Voting Ground Rules
OK, it's time to vote on theme ideas. Let's make the voting deadline be the 7th of May (Thursday).
There are a lot of people who already know what they're going to do, regardless of the chosen theme. I don't want to discourage them from voting, but I want the people who don't know yet what they're doing to have more influence on the actual theme than those who do. So. If you've already decided on your game and you're doing it no matter what the theme is, you get one vote. If you don't know what you're doing yet, you get two votes that you can cast for the same thing twice or for two different ideas.
Let's try to keep this simple. Everybody post their vote as a top level reply in this thread (not as a reply to somebody else's vote). Feel free to explain why you chose what you chose or not. If you change your mind on what you're voting for, edit your original post rather than posting another reply. (I think people always have permission to edit their own posts.)
If you come up with other theme ideas, you can still post them in the idea thread, and I'll add them to the list below, though late ideas probably won't be seen by everybody.
Theme Options
1. Opposites. Black v White, Good v Evil, Tiny v Giant. Whatever you want. Just something that showcases two things that are wildly different from each other. (I'm debating whether to make this a little more specific, to some specific opposite like the ones listed, but I'm leaning towards just keeping it as broad as possible.)
2. Circles, Arcs, and Curves. In one form or fashion, your game includes circles, arcs, curves, ellipses, spheres, etc. This may be a circular playing area, things that travel in circles, circular playing pieces, or something else. Just something that isn't a straight line as an important piece of the game.
3. Choices. Some aspect of the game involves choice, whether it be in playstyle, in story progression, or purely visual appearance.
4. The Button. Perhaps your game is a one-button game. (Making a game where you've only got one button is an interesting thought to begin with.) Maybe the game controls a ship, and all you can do is choose when to fire. Maybe you have lots of buttons, but one that does something spectacular. Maybe it's a trivia game or a reflex game where it takes skill to push the button at just the right time to beat your competition. Maybe it's a thematic/storytelling element with a button that detonates a nuclear weapon. Whatever it is, somehow a button is key.
5. Overkill. Have something happen that is overkill for what it intends to accomplish. Like using a nuclear bomb on an ant, putting a gallon of hot sauce on salad, slicing a man into hundreds of pieces when just one or two slices would have been plenty.
6. Sell it! Basically this would be a double meaning, first being that to win.. you actually have to have a way for someone to physically buy it, I think there are some stuff on paypal for setting up things like that, so even if its just posting a "Buy" paypal link, that allows us to pay $1 and get the download link, you have to make sure it is sellable and not under any licenses..
The other meaning is that you have to make a game where someone sells something that is part of the game.. so you could do a lemonade stand type thing, or you could do a hero game where the first thing you do is buy your sword, and the last thing you do is sell it.
7. Alternate. This word has two meanings. First, to switch back and forth between two (or more) things. Second, a substitute or backup. This could be like switching between characters in Donkey Kong Country, blue and orange portals in Portal, Player 1 and Player 2 taking turns like in many classic arcade games, alternative paths through the game like Castlevania, or alternate endings. This is admittedly somewhat closely related to the Choices theme, but I think there are enough differences that it will inspire a different set of game ideas.
8. Change. Something (or things) in your game is in constant flux that affects how you play or needs to be taken into account when playing. In a stealth game, this could be enemy guards going through periods of extra attentiveness or incredible inattentiveness that may need to be waited for before moving, or in an action game, the final boss' shield constantly changes in its strength, which will either block or let attacks through.
9: Stars. Maybe a space themed game, maybe it's movie stars, maybe you collect or earn stars, or maybe it's a thematic element in an RPG of some sort. Stars seem to simultaneously represent something unattainable, yet also seem to represent achievement.
