Non-Violent Games + Ideas

[Miss Layton]

I've always had this idea for a game...

Who here has ever seen Blackadder? Well, how about a comedy RPG where you play a schemer, and your goal is to usurp the throne/get out of this or that predicament/climb the social ladder/something of this nature. You'll have a dialogue wheel BioWare style, and every line will be laced with bitter, misanthropic, witty snark and contempt.

No violence involved, you just have to set events in motion by manipulating and lying to everyone around you.

How's that?

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Actually ... I want both in here^^

Okay then.

My idea is a political intrigue game. It is an RPG but without combat - you talk (choose dialogue options) through encounters. You make alliances, spy on people, and generally use your brain to accomplish your goals. Plus there would be multiple ways to accomplish a given task. For example:

Are you honest, honorable, and reliable? You can succeed by making firm deals with trustworthy allies and keeping your word - and thus holding them to keep theirs.

Are you a manipulative backstabber? You can succeed by playing your opposition and manipulating cats paws into doing your bidding.

Are you the kind who collects information? Information is power - you can use it for influence, blackmail, or both. Or you can sit back and sell the info to various factions, staying out of the power struggle yourself but becoming rich off of it.

So yeah, that.

One of my favorite parts of Planescape: Torment is that I can literally avoid all combat (with a very few exceptions) if I choose to. In most cases that don't involve monsters (and some that do) you can talk your way through everything. And you get as much (sometimes more) experience for doing so. I also love this in my tabletop gaming.

 

[Mikejames]

There are games like Shattered Memories, which are more about puzzles and trying to escape threats than actually fighting them.

Dishonored is not violent... until you get bored and sic all your rats on the guards.

...? But rat swarms are what make the game fun. What's the point if you can't summon rats to eat those who have wronged you?

I probably would have if the loading screens didn't guilt trip me about it.

 

[Miss Layton]

Actually ... I want both in here^^

Okay then.

My idea is a political intrigue game. It is an RPG but without combat - you talk (choose dialogue options) through encounters. You make alliances, spy on people, and generally use your brain to accomplish your goals. Plus there would be multiple ways to accomplish a given task. For example:

Are you honest, honorable, and reliable? You can succeed by making firm deals with trustworthy allies and keeping your word - and thus holding them to keep theirs.

Are you a manipulative backstabber? You can succeed by playing your opposition and manipulating cats paws into doing your bidding.

Are you the kind who collects information? Information is power - you can use it for influence, blackmail, or both. Or you can sit back and sell the info to various factions, staying out of the power struggle yourself but becoming rich off of it.

So yeah, that.

One of my favorite parts of Planescape: Torment is that I can literally avoid all combat (with a very few exceptions) if I choose to. In most cases that don't involve monsters (and some that do) you can talk your way through everything. And you get as much (sometimes more) experience for doing so. I also love this in my tabletop gaming.

And that's why until video game RPG's catch up, tabletop excels in this area.

 

[Harlemura]

I think Ape Escape counts as non-violent. All you do in it is humanely capture monkeys in a net, with your most dangerous weapon being a stun club that just makes them a little dizzy. You fight little robots but I don't think that counts.
I mean even in Ape Escape 3 when you're using the cowboy outfit, they make a point that all you're barraging the monkeys with are paintballs.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

And that's why until video game RPG's catch up, tabletop excels in this area.

The sad thing is, the closest game to achieving this - made more than 10 years ago now - is Planescape: Torment. We've been sliding the wrong direction since then.

Also, I noticed that your game idea was similar to mine, except yours had Rowen Atkinson in it. Well played.

 

[Miss Layton]

And that's why until video game RPG's catch up, tabletop excels in this area.

The sad thing is, the closest game to achieving this - made more than 10 years ago now - is Planescape: Torment. We've been sliding the wrong direction since then.

Also, I noticed that your game idea was similar to mine, except yours had Rowen Atkinson in it. Well played.

