DON'T DO IT - Concept Devlog

- DON'T DO IT -

You have a bomb inside you, the condition for its detonation: giving in to and completing one of the constant tests your robot overseer Kyle throws at you. An explosive fast paced game where your main goal is to fail the main goal, survive as long as possible and piss off Kyle.

GENRES:

 Arcade- fast-paced rounds that constantly change keep the player on their feet and meant to be played in quick secession with highest score                      being the goal of each run.

Platformer - most challenges require the player to traverse the area they are trapped within.

CONCEPT CREATION

Coming up with a simple, interesting and unique (enough) concept for a game, I looked back on many of the most memorable browser games I used to play. This was because A. they stuck in my memory more often than not for being enjoyable to play and B.  most older flash games are much more simple than what you can find today which is when I landed on a browser game called 'Give Up' (2013). This platformer entails the player being constantly taunted by a robot  overseer whilst completing a series of levels increasing in difficulty within a test lab. This is where I'm drawing a lot of the setting of my own game from as I think a robot overseer with a running commentary on the goings on within the game is a great way to introduce main aspects of the game such as instructions in an entertaining and much more appealing way to the player. Other aspects of the game such as the permanent blood splatters on the wall remind the player of their previous attempts or comments from the robot overseer give the game charm and add to the 'lab rat' feel of the game which I believe would be good additions to my own.

In order to get an idea of what kind of tests the player could be subjected to (the actual gameplay), I love the 'think on the fly' and psychological kind of games that try and trick the player so I thought of how I could turn an intuitive aspect of a game on its head. Objectives in games are supposed to be clear in order for the player to easily follow and complete them but what if those instructions were wrong? That's where I got the concept to use Kyle the robot overseer as a chronic liar that wants you dead. Every instruction given to the player by the robot is wrong and makes them fail the experiment and explode. This makes the first few attempts for the player a learning curve (it will be noted that he is lying to you or wants you dead) as they might choose to follow the commands and explode.

Audience

The target age group for the game is teens to young adults. This is due to the content and setting of the game as whilst it is a pretty silly concept and is aiming to not take itself too seriously, it is still a little dark and has plans for the implementation of gore effects and some dark humour. On the younger side of the scale, the game is supposed to be fairly simple and easy to get into with a small learning curve that will hopefully allow people to get into the game fairly fast.

The target audience is casual players. This is due to the way the game will operate fundamentally as it is supposed to be fast paced and easy to restart, all with the aim of beating the high score. This is similar to many popular mobile games that have no kind of progression as such e.g. endless runners which means the player is there for the entertainment value, to play it casually with no kind of time gating or hard barriers stopping them from further progression.

A feature I think would be good for the general inclusivity of the game would be to randomise the look of the player each run with unique hair/eye colours etc.

Competitive Analysis

DON'T DO IT isn't a super unique concept itself as it borrows from other ideas (e.g. many aspects from Give Up) but as far as I've seen, there isn't another game that follows the specific game loop with the same setting and style of this game that will make it more unique in a large market. Other endless arcade type games especially seen on mobile have seen a large amount of success such as 'Subway Surfers' (2012) that is still seeing success even in its old age thanks to its fluid animation and satisfying but simple gameplay, something I strive to implement in my own title. Titles with similar gameplay style have a seemingly fast burst of popularity before dying out, which in my opinion is based on the repetitive nature of those games due to the similarities between each run and the lack of randomised content. This problem is something I wish to combat by changing up the game drastically between each run by shaking up the gameplay in each scenario making the player react in drastically different ways that feel unique when compared to each other. 

Game Treatment

The player starts the game with a randomised character each time (a new test subject for the lab) and are met by Kyle the robotic chronic liar. He will greet the player on the first time through and they will be warned not to trust him, with other hints dropped to his untrustworthiness the more the player dies to his misguidance. From there he gives you your first objective that you must completely ignore as complying with it causes the bomb inside of you to detonate. You only have a short amount of time to do the opposite of Kyles demands or you'll also meet a grim end. Upon doing so, the player is transported or the area changes around you to fit the next challenge upon which they will be provided a new objective by Kyle that will require a different work around. These will be objectives that are worded in different ways or will have an opposing objectives to confuse the player such as die, jump or survive which with their limited time could lead to them stuffing up and exploding. Most of the tasks will require the player to utilize their surroundings in order to complete the opposite of the objective they are given. Kyle will also get angrier (spouting different dialogue the further you go) and the challenges will get faster the longer the player manages to survive until a certain point at which the speed maxes out and the player goes not completing challenges until they die at which they will be ranked on how far they managed to get. There might possibly be unlocks for currency that drops within the laboratory as they play that can be used to purchase alternate character models or other goods but that would be a feature for later evaluation as the project progresses. The replay ability comes from the amount of objectives and unique maps the player is placed in that makes for an interesting experience each and every run that will hopefully incentivise multiple playthroughs.

Give Up. 2013. Browser [Game]. Armor Games, Irvine, California https://www.kongregate.com/games/ArmorGames/give-up

Subway Surfers. 2012. Mobile [Game]. SYBO Game, Copenhagen, Denmark https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kiloo.subwaysurf&hl=en&gl=US