The problem

I initially started writing about this in a super long article but I had the feeling my core ideas were getting diluted and that people would not read. Here’s a much shorter and bullet-listy version of it.

I have the impression that lots of games releasing recently-ish are less about pure skills, especially motor skills and more about observing, planning and relying on luck. Mario, Celeste, Valorant, Guitar Hero or DOTA are skill based games, where as Balatro, Clover Pit, REPO or Vampire Survivors are not, or at least they require close to zero motor skills. This means you don’t need to parse information quickly, react fast, aim precisely or press the correct buttons at the perfect time.

Here are a few thoughts what this means and why that might be 👇

• Less about motor skills, more about planning, creation, decision or even luck (Balatro, CloverPit, Luck be a Landlord, Dungeon Clawler)
• More and more people are gaming so we need different types of games. Not everyone wants to suffer playing a game. We need chill games that can be left running for a few minutes while you answer the phone, talk to someone, make dinner.
• These games can reach many players, from casual to hardcore gamers. Especially true if they have some depth and replayability. CloverPit has gathered hundreds of thousands of wishlists in a few weeks, same for BALL x PIT in the last Next Fest and of course Balatro is everywhere, even popular among “non gamers”.
• Usually cheaper because, easier to produce?. They can be impulse bought and then spread like wild fire. Nodebuster is only 2.99€, Balatro is slightly more expensive at 13€ but still very low compared to any other games.
• I’ve heard lots of people complaining that games are always the same: “Another top down roguelike”, “Another platformer”, “Another shooter”.
• Good for streamers: Turn based or slower games are good for streamers as they let them talk to chat, plan their next move and create tension/build-up (will I draw the right card?, will this action save me?, will I be extremely lucky?, etc..)
• Removing “character + precise input” from the equation gives a lot of flexibility. Probably good for creativity? Anything can be turned into a roguelike and anything can be a game.
• Ease of creation: It can be easier to create a game where the content is “just” upgrades (icon + text) as opposed to new enemies, bosses, or locations.
• Gambling: Lots of these games have some or a lot of randomness, with relatively short sessions. Making it easier to try your luck “just one more time”.
• Replayability: These games often follow the roguelike formula, making them perfect for replayability (Balatro, Clover Pit, Nodebuster).
• These games are close to board games. Balatro could be a board game (well, obviously, duh!) but it’s made possible because it’s a video game. The crazy score calculation would be tedious with a board game but is an incredible reward in a digital product.
• Incremental games are quite popular and they might be the next vampire survivors, imo. I mean Vampire Survivor IS an incremental game by essence. The core concept of incremental games is simple and can be adapted/extended to many different things, themes and other genres. I’d love to see less “abstract” and more cozy for example.

Closing thoughts

I don’t think any of this is necessarily new, and if there is a real trend it might simply be explained by having more people play indie games and thus giving more chance to different/innovative projects.

People have played different games for a long time, there a many people enjoying simulator games for example. We’re also seeing big successes with online multi at the core of the experience. Gather 2-6 friends in a short but fun adventure is probably going to be even more prevalent in the future and we’ve seen that with Lethal Company, Content Warning, R.E.P.O or PEAK. These games are more difficult to dev as they requires online networking though.

I think it’s always interesting to challenge your preconceived ideas, especially when it comes to “what is a video game”. Even more important if, like me, you think a game == character + mechanic. Also, it’s not because I’m struggling to sell a very arcady games that it cannot be done. There are still plenty of games that require a lot of skills and people love them, just look at Hades or even souls-like. These games are often much more than just demanding gameplay though..

I’m sure this is not new for many of you. The more I think about it the more I realize my idea of what is a video game was very limited. At least, I would default to thinking about arcady mechanics. I’ve had lots of ideas that were less game-y after playing some really cool horror games but I would still struggle to think outside of the classic character+mechanic outside of that. Horror is a great genre to discover things that are closer to experiences than your typical mario like game (Some recommendations below). It’s especially true for psychological horror, I’d love to talk about it one day.

So, is there really something, or am I just realizing that anything can be a game? Let me know what you think in the comments below, I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.

If you want to support me, consider supporting me on Patreon and checkout my game Hyperslice on Steam!

PS: If you want to discover some cool horror/weird games, here are some I can remember: How Fish Is Made, Threshold, Mouthwashing, Buckshot Roulette, The New Flesh

MrEliptik

Full-time indie game developer using Godot

Tweet Share

comments powered by Disqus