For anyone here who has thought of ideas for games, what aspect of the game does your very first thought cover? In particular, I am asking about the initial idea, before you even attempt to flesh it out (if you even get that far).

In my case, it is generally some gameplay mechanic, or combination of gameplay mechanics. For example:
* Wizardry-like with SaGa-esque growth mechanics
* Roguelike, but with an undo button; however, the RNG is also wound back so repeating the action gives the same result
* Platformer that favors speed/momentum like Sonic the Hedgehog, but being hit by an enemy works like Wario Land 3
* RPG where the XP stat is used in many game calculations, and leveling up costs XP

How about you? Do you think of gameplay mechanics first, or do you think of some other aspect of the game, like the story or graphical style?

Edit: Forum was glitching, so I ended up double-posting by accident. Feel free to ignore this instance of the topic in favor of the other one.

Linkie: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/question_about_game_ideas_1

I only make text adventures so I never have to give much thought to what game mechanics I want.

Instead, my first thought is always the "high concept," one-sentence description of the game. For right now, I have the following projects that I am making slow progress on:

A spy adventure to prevent an assasination in a luxury hotel.

Gothic horror-comedy of a mad scientist's assistant gathering body parts.

1920's pulp adventure of a daring student hunting memory vampires.

That is so awesome! I assume you know about the Interactive Fiction Archive for those who are fans of the old Infocom, Scott Adams and other independent text adventure games?

Yep, that was one of my first discoveries in the early internet days of 1995. Great place.

In my case I am attracted to games where you build your character with skills and powers as you advance in XP but hits tend to have thicker rulebooks which can be annoyingto some persons.

I currently draw maps for free fo pen and paper gaming. Download maps for pen and paper games


I would love to be in the game creating industry but I work as a photographer
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