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Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

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Anonymous

Just wanted to get a little brainstorming or discussion going about game themes. It seems that some themes come in "bursts" -- where a theme suddenly gets hot and piques the collective gaming community, and you quickly see dozens of games with a similar theme, but the theme lacks long term appeal. Meanwhile, other solid themes stand the test of time and will always see games produced, although there may be considerable clutter within a certain thematic area.

What sorts of themes do you think are hot and trendy right now?

I'd have to say that hot themes right now would be:

- Super Heroes
- Fantasy (which will never get old)
- Orient/Samurai

What sorts of themes do you think are getting overdone, or are close to fading out?

Me? I think some themes have been overdone, or are slowly running out of steam...

- Pirates. Too many in too short a time frame, and too few really solid games with the theme.
- The Renaissance. Be it war, bidding, politics, I think this may fade soon, but resurface reguarly.

OutsideLime
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Cats On Fire.

Like, totally last week.

~Josh

DSfan
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Ynnen,

Try using the search feature. Search Theme or something related, and you'll be baffled by the amount of posts about overdone/underdone themes there are on this site.

Here is one post by myself that talks about under-used themes:

http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2126&highlight=

-Justin

Anonymous
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Baffled is an understatement. With 600+ returns on that search, only slightly fewer when narrowed down, I thought it was fairly hard to find current threads on this particular topic -- especially with how quickly tastes and trends can change.

When I tried to narrow the search down by requiring all three key words "over done themes" I still get 200+ entries, which include such topics as:

Sending a prototype for blind test.
[Review] Turn the Tide
Game design (with peculiar auctions, scoring, & tile-lay
What about borrowing from 2 games?

Etc... Not so easy a task as I had first thought! :)

Nando
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Joined: 07/22/2008
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Overdone:
LOTR
Carcasonne -
Settlers of ...

Coming Up:
Maybe gangsters?

jpaw61
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Gangsters would be a fun theme to play under.

Me personally, the whole Midevil/Fantasy/LOTR thing is over done. As a kid, I loved these games, now I am kinda sick of them. I know it sounds kinda stupid, but whenever I encounter a fantasy game I am turned off. Before I even play. (Except for HeroQuest, that game was the bomb-diggity.)

Anonymous
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

I wonder if now that the LOTR movie trilogy has had its time on the big screen, if the ensuing LOTR-crazy dash to get a licensed game to market will die down. And even if not a true LOTR game, the movies really helped create greater interest in the fantasy genre overall...

I wonder if we'll slowly see things slip back into a sci-fi mode...

Anonymous
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

OutsideLime wrote:
Cats On Fire.

Like, totally last week.

~Josh

LOL. Next I'll be hearing that someone already made a card game about magic that took mana...er....

It's funny, Ynnen, but the three themes you mentioned as hot:

- Super Heroes
- Fantasy (which will never get old)
- Orient/Samurai

Were hot quite some time ago when I first got into board games.

While I wasn't much in on the Super Hero thing, I sure played a lot of Talisman and Samurai type games.

Of course this was a time when big hair, power ballads and parachute pants were often mentioned in the same conversation as priase items so take that for what you will.

Right now I think Tile Laying games are hot, and overdone. ;) Other trends I've been noticing are quick games, like less than 10 minutes to play a game. Munga strategy games simulating the 4th armored column's defeat in such-and-such a valley that take 30 hours and a PhD. to play have been on their way out since 1987, but there still seem to be a few of those around as well.

What's the next big thing? Collectible board games! Or how about smashing genres together, such as giant robots piloted by Ninjas and Elves?

Ben

larienna
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Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

I don't know for everybody, but every time I am thinking about a game design it always goes into one of these categories :

Fantasy
Science Fiction
War games ( any time period )

It is always bugging me because it is like if my imagination was trapped in theses theme and that could not get some innovative ideas.

For mechanics, I should say that collectible card game are really overdone especially with MTG which has more than 20000 cards and wizard of the coast who has made more than 15 CCG.

If you arrive with a magical fantasy CCG, everybody think MTG and are simply not interested even if the mechanics are totally different.

Mixing theme and mechanics is a good way to get round things and have new ideas.

Hedge-o-Matic
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Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

I think the need to design to the market is what constrains people's imaginations. If you design for fun, you're more likely to get good, unique ideas. These games might one day be sold as product, but the design was driven by uniqueness and enjoyment, not what the market had to say.

Personally, I think that any combination of a noun and a verb (or a gerand, a word ending in "ing") can yeid a possible game theme, or the starting point for developing a unique idea. Idiotic most of the time, granted, but still possible. For example:

Dancing Icecubes. Okay, maybe not the cubes dancing, but dancing on some treacherous surface. Like walzing on stilts, or ballet on oil-covered rope bridges in the Himalayas.

Cat Negotiating: So what's to negotiate? How about out-doing other players in such activities as sleeping, eating tremendous amounts without barfing, and the risky but rewarding "phantom litterbox" maneuver? All of this must be dome with subtle, understated style, of course.

Car Fighting: Not just demolition-derby stuff, but full-on vehicular martial arts. Leaping fender-bashes. Lightning-fast door jabs to ariel-stabs to tires. Dim-mak strikes that make your enemy's spark plugs fall out the next day.

Personally, new and unique themes have never been much of a problem for me. Give this a try. It's almost a party game in itself, where people come up with the most obnoxious theme possible, and then try to actually design the game.

Anonymous
licensing...

