Endless Runner - Conception
5 mins
Endless Runners are one of the most popular games that exist on the mobile game platform and come in all sorts of varieties. For the most part they are cheap remakes of existing ideas textured and styled around a new product release such as a film. This means they are made more so for advertisement rather than as an individual product. However this is not always the case as there are some which do cultivate the original ideas and create some very interesting mechanics. Games such as Space Dash have developed a mechanism that uses oxygen to allow its player to live but can also be used to fix errors they make and allow them to jump higher. There is also Jetpack Jack where the player can collect vehicles which change how the game plays while also providing an extra life.
The first thing I did before even considering what and how my endless runner will play or feel I played a few examples, these were; Space Dash, Cave Dwellers and Moonlight Mori. While I played these I thought briefly about what was happening and how well the game was doing at engaging me.
I found Space Dash the most interesting of the three in regards to the mechanics. I felt that the addition of the oxygen system (where oxygen is used to help you jump but also needed to survive) was interesting and allowed for more gameplay options. I also found it forced me as the player to make more choices while playing resulting in it giving a sense that I had more control over the outcome.
Cave Dwellers had an interesting concept with the character always running and the player only dictating the character actions by allowing them to hit a wall so they would change direction and jump. However I felt this could have been exploited more than it was. By this I mean more challenging puzzles and possibly moving sections of the level adding timing into the mix.
Moonlight Mori I found to be a great source of information on what not to do because the game had very little substance and actual interaction for the player meaning that I would die during this game due to lack of attention rather than skill. This was down to the speed the game played at. The game highlighted the sections which were important to get right such as speed and risk/reward as if it didn’t do these well it would fail to be an enjoyable experience for the end user.
The Break Down
I then did the same process that I did with Snake, I broke the game into two major sections, the positives of the existing games and the negatives. The positives I found were that it had a sense of progression, was easy to pick up and play and could easily incorporate many different types of games into it. These were all qualities that I felt the base game concept excelled at and I wanted to retain. I then took the ideas I liked from the other games and added them to the list of positives. This meant the list was:
• Progression
• Easy to pick up and play
• Compatible with many different mechanics
• Puzzle element (Cave Dwellers)
• Decisions with resources (Space Dash)
Many different types of games within this genre suffer from similar issues and these are the conclusion I drew. The main one being repetition as the game involves a lot of the same actions. They also suffer from having one