Poll: 'You Can Make a Good Game out of Anything'?

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

I've heard this a few times from numerous movie critics regarding their profession, and it keeps coming back to me: 'With enough care and brains, you can make a good film out of anything'.

Should not the same hold true for games? Not so long ago, a pair of games simulating working in a heartless bureaucracy earned good reviews by putting you in a position to intrude upon and view the lives of those you may have to deny or otherwise betray.

You'd probably never manage to make a multi-million AAA title out of a cable guy's adventures, but with the right slant it could make a compelling puzzler.

So how about you? Do you feel like there are there certain things that could never make for a good game no matter how much you sprinkle in supernatural elements or cut out the boring bits? What's the most seemingly mundane sounding game you've played that was actually fun? For me, the latter would be a puzzle game where you were basically a car park valet. More interesting than it sounds.

 

[Saelune]

Not a calm puzzle game, but there is a game called "No Breaks Valet" where you have to park cars...but dont have working breaks.

I guess it depends on how nitpicky you are.

But I mean, there are *popular* games where you literally just...click your mouse...so, theory proven?

 

[Aerosteam]

What are you asking exactly? By "anything" do you mean the game's story premise or how it plays?

If it's the game's story premise, yeah, you can make a good game out of anything. It's because a game's story can be fitted into any gameplay scenario you want. No matter what story you create, no matter how shitty it is, you can slap it on the gameplay of Tetris. It's still going to turn out a good game because it plays like Tetris.

If it's any gameplay you're talking about, no, not really. You're not going to get a good game out of on FPS that forces you to use the Kinect.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

As long as you give something good gameplay and good story it'll be a good game, hell, half of our good games are usually either one or the other.

 

[Xan Krieger]

If you can make good movies based on sharks in tornadoes I'm pretty sure you can make a good game about anything. I mean there's a game about being a piece of bread trying to make it to a heat source to get toasted, there's freakin Goat Simulator, if you can dream it you can do it.

 

[skywolfblue]

What are you asking exactly? By "anything" do you mean the game's story premise or how it plays?

If it's the game's story premise, yeah, you can make a good game out of anything. It's because a game's story can be fitted into any gameplay scenario you want. No matter what story you create, no matter how shitty it is, you can slap it on the gameplay of Tetris. It's still going to turn out a good game because it plays like Tetris.

If it's any gameplay you're talking about, no, not really. You're not going to get a good game out of on FPS that forces you to use the Kinect.

Bingo.

You can take any premise and make good gameplay out of it.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

It depends on how you mean it. Can a developer with a poor track record make good games? Yes, if they're willing to learn from and work hard enough to overcome their previous shortcomings, listen to the valid criticisms and whatnot...
Can anything be a good game? Not necessarily. If there's a concept that sounds good on paper but fails in execution that isn't due to developer talent or lack of polish, it might be impossible to transition from idea-to-reality. That could just mean the hardware/software doesn't exist or we've not advanced technologically enough for that software/hardware to be created. It could mean the idea is so esoteric that its impossible to express through code... It could be the developer realizing their idea is just shit because it is shit.
The higher the concept, the harder the transition.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Well, I've seen competitive fighters that use only two buttons ever, story games with no risk of failure or set story structure become critically acclaimed, and games about holding a job and goofing off with your friends become some of the best-selling games of all time.

(Divekick, Gone Home, The Sims)

Anything' possible as long as you can capture an audience. Hell, there's simulator games out there making a killing on providing mostly realistic experiences of being truck drivers or train conductors, with no overarching story or fantastical elements whatsoever.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

By good game, do we mean "gaming experience", or "good game", as in good on its gameplay merits. Examples: To the Moon is a great overall experience due to the story, writing, characters and soundtrack. In gameplay terms it's functional at best, since there's so little "game" in it to begin with. On the flipside there's something like Final Fantasy x: the story, characters and writing are complete nonsense, but it's got a great battle system to make up for those flaws.

There's also the question of how representative the gameplay is of the overall concept, and how that relates to whether or not it can be considered a "good game". Let's say someone decides to make a game about drinking coffee, but the gameplay is that of Tetris. Will you really get the feeling that you're drinking coffee, or is the gameplay just a proxy representation of a very mundane and unexciting activity? If Dark Souls' combat was represented as a maze puzzle instead of real time 3D combat, would you really feel like you're struggling for your life?

