Monsters in Training
November 4th, 2013
Among other ideas, I’ve been thinking about making a monster training game. This concept was born a while ago from a bit of nostalgia for the old PS game Monster Rancher. There is just something appealing about raising a cute little critter, and then training it into a machine of pure destruction. Pokemon has of course capitalized on this, but it tends to be fairly light on the virtual pet aspects.
Perhaps the most immediate challenge is to specify what sort of monsters we’re talking about. Take a broad swathe of creatures as in Monster Rancher? So, everything from herbivore-like animals to mythic monsters to robots. If breeding is to be an element of the game, then a particular species or species-equivalent might make more sense. As an added benefit this would also help to reign in art requirements, as many assets could be reused or interchanged.
With little doubt, dragons are the most popular sort of monster in town at the moment. And they’ve probably held that spot for much of human history. There are already a number of games about dragon breeding and training. There’s Dragonvale, Dragon City, and even Dragon Up from East Side Games might qualify. So, maybe something that hasn’t been seen much? Something that’s both ferocious and cute? Yetis? Sea serpents? Or simply something new, perhaps based on real world animals?
For the sake of argument, let’s stick to dragons for the time being. How would a dragon breeding system work? I really like the concept of raising a line of dragons, with each individual inheriting traits from the generation that came before it. While your dragons would eventually die, some of their precious abilities could be passed down the line. And you could mix different breeds of dragons to produce unorthodox results, as some dog breeders do. Rottweiler + Chihuahua? Might not be easy, but why not? Similarly, fire dragons and water dragons might be incompatible, but given the right circumstances they might just produce a beautiful litter of steam dragon babies.
One thing that stands out about this type of game is how well suited it is for micro-payments. Eggs taking way too long to hatch? Just place them in the hyper-incubator and get your dragons immediately! Obstinate dragons refusing to mate? Just apply premium love potion and any match is guaranteed! Dragons aging and dying too soon? The fountain of youth will take care of that little problem!
Does all that have the potential to be exploitative? Yes, absolutely. Which is why this micro-payment line of thought makes me a little uncomfortable about the whole concept. There’s a slippery slope here that leads to Zynga levels of cynical, formulaic parasitism.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Monsters in Training