How closely can a new game imitate an old?

I think the best way is to get in contact with the original designers or company. Some people are really crazy about the copyright issue and they might sue you for just a minor detail.

Some other people does not care if they are not actualy publishing anything themselves. Also Remember that copyright stay for around 75 years. So remaking chess would be legal (^_^). Of course, you can always perform a parody of a game which is allowed by the american "Parody Act".

I have played a game called "bells of war" which is somewhat a remake of "axis and allies". The map is bigger and focus on europe. The rules looks alike but there are more complex add-on and they use D12 instead of D6. The game was publish successfully.

In the video game world, I have seen somebody lose his website because he had remaked metroid but the remake of Zelda remake "Zelda classic" is running at full speed with over 200 downloadable quest. Still, these games are distributed freely.

You can't steal (or "re-use") artwork; it will be under copyright. You can't use the name; it will be under trademark. You can't copy the rules verbatim, because the rulebook will also be under copyright.

But you can make a game with different artwork and with rules in your own words, and without making any claim that your game is in any way officially associated with the original.

If (as you plan) you introduce some useful changes, variations, additions, a differently laid-out map, and so on, you'll have a sufficiently different game that I don't believe you can be sued. If it really isn't very different, you may not get much respect for it. :)

As for contacting the company, well, you can try. But their question will be "what's in it for us," and they will feel (rightly) that it's easier and safer to just say "no." I'm not telling you not to try it; just not to get your hopes up.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. Also I am guilty of a knock-off game of my own, but not one I intend to try to publish. :)

Hi

I made a reply on the other thread. Don't want to recopy it. It's about the fact that copyright laws does not cover all aspect of a game.

http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=19109#19109

I think that one thing that you should keep in mind when asking this group for advice on questions like this is that we are, for the most part, designers rather than businesspeople. So, asking questions like this from a legal and ethical perspective, we can take our best guess or tell you what we might have heard, but you should be careful not to treat responses as being the final authority. (ie, if you get sued, saying "Someone at the BGDF told me that he heard it was ok!" isn't going to hold up. But you knew that).

I agree with Johan, I think the crux of the matter, from a designer standpoint, is to really address what your aim is with this project. If it's simply to make a great game, why not just start from scratch? However, I suspect that perhaps you have a deep love for these old games, and want to resurrect them, to update them for the modern world. I confess that this sentiment is foreign to me, but I could see how someone could have it. And indeed, the upcoming reprinting of the old gamemaster game Conquest of the Empire from Eagle games suggests that there is definitely a market for such things.

I would suspect that if the games you're updating are somewhat obscure, then chances are you're just doing this for yourself and your friends, and that's quite a worthy goal. But if you do seek to actually market your final result, I would try to do the following:

-- Get the permission of the original company. Forget about what you can legally get away with. Have respect for the folks who created these games that you love, and only proceed if they give you their blessing. You're not a priori entitled to cash in on someone else's idea, and the loss of credibility that you'll suffer if folks find out that you're selling an unsanctioned rerelease could hurt business.

-- Fix all known bugs with the games. This is crucial -- many old games hold a special place in people's hearts, but many also have flaws that various house rules have been derived to fix. Solve all of these kinds of problems with clever and innovative solutions, so that people are getting more for their money than just the original game in new clothing.

-Jeff