage Craft

It's fun if you like first gameness.  Very very rough around the edges.

I would say the already mentioned Rainbow Six series and River City Ransom were great because you could not only save each other, but you could also hurt each other if you made a mistake. 

You truly had to COMMUNICATE with each other in order to avoid joint disaster or amazing success that was celebrated with high fives for all.

The chosen mechanic is not as important as the polish of the game mechanic.  If game play is smooth, and you are not constantly in each others way, the game could be amazing.  To me that helps a ton with COOP.

I was mildly disappointed with Mario Wii's coop because you were more or less in each other's way CONSTANTLY.

Hmmm, I think the easiest approach is to take something that is fun and break it down to it's simplest form.  I mean, it sounds like you are looking for the elusive essence of a game.

I like those characters Chevy.  That have plenty of personality, you can tell what they are, and they look like they would be fun to animate.  In my opinion, that is what makes a great VG sprite.

I made this for a buddy of mine.  They are doing a Skype based D&D campaign, and he wanted a sprite for the page that represented his team.

This is going crazy with colors:


Colors reduced to 32 possibly to ease animation:

Sparky,

  Never went to the AGS forums.  Hmmmmmm... I used to use Game Maker quite a bit, and I there was a time I frequented Retro Remakes a ton?  Dunno!  You know me now!  Thanks for the advice too!

nitram_cero,
 
  YES!  Play you must!  You are in the credits!

All righty,

   We've finally finished the game, got it through a beta run, and are a hunting sponsors baby!  Can't wait to finally be able to show people! 

   It's strange coming from complete freeware to trying to make some sponsor dough.  I am not used to waiting and not letting everyone play.  I wonder if it is helping to refine my craft or make me a marketing whore.  I am hoping for whore.

   Any way, pray the sponsors rain from the sky my brothers!  May the mighty Kong smile on us and all our endeavors ahmen...

Awesome that you guys like the looks of it!  Hopefully it'll have the play you o so deserve.

It's funny that this started out as a team building exercise, and then we started having too much fun making it! 

Hello PEEPS,

   Tim Hely and I have been hard at work spitting out a new Action/Adventure/Explore/Kill/Collecting/Button pressing video game for you people spend a good hour oh so of you life loving.

   In Blasting Agent it is your job to take on the hard hitting, volcano dwelling baddies who have taken protesting to a new and terrible level by bioengineering people and biomechanical horrors.  You'll need to jump kick and blast your way through their ranks whilst powering up your blaster and stealing all of their booty.

   They say a picture is a worth a 1000 words, so a moving picture must be at least 1001 words, right?

CLICK ME TO WATCH ME

Here is a fun little concept art piece to give you the idea of the FEELING we want you as the audience to experience:



Yeah, love and joy.  Love and joy.

Release date is scheduled mid-november.

TUNES by the multifaceted Bunnymajs.

PEACE!

It's my experience that most people enjoy games more when they are easy to understand what is happening in the game and children are just little people without as many environmentally induced filters. 

I haven't played many games with kids where the graphics got them as excited as their ability to do "cool" things in it.

If they know that button a OBVIOUSLY makes this happen and you are able to convey that with your chosen art style then you are a rocking.

I would focus more on the accessibility and the feedback from the game.  From my experiences with chillins you have to constantly engage them with new little experiences.  They haven't had the terrible burden of patience thrust as completely through their souls yet. 

Work on the game, and quietly watch as some little ones play it.

I think what I do best is create player packages.  Once I have that done and the game world designed in my head / papaer I feel like I am past the fun part.  Making a toy out of the main character (if there is one) is so much fun to me.  Making the game world and the interaction in it is where I lack the most.

When I get to this point, I usually have a workable and playable demo.  The only cure is to get other people to play the game and get feedback.  Then I have either the motivation to continue on, or I have the information that I need to know that the direction I am taking the game world is wrong.  Either way I gain some outside feedback.

Of course, understand, that I mostly work by myself as a simple hobby dude.  I am sure that there is a major difference when working in a team environment. 

Yeah, I have been thinking about a procedurely generated action rpg for the last 70 years.  Let's see what all that thinking has done for me?!?  Maybe a  game!  Maybe sitting on the sidelines while other people make their game!

I've put a lot of thought into this.  I like to make a toy and then a world for the toy to be played with in.

There have been tons of games with bad rules and crappy stories that had such a fun toy to play with.

Be a toy maker first, and a game designer second.

DIT - Don't know why I missed that completely.  It's strange how you get too deep into something and miss the obvious.  I did some retouching.  Thanks!

difficultman - I really dig the detail in that low color work you have going on there.

Some of the foot soldiers of the Moot Brigade. On their own they can be a pest, but in a large group they be a lot of fun to carve up:

The Moot Coward - Biggest threat is accidentally impaling itself when it gets scared:



The Moot Spear Man - If they make contact with with an enemy with will throw their spear, and the run like little nancy girls.



Armored Moot - When a Moot makes it to a point in his/her carrier where they have actually defeated an enemy, they are given their armor.  With this armor they tend to be tougher, and they have a tendency to not run away so much.  Oh, and a spear gun helps keep them motivated too.



Fak Argle - Prince of the Argle Clan, and leader of the Moot Brigade.  Vicious combatant, and fearless leader.  Sadly, he is somewhat lacking the area of gray matter.



Pesto - Chief advisor to the deceased King of the Argle.  Skilled in the dagger, he prefers to strike from safety or have someone else do the striking.



Some of the concept art that inspired the dudes.



http://darthlupi.com/images/concept_art/pesto.png

http://darthlupi.com/images/concept_art/faks.PNG

Devendra Banhart:



Paul Klee:



If I was ever stupidly wealthy, and I was able to buy a piece of pricey art, it would be a Paul Klee.

It would probably be the twittering machine:



Sigh...