Well, I feel there's a genuine lack of "smart comedy" in gaming. I'm not talking about over the top slapstick, "pop cultural references," or just snark, I'm talking more something along the lines... of... well... Blackadder. Or even Yes, Minister. But more Blackadder.

I'd like gaming humour to incorporate a bit more legitimate wit, and I can only think of a handful of comedy oriented games that have ever really pulled that off. Don't get me wrong, I also do love over the top slapstick or silliness (I'm a huge fan of the Paper Mario series, for example), I'd just like different varieties of humour in my comedy games.

 

[Miss Layton]

Haaaang on...

... What about, respectively, the Ace Attorney and Professor Layton franchises? In either series, violence is never the main tool to solve any situation. It's always about outwitting bad guys in court or solving all sorts of puzzles.

Driving an utter monster into a nervous breakdown by smashing his testimony is just as satisfying to me as beating some Big Bad with a massive sword.

 

[Nepukadnezzar]

And that's why until video game RPG's catch up, tabletop excels in this area.

The sad thing is, the closest game to achieving this - made more than 10 years ago now - is Planescape: Torment. We've been sliding the wrong direction since then.

Also, I noticed that your game idea was similar to mine, except yours had Rowen Atkinson in it. Well played.

Good news everyone.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera?ref=live

I just wish there was less killing and more stealing the art of theft is something seriously undercooked.

Indeed, and that is the reason I do not want it in here. Maybe the sly cooper series, but in every other stealth game I know you kill ruthlessly because it is almost necessary. I do not want to start a discussion if wether if a kill is necessary to proceed in a game (Mario, every bloody jump&run), because I can't find an answer to that. I think it is everyones opinion. But as long as there are games like Tenchu out there I do not want to put in stealth games in general.

And yes, I know you said you don't want to count that, but isn't basically almost guaranteeing death/major injury on someone the same?

And that is why I do not want to count that^^

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Just about every adventure game ever made.

Can we close the thread now? Or are several thousand games not enough for you?

 

[Neonit]

There was this game (i do not know if it is still running) called echo bazaar.
There was violence in this game, but it could pretty much by bypassed entirely.
You basically used skills like persuasion, stealth to etc to achieve your goals - it was kind of, choose your adventure thing.

In this game you could "fight" through debating etc. Was a bit of fun at the start, got too grindy for me later on.

Really, the amount of games you find will depend on your definition of violence, because competition can indeed be seen as violence, and pretty much all games involve some kind of competition.

ps - jumping on others people heads to kill them (flatteing = killing) seems pretty violent to me

 

[Nepukadnezzar]

Just about every adventure game ever made.
Can we close the thread now?

true ... and no. There are only very few games + ideas compared to the rest and I want to find them.

Really, the amount of games you find will depend on your definition of violence, because competition can indeed be seen as violence, and pretty much all games involve some kind of competition.

true ... but there has to be a possibility to compete without killing each other off. Take every major sport ...
Hey ... Sports Games^^

 

[Darken12]

A game can contain enormous amounts of violence without being a violent game. You could easily play a character with magical or technological "barrier" or "shield" powers whose job is to save and protect as many people as possible from the horrible violence inflicted upon them. The message would be as anti-violence as it comes: A pacifist protagonist who uses non-violent means to protect others from violence. It could also easily be expanded to give more options, such as "banishing" summoned creatures back to where they came from, counterspelling enemy spells, dispelling ongoing harmful effects, short-circuiting and disabling enemy technology, manipulating elemental forces to create natural barriers, slow down foes with cold, detour oncoming flyers or missiles with wind, and so on.

A game like that has exactly the same strategical/fun/challenge/story/etc potential as any other game, but the approach is radically different. And it need not be aimed at children either, I can easily imagine a grimdark "points of light" story woven along the gameplay.

 

[Entitled]

All Visual Novels, especally the romance ones. Clannad, Ef: a fairy tale of the two, Kira Kira, Katawa Shoujo, etc.

