Last time around, our theme was basically to build a clone of another game (Space Invaders). I think we discovered last time that people want to play pretty loosely with the theme, and go their own direction. So this time around, we're de-emphasizing the "clone a game" idea, and breaking the chosen game down into "tropes". Tropes are like recurring themes or ideas that come up in a variety of games (or movies, or books, or whatever). We've broken the chosen theme game of Thrust down into its components, and listed them below.
You can think of these as building materials which you can use to make whatever game you want. You're not limited to these. They're just here to give your brain some things to think about.
If you think of more that we should add, post them below and I'll get them added to the official list here.
(See here for a cool list of tons of tropes to draw inspiration from.)
No Plot? No Problem!
Games don't need no stinkin' plot! If skipping the plot is good enough for Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Thrust, it's good enough for you.
Camera Centering
The game's point of view moves to follow the player's character, ship, avatar, or representation as they move around in the world.
Made of Paper
One hit kills you. There's no armor or shields to keep you safe. (Yes, even though Thrust did have a shield, for much of the game, you don't have it, and one hit kills you.)
Outrun the Fireball
Some portion of the game involves outrunning or escaping from a fireball or explosion.
Newton's Laws
The game has some non-trivial physics in it that the player has to deal with.
Save the Princess
The game involves rescuing, saving, capturing, or stealing an object (the pod in Thrust).
You Require More Vespene Gas
The player must deal with completing the game or level with limited resources (excluding time).