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[coderunner]

I’m a small (actually, solo) developer working on various prototypes for games and was hoping to get some opinions from some other gamers and gamedevs if you have time.

If there’s a game that already does its genre very well, what things make you decide that an upcoming similar game is worth your time investment? Just as an example, I think Rimworld is an amazing colony management game in the dwarf fortress style. I think one of the big things that make it worthwhile over dwarf fortress is accessibility. It’s way easier to learn how to play than Dwarf Fortress. What kind of things would another colony management game need to do to make it worth your time to play when Rimworld already exists? Just a different theme (e.g. a space station), etc.?

Another example would be Terraria followed by Starbound.

From a more abstract level, I guess my question is: if you already really, really like playing game A, what kind of things would in-development game B in the same genre and style need to bring to the table to make it worth your time and interest to play? Just a new theme/setting, an amazing new hook/feature, fix the small, annoying things in game A, etc.?

Thanks for any help!

[Lares Yamoir]

From a more abstract level, I guess my question is: if you already really, really like playing game A, what kind of things would in-development game B in the same genre and style need to bring to the table to make it worth your time and interest to play? Just a new theme/setting, an amazing new hook/feature, fix the small, annoying things in game A, etc.?

To be honest, that's exactly why I wouldn't buy a game. If the new game is already similar to the first game, why should I play it? Sure a new setting can make a game interesting enough to buy it, but for me that's very rare these days. Accessibility features are good for new players, but if I'm already used to playing the first game, accessibility features alone won't make me switch the game.

In order for me to buy a game, the new game needs to have features that put at least a spin on or better yet completly break it's genre's definition.
Also, but that is a bit more difficult to define: The game needs to have something, that can't be easily experienced through a Twitch stream or Youtube video. I tend to avoid buying pure story focused games and most procedural generation games, because they don't offer that. Notable exception was Darkest Dungeon. I guess in that case the symbiosis of theme and gameplay made it interesting and unique.
Another example would be Dark Souls. That game makes exploration and secret finding fun. Watching someone else finding the hidden passages, especially if they already know the game, just isn't as compelling. I would say the main reason for that is the subtle connection between secret placement and lore. In addition: You don't just find <generic, but useful item x> most of the time, but also new characters, areas and even influence certain events.

[Raptor85]

If there’s a game that already does its genre very well, what things make you decide that an upcoming similar game is worth your time investment? Just as an example, I think Rimworld is an amazing colony management game in the dwarf fortress style. I think one of the big things that make it worthwhile over dwarf fortress is accessibility. It’s way easier to learn how to play than Dwarf Fortress. What kind of things would another colony management game need to do to make it worth your time to play when Rimworld already exists? Just a different theme (e.g. a space station), etc.?

Different theme is a possibility, still waiting on a proper fun space station sim.  But what would really draw me into another sim is the mechanics and depth of gameplay.  dwarf fortress had a depth you just really don't get in most of the other similar games.  Other things that help would be good AI, which honestly the AI in most of these games is weak to terrible.  I'm still waiting for another game like Black & White were I could leave to use the bathroom and come back to find that my creature took command in my absence, expanded my resource gathering and set off on an expedition to convert the unbelievers!  Interesting maps and secondary goals help in games like this too, I've found that "pure" creative games get boring VERY quickly but the addition of side goals helps a lot. And I'm not talking achievements, I mean more of story progression, NPC's to interact with, etc...

[s0]

i havent played rimworld, but ive tried other "accessible dwarf fortress" games like gnomoria and i think they all miss the point. the core mechanics of dwarf fortress are actually not that interesting and have been done much better by other management/city building games. it's basically just the room digging from dungeon keeper combined with settlers/anno esque production chains. the thing that makes DF worthwhile is exactly the thing that makes it inaccessible (well aside from the UI lol), i.e. the crazy detailed simulation and all the fun emergent interactions that arise from it.

[Superb Joe]

i only play games where you beat the shit out of stuff because i'm not an anti social school shooter type

[Andrew Salamander]

It would depend on the genre and game design. 

If it's a type of game that I really loved but once it is done, it is more or less done... then I'll tend to be pretty open to similar stuff.  I play a fair amount of platformers, for instance, and once I'm done with one I move onto another. 

On the flipside, I get pretty engrossed in stuff like say... Rocket League, which I'm still playing months after I bought it, and don't really feel the need to try out anything similar, even if people are saying it is better.

On a general level I tend to need a unique hook that makes something stand out a bit to care about a new game in a tried and true genre of mine.  So for instance, I like platformers and when I first saw VVVVVV and how the entire game is played just with moving and a single gravity flipping button, that stood out to me.  I also like games that combine elements from multiple genres I like as well, for instance what really sold me on Undertale (back before it got HUGE and everyone was talking about it) was someone described it as Earthbound meets WarioWare and I was like woah, I love BOTH of those things! 

