Not sure who said it, and I don't remember the exact quote, but a lot of greatness and originality has come out of people attempting to replicate their idols and failing miserably, ending up with a result that could only be their own. Go out and screw up and everything will be fine. Maybe.

I think there is a balance to find. One of the best pieces of advice I ever read was by someone from the Crypt of the NecroDancer team (I think the main creator) in regards to making a marketable game versus making your passion game and he was like we came up with 10 ideas we were excited about then picked the most marketable one to make into a game (Crypt of the NecroDancer, which as far as I know was pretty successful.)

Of course "marketable" isn't "unique" but he basically went on to say that a big part of why they went with Crypt of the NecroDancer was because it stood out and they knew because of that the press would talk about it and people would get excited about it and yada yada.

So I have a Trello I post whatever game ideas I come up with that really excite me and right now there are 7 game ideas on there (not including my current game of course) so by the time it comes to game 2 there will probably be 10 or so to choose from. And while they're all exciting enough to me from a dev point, I do think about which ones would actually stand out the most in the indie landscape...

Of course none of them are SUPER ORIGINAL. In fact a lot of my ideas basically come down to "it's like Game X, BUT..." or "it's like Game X and Game Y had a baby..."

@J.K. Riki

Yeah, you don't have to be first in a genre to do it best either. Alone in the Dark was the first series to do that style of survival horror, but Resident Evil and Silent Hill did it much better soon after.

@Hinph

Good point.

You guys!

This game... is fucking amazing. It is the first single-player game in a loooong time to blow me away. The mechanics are fun and intuitive, and, more importantly, the level design is just sublime. After struggling through the beginning of Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, I appreciate its understated elegance even more. So freakin' good!

11/10

@Anand

RIGHT?!

And it was so cheap this week too, on the eShop!

Everyone should get on board!!

@J.K. Riki
I know! I'm tempted to buy it on my nephews' account, too. But those goblins would never even try it...

@Anand

Monsters! You need to sit them down and give them a talking to.

Or better yet, just be playing it and keep going "WOW IS THIS GAME AMAZING! PEOPLE SURE ARE MISSING OUT!"

That's what I do. Everywhere. I bet at least a dozen people on the bus are downloading the game as we speak.

@J.K. Riki Well, you and Anand won me over. To be honest the demo was so so to me but it was a pretty short demo so I thought everyone keeps talking this game up I better give it a legit try. Can't argue with $6.

I actually played a bit last night, was definitely getting into it.

@J.K. Riki
THEY need to sit down and play something besides Fortnite!

@Zero
Yayyy. The demo shows the mechanics, but the level design is the real ace in the hole.

@Zero

Woo!

Enjoy the experience. It is a brilliantly designed game, too, so after you have fun with it there's a lot to analyze from an Indiedev perspective. They did a fantastic job.

I finished it! Which is rare. But I think I'm going to go for 100% completion. Which is even more rare!

Anyway, I'm still totally groovin' on it.

@Anand

I am also planning to 100% it, going to start over from the beginning, because it's just that good. This weekend I put the controller in the hands of my friend and said "here, play this game" and he was hooked after a few minutes as well. He'll probably buy it too.

@J.K. Riki
Yay, spread the love!

I played some more on the OG Switch. The rumble was weirding me out. And it's so heavy! Picking up the last few odds and ends is still bringing a smile to my face, though. So many clever little bits.

Yoku!

@Anand

Ha, yes the OG Switch is crazy heavy! I only played with it once since I got the Lite. I miss rumble but I love the Lite to no end. Also, I have Yoku’s and enjoyed what I played of it. I guess I need to play more!

@Brandon
Yeah, I've barely touched my original Switch, as well. Mostly just for Ring Fit.

I finished it the main game. Pretty neat. Didn't totally blow me away like it seems to have you guys. I think part of the reason why is there is no real lose condition to the pinball so you kind of just keep whacking away at it until you do the thing.

This game clearly has a ton of content after you beat the end boss, not sure how much of that stuff I will do though.

@Zero
You're too hardcore for Yoku. But keep going for a bit. Picking up all of the pieces isn't as much of a chore as in other games, because most of the macguffins have little puzzles attached to them.