I think the continuing trend of licensing will get bigger and bigger. You might think LoTR is just fantasy, but what other fantasy worlds/settings are you seeing for your games?

With moview selling fewer tickets in the theaters (generally, from what I read), those IPs need to squeeze more money from the people who enjoy them, so that means more license using games IMO.

Sure you can re-license monopoly and risk ad-nauseam, but your next big super hero game is more likely to be a licensed super hero, than an original one, no? Hell, I'm surprised Oprah hasn't had a "board game of the month club" selection for a book tie-in... but it'll come.

As another example, "Motley Fool's Buy Low, Sell High".

Sorry for going a bit off topic, but I bet "Plunder" or even "Pirate's Cove" would have sold better (and in mainstream stores) with the "Pirates of the Caribean" license attached, hell, I wouldn't be surprised if PotC 2 doesn't have a game attached to it (I think the first one had a version of "Life").

Anonymous
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Quote:
Me personally, the whole Midevil/Fantasy/LOTR thing is over done. As a kid, I loved these games, now I am kinda sick of them. I know it sounds kinda stupid, but whenever I encounter a fantasy game I am turned off. Before I even play. (Except for HeroQuest, that game was the bomb-diggity.)

But see, you could have passed on hero quest because it was another "fantasy game" and missed out. (I've never played it, but I hear it's good. But too broke to try new games)

To me it seems silly to say "oh that's another fantasy game, I'm tired of those" because it shouldn't matter too much what the theme is, but what the game play's like. What you're basicly saying is "All fantasy games are the same" Which is simply not true, or at least it shouldn't be true.

Yeah the theme can help a lot with the flavor of a game, but when I play a game I like I don't think, "this game's cool, but I don't like it because it's a fantasy game."

And it seems kind of hard too to pin down what's going to be the "next big craze" companys spend millions trying to find it out, and I think most of the time they are wrong. You've just got to design what you like and push it until someone notices.

I am currently working on a fantasy game myself, and though it's not really a TCG perse it is influenced quite a bit by M:TG (just like how M:TG was heavily influenced by another game) But I am a little afraid that Magic being so big that anything remotly like it might not have a chance.

larienna
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Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Probably it becomes too boring when the theme and the game mechanic combination is used too much often. For example, in RPG, there are tousands or fantasy RPG system. You have no reason to be appealed by a new game that would supposely have better rules and system. They are all good and all bad.

Fantasy+RPG is common,
Fantasy+Dungeon_crawler is common,
fantasy+CCG is common,
Fantasy+Miniature game is common

But if you come up with Fantasy+Monopoly type of game ( you must buy various building in the village). You come up with a totally new concept even if you use two overdone things.

OutsideLime
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

....and drumroll please while everyone quickly starts putting together notes for a Fantasy/Monopoly game!

~Josh

onew0rd
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

I think UNDERDONE themes are:

Gladiators: Player could control a school of Gladiators, buy gladiators, train them, equip them, then fight in events for victory (a pet project of mine that I can't get off the ground), players could be gladiators themselves, this game could be a card game, an auction game, tile laying, adventure, resource management, area control, or combinations of the above. A very underexplored territory.

Ninjas: With all the pirates, I am amazed there are no Ninja games. Something like Wiz-war with Ninjas, something like Mystery at the Abbey with Ninjas. A ninja war game. A Ninja adventure game. A "find the Ninja" game, etc. Too many Knight and Treasures and not enough Ninjas and Temple Scrolls. Also a theme I am working with but can't get legs under it.

Those are my two.

Nando
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Joined: 07/22/2008
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

onew0rd wrote:
Gladiators: Player could control a school of Gladiators, buy gladiators, train them, equip them, then fight in events for victory ...

emxibus beat you to it: Ludus (GDW#47). It looks quite good in my opinion, and I'd like to know what became of it.

OutsideLime
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

NINJOPOLY!

~Josh

markmist
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Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Quote:
Fantasy+RPG is common,
Fantasy+Dungeon_crawler is common,
fantasy+CCG is common,
Fantasy+Miniature game is common

But if you come up with Fantasy+Monopoly type of game ( you must buy various building in the village). You come up with a totally new concept even if you use two overdone things.

Fantasy will always be a genre of choice as it invokes a fun theme as opposed to making games about everyday life (although these can be fun too!). I think Fantasy games have a broader appeal and age range then other less used themes.

Trying to find something that hasn't been done in the Fantasy genre is near impossible. However, I think the important part if you are going to tackle this genre at all, is to make the game as original as you can. I still think good designs can shine through, but we will see. My first foray into game designing is a Fantasy (Medieval) /Push your luck/Hand Management game that I think is fairly original.

As mentioned here in another post, Nick Danger just got his Fantasy (Medieval)/Tile-Laying/Pick-up and Deliver/Hand Managment game published, so there is hope for me yet.

Anonymous
Theme >> What's Hot? What's Overdone?

Larienna wrote:
Probably it becomes too boring when the theme and the game mechanic combination is used too much often. For example, in RPG, there are tousands or fantasy RPG system. You have no reason to be appealed by a new game that would supposely have better rules and system. They are all good and all bad.

Fantasy+RPG is common,
Fantasy+Dungeon_crawler is common,
fantasy+CCG is common,
Fantasy+Miniature game is common

But if you come up with Fantasy+Monopoly type of game ( you must buy various building in the village). You come up with a totally new concept even if you use two overdone things.

I wonder if it would look anything like this:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8041

;)

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