The flipside of that is something like Owlboy which, honestly I'll probably still play eventually because everyone says it is THAT GOOD, but I haven't gotten to yet in large part because I'm not sure what the hook is.  People just say things like "it's a really well made platformer" but it doesn't seem to have much unique stuff?  So I've been on the fence with it.

So I guess getting tons of praise from the media and my friends helps get me interested, but if you don't have that (and most of us won't), have a hook.  I've checked out games that were getting 7s and 8s just because they had some neat sounding hook.

[Superb Joe]

i cant envision nor countenance playing a non-yakuza game for the next 3 years at least. thats just how it is.

[Xfactor]

I'm not really sure, I mostly follow my feeling that the game can work. I posted ideas on a community and get straightforward feedback to see if that the game they want to have.

[eerr]

I've played too many games in my time.

I'm 28 and don't play anything but PC games anymore.

I look for top of the line indie games, the good stuff.

Basically I want games that bring something new to the table.

If I wanted to play a FPS, I'd go back to quake.
If I wanted to play a moba I'd go back league.
Terraria got a bit stale, but it was great the first twenty times.
FTL is always a good fallback.
Can't forget Minecraft.

I want a new feel, a new tech, a new something. I beat a significant number of games, and they need to be worth my time.
I value those games that manage to detail a hip new set of game mechanics.

[Tusky]

I look for top of the line indie games, the good stuff.

Basically I want games that bring something new to the table.

I agree with this too, really stand out indie releases. I suppose I mostly find out if it's "top of the line" from reviews and playthroughs.

If there’s a game that already does its genre very well, what things make you decide that an upcoming similar game is worth your time investment?

I would say the things you listed are good, ie: different setting, different key mechanic etc. I would also say time is a factor, i.e. sometimes something very key to the genre gets quite old so a new version can be valid because it uses updated graphics and technologies. That's obviously not the case if you are re-hashing a flavour of the month

[rj]

if good

[deadlycure]

A game is worth my time if it does anything new.

Can have crap graphics and horrid UI so long as it has a new mechanic or (rare) plot device, or etc. "new" thing to contribute.

I'll play a crappy rehash of a stale genre if the game has a new rendering method.  Might not complete it, but I'll play.

YMMV: New to me may not be new to you.  Old things can become new again given enough time.

[FireballNightSeeker]

Entertainment, mostly.

[Cobralad]

YMMV: New to me may not be new to you. Old things can become new again given enough time.

Dont remember God saying that

[CodeLobe]

YMMV: New to me may not be new to you. Old things can become new again given enough time.

Dont remember God saying that

Heh, well, maybe it wasn't God, per se, but...

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:9 - King James Version Bible

"All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again"
Opening line of Walt Disney's "Peter Pan" (1954)
(Also quoted as scripture in Battle Star Galactica, so we got lots of the SciFi and Fantasy geeks covered too).

I'm guessing YMMV is "your mileage may vary", suggesting God of "highways"? Then again, YHWY looks pretty "highway" to me.

I'd play a hitchkiking game where you're Jesus, an incredibly lucky drifter trying to find the highway to "Rapture".  Goal is to accidentally enough random miracles along the way to realize you're Christ and attract a following. Keep the throngs from backsliding into the temptations of El Diablo.  Just don't do too many miracles or you get Waco'd by Richard Dawkins.  Could be a prequil to A Day without a Mexican?

[ViktorTheBoar]

Depends a lot on my mood and time available. If I want a specific type of game, I browse by keywords or check my Steam library which I sorted by mood.



Sometimes I just feel like trying out new things, so I go to itch or TIG's townhall and try about 20 games in one evening.

[Zeamus]

Echoing some other thoughts already stated, but originality is the utmost to me. Classic game design is classic for a reason (usually), and I can appreciate honing craft, but that usually only goes so far.

Take Super Mario Odyssey for example. N preserved many mechanical and aesthetic 3D Mario elements, but designed a new way of perceiving levels and power-ups. See an enemy? Possess it and experience the level through this new set of rules. Try some stuff with it, play around, and oh what's that another new enemy. That is different (for Mario at least). It's captivating.

Especially with indie games (which I love and support and am so grateful for) I think developers try too often to remake older games or simply base their design on combining elements from popular genres (hence the whole "Dark Souls of X" trend/meme). It can work. Shovel Knight made it work by taking a highly established form and making a game that can stand among its forebears. But no matter what I want a game that makes me stop to think about what it would be like to play it, not something that looks like a game I know too well. I always want surprises, too, but don't often get them. Today's sequelitis really gets me down, because it often generates the exact opposite design philosophy.

[J-Snake]

If the core loop is attractive, you keep coming back to it. For instance, I would certainly enjoy Resident Evil 4 in a new setting again.

[eyeliner]

There's a few games that should fill your cup of tea, there. Resident Evil Revelations is a good start.

[J-Snake]

Revelations is a bit too simplified but not too bad for a handheld game (that's its origin).