Gotcha Force - Physical Prototype

Gotcha force is a cult classic Gamecube game released by Capcom in 2003. The game centers around a race of toy-sized robots trying to save their species. There are over 200 robots to choose from, and the player makes a team of them to fight an enemy team.

The game could have been prototyped using a turn based miniature RPG with different weapons, speeds, and abilities for each. Dice rolls could account for the player's accuracy and the field could be represented with paper or blocks.

The game has a class based unit system, with some units being knights, others gunman, and others ninjas. These classes have many variations, which leads to such a diverse selection of units for the player to choose. The player chooses 5 of the bots, or borgs as the game calls them, and battles against either the enemy team in splitscreen, or against an evil army in campaign. Some units are more expensive than others in terms of G-Energy. This energy is the currency of the game, and the more powerful units cost more G-Energy. The player is given only a set amount of GE to use each round. Resource management is key.

Gotcha Force was panned by critics, and received little to no advertising. While the game was unappreciated, it has become one of the most well known examples of an underrated game.

"Gotcha Force (Gamecube Games) Reviews." Reviews and Tests from the Best Sources Testfreaks Collects It All. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. <http://www.testfreaks.com/gamecube-games/gotcha-force/>.

Minecraft - Brainstorming

Minecraft is an exploration game for the PC made by Marcus Persson as a one-man indie game. It became widely popular due to the simplistic approach and open world. The game focuses mainly on the exploration of the player's world and the creation of different objects.

The player starts with no items at all, with absolutely no instruction. They are left to their own devices and to discover the game for themselves. The player is meant to build a base where they can rest and recuperate for the night, as during the night, enemies are spawned. When a player reaches the point in the game where they are protected from attack by enemies, they have the ability to go into a mine. When a player mines, they might stumble upon a vein of coal, iron, gold, redstone (which can make simple I/O circuits), or diamond.

The game has been confirmed to be inspired by a game called Infiniminer, which involved an infinitely deep mineshaft filled with lava, minerals, and metals. Similarly, Minecraft has an infinitely expanding world filled with many different materials and NPCs.

Minecraft also has a crafting interface where players place items they have collected through farming and mining. The objects that are crafted then become used by the player for things like excavation and decoration.

The ultimate goal of the game is left to the player, whether it be a massive monument, or complete excavation of a specific area, or even just cutting down one tree.

Gratuitous Space Battles - System Dynamics

Gratuitous Space Battles (or GSB for short) is a mix of tower defense and real time strategy developed by Positech Games for the PC in 2010. the game puts players in the position of an admiral commanding a fleet of spacecraft, trying to attack other spacecraft. GSB gives the character almost full control over their fleet, allowing them to not only customize their ships down to the last laser cannon, but it is also heavily moddable, which allows the player to create their own spacefaring, warmongering race of barbarians.

 The game is a fusion of normal tower defense gaming with real time strategic elements. Players create their fleet, place the ships on their side of the battlefield while staying inside the cost parameters, and begin the game. The player can give commands and behaviors to the ships before they begin the fight, but there is no interaction whatsoever after the game begins. The player can only watch their fleet battle with the enemy, and can see the fight happening similar to a real time strategy.

GSB has a market in-game that allows players to buy new factions, hulls, weapons and maps. You obtain currency by completing matches while staying below the set cost line. The less money you spend, the more money you get. This simple economy allows players to constantly improve their options and strategies.

Gratuitous Space Battles is a simple concept with a simple execution. It skips most of the immersive elements and focuses on gameplay entirely.

Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead is an action shooter game released by Valve in 2008. The game is from the point of view of 4 survivors of the zombie apocalypse.
The characters are Bill, a Vietnam Veteran, Zoey, a college student, Francis, a biker, and Louis, an IT office worker. The 4 survivors make there way to different places in the game's world to try to find rescue. The game fleshes the characters out using in-game dialogue, and banter between the characters. This makes the player more comfortable with their role and the interaction they have with the other characters in the game.

The games dramatic arc takes place on a level-based scale and a campaign scale. In each level, there is often some sort of event where the players must hold their ground against a swarm of zombies. This acts as the climax of the level, as it often happens near the end of it. On a larger scale, the game has a much larger event that involves the players holding their ground longer, waiting for rescue from the campaign. This acts as the climax of the campaign, and caps it off nicely.

Left 4 Dead also has a very innovative inventory system. The player is allowed only one primary gun, two pistols, one first-aid kit, and and a bottle of painkillers at a time. This system forces the player to prioritize. If they have run out of painkillers and have no ammo for their primary weapon, the player must switch to the pistols, and try to look for either a weapon or painkillers to make up for the damage lost by a weapon.

Finally, Left 4 Dead has a very innovative AI system called the "director" which places enemies and events throughout the game. It determines when them player has had enough and deserves a break, and when the next hallway should be filled with zombies. This system keeps the players on their toes, making sure that they have a new experience every time they play, and giving the game huge replay value.

"Left 4 Dead Online Image." Steam Community. Web. 07 Oct. 2010. <http://steamcommunity.com/groups/left4dead>.