First up: Create-a-Thing. Go and create a thing. It’s not as hard as you’d think! Deadline’s a-comin’! (But I’ll take things past the deadline. Just not for Fabulous Prizes.)
Now, let’s talk vidyuh gaems.
In my Social Media(tm) today I opined that if someone made a mixture of Minecraft, the Sims, and Animal Crossing, I would physically die due to malnourishment and dehydration due to sudden onset of game addiction. Folks have asked me for specifics, so here I shall provide.
Good Stuff From Animal Crossing: I’d want dynamically generated but interactive and personable NPCs, a wide range of item collection with theme sets and uniques, minigames and sub-goals such as working towards a construction project, a dynamic world that changes with seasons and special events, a friendly and approachable concept, little emphasis on combat.
Bad Stuff From Animal Crossing: Little environment manipulation, ridiculous cash grinding, busywork and upkeep.
Good Stuff From The Sims: The ability to optionally design your town’s inhabitants and domiciles, intricate house design and management, interactive furnishings, AI which wanders around doing things, emphasis on interpersonal relationships, goal structures, UGC and modding to keep the game expanding.
Bad Stuff From The Sims: Endless micromanaging of Sim needs, indirect access (you’re more an overlord than a participant), later games reduce your ability to custom-tailor your suburb. Oh, and EA’s terrible mindset, which lead to The Sims Freeplay (where the grind is death and there is no AI whatsoever and NPCs just go and have a seat unless you order them to do something)
Good Stuff From Minecraft: A fully featured but simple crafting system (giving you something to do with resources you collect), incredibly modifiable environment, great self-expression and personalization, simple to play.
Bad Stuff From Minecraft: Clumsy and boring combat, “bang you’re dead” moments erasing all progress, no goals beyond the ridiculously long term and combat-intensive Ender Dragon.
So, Overall, I Want… the approachability, personality, and collection based fun of Animal Crossing with the interpersonal dynamics and house design of The Sims and the environmental manipulation and crafting system from Minecraft. I don’t want grind, micromanagement, or survival combat.
If anybody makes a game which has all of that, I am a dead man.