 

[Scarim Coral]

Yes?

I am assuming "anything" as in whatever you can come up with.

Example- Thomas Was Alone was an aclaim game a couple of years ago and yet it only feature shapes

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Hmm...At first I was thinking "duh, of course! People have made good games out of cleaning and stamping passports, so yes!" But then I started thinking what the limits could be for human enjoyment, like would anybody buy and enjoy a game about glorifying incest? Watching digital paint dry? Eating human faeces? I don't know...We need to push the boundaries before committing to a definitive answer here.

 

[SmugFrog]

But then I started thinking what the limits could be for human enjoyment, like would anybody buy and enjoy a game about glorifying incest? Watching digital paint dry? Eating human faeces?

If you'd have told me years ago that games called Goat Simulator and I Am Bread would exist and be a lot of fun to play I would have thought you were crazy.

I'm sure there's a limit to what people will play based on their morals - but even so, some games do cross the line but make the gameplay fun.

Also, your comment made me think of this game - no idea if it's fun or not it looks like one of those shovelware Steam games:


And if you can't bring yourself to watch that, at least check out the soundtrack to it:

Spoiler: The soundtrack for that trailer is really catchy - I present to you the SUGARCOW!

 

[Igor-Rowan]

Most, if not all jobs are about some sort of input and output with the worker being responsible, and some things such as farming, stamping papers, buying something to make something else to then sell, we already got all of those bases covered.

When it comes to art, then maybe it's the easiest if we consider the other kinds of art such as painting, sculpturing, sewing (that Game Boy accessory anyone?), basically we gather materials and use them to resemble something in real-life (or not) are already checked.

Daily activities are basically mini-games into GTA. Parenting/babysitting/having a pet is covered by some sort of DS game already.

When it comes to some sort of mundane task we need to get creative about it. If you told me about a game whose purpose is to make toast, that would seem like some sort of weird idea, but then I am Bread came to existance and prove that execution is key. Heck, there is even a game where you play as the wind, I wish I was making that up, the name of the game is Flower (weirdly enough). In those cases realism definitely needs to be sacrificed for something that's basically the same thing as real life with a digital coat of paint.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I doubt it. I think you can make a game about anything, even being a Nazi prison guard poking puppies in the eye, but quality is not a guarantee on anything. And no just because you tried and gave it your best, that doesn't mean its good.

 

[CritialGaming]

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: No. While you can make good gameplay elements out of anything, I wouldn't say you could make an entire good game out of anything. Some mechanics may be fun for a small portion, but couldn't carry an entire game. Unless I suppose you count very small and very short Newgrounds-esque games. Then the answer is still yes.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

But then I started thinking what the limits could be for human enjoyment, like would anybody buy and enjoy a game about glorifying incest? Watching digital paint dry? Eating human faeces?

If you'd have told me years ago that games called Goat Simulator and I Am Bread would exist and be a lot of fun to play I would have thought you were crazy.

I'm sure there's a limit to what people will play based on their morals - but even so, some games do cross the line but make the gameplay fun.

Also, your comment made me think of this game - no idea if it's fun or not it looks like one of those shovelware Steam games:


And if you can't bring yourself to watch that, at least check out the soundtrack to it:

Spoiler: The soundtrack for that trailer is really catchy - I present to you the SUGARCOW!

That is a marvelous sugar cow dance sound thing. Hypnotic in a way. Glitch hop makes almost everything better, even sentient poop with suspicious moustache!

Goat simulator and Bread-i-am still have intrigues, but maybe I'm talking from heavy bear bias here.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Sure you can... Should you though?

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Any concept can be made into a good game.

There's literally a game about being a border guard and it's engaging as heck.

There's a game about being a piece of bread that's trying to become toast and it's pretty fun.

As long as you find a good gameplay hook and execute it well, ANY concept can be made into a good game.

 

[barbieboy]

Well.. I can make a makeshift DnD-like game out of an old cardboard box, does that count?

 

[SmugFrog]

Well.. I can make a makeshift DnD-like game out of an old cardboard box, does that count?

It does if you'll show us pictures of it?