Also, many turn-based strategy games technically feature wars without ever explicitly showing violence. You see two soldier figures confronting each other and the numbers next to them representing the armies decreasing, without actually seeing fighting. That is really not much different from chess or Risk.

Also, most God games have a pacifist walkthrough where they are basically colony management sims.

 

[DRTJR]

You are the great hero who just vanquished the evil overlord [insert name here] and are now the King/Queen of Fantasy...ia. Now you must actually reign as monarch, do you put your old adventuring buddies as leaders or do you put the tyrant's old henchmen right back were they were? Structure your nation's tax code, and manage laws throughout your dominion.

 

[Nepukadnezzar]

A game can contain enormous amounts of violence without being a violent game. You could easily play a character with magical or technological "barrier" or "shield" powers whose job is to save and protect as many people as possible from the horrible violence inflicted upon them. The message would be as anti-violence as it comes: A pacifist protagonist who uses non-violent means to protect others from violence. It could also easily be expanded to give more options, such as "banishing" summoned creatures back to where they came from, counterspelling enemy spells, dispelling ongoing harmful effects, short-circuiting and disabling enemy technology, manipulating elemental forces to create natural barriers, slow down foes with cold, detour oncoming flyers or missiles with wind, and so on.

A game like that has exactly the same strategical/fun/challenge/story/etc potential as any other game, but the approach is radically different. And it need not be aimed at children either, I can easily imagine a grimdark "points of light" story woven along the gameplay.

I like that idea... A LOT

First I thought it was reactionary, but your game protagonist DOES stuff, he does not wait for others to get hurt, he tries to stop them from getting hurt. WHY THE HELL HAS NOT ANYBODY MADE THIS?^^

 

[rasputin0009]

Actually ... I want both in here^^

Okay then.

My idea is a political intrigue game. It is an RPG but without combat - you talk (choose dialogue options) through encounters. You make alliances, spy on people, and generally use your brain to accomplish your goals. Plus there would be multiple ways to accomplish a given task.

I remember playing a game like this a few years ago. It was fucking terrible. I can't remember what it was called, but it was an open-world rpg where you walk around and talk to people. I think it had something to do with starting a revolution in a Balkan-like state. It had a really cool premise, but it ended up being brutally disappointing. It had a lot of the same mechanics you just mentioned.

I think a big problem about developing a political game is the difficulty of being neutral to different views. Since a lot of people like shoving their views into others' faces, it would be very easy for a developer to do go ahead and do that in their game. I don't want some jackass of a game telling me my approach to things is the wrong way. Even if it actually is. 'Merica.

 

[Darken12]

I like that idea... A LOT

First I thought it was reactionary, but your game protagonist DOES stuff, he does not wait for others to get hurt, he tries to stop them from getting hurt. WHY THE HELL HAS NOT ANYBODY MADE THIS?^^

Probably because they think it wouldn't sell.

And it's such a shame too, because you can do so much with that premise. You can have your standard Bioware "Chosen One (and motley crew) against Ultimate Evil" plot, you can have a morality play about a civilisation who refuses not only to be wiped out, but to fall prey to the allure of violence, you can have an idealistic hero succeed in a jaded, cynical and grimdark setting, you can have an in-depth ethical analysis of violence in a Socratic-like story, and many different variations on the theme.

It'd be a great way to show the public in these troubled times that A) Violence can serve an irreplaceable purpose in a story, B) A video game can contain a shocking amount of violence and still be anti-violence, C) Some anti-violence messages need the aforementioned violence in order to lend the message gravitas, and D) Games can tell a deep, soulful story using said violence, with an anti-violence message, and take advantage of the medium's interactivity to achieve an emotional height no other medium is capable of. When you hear a civilian uttering a shell-shocked "Thank you..." after you barely saved them from an agonising death, that accomplishment is yours. It's not the accomplishment of Jill Smith, hero extraordinaire, but yours. You saved them, and that feeling has the potential to surpass those elicited by a movie or book.

So basically, it could be a big middle finger to anyone who says "games can't be art" and "violent video games teach people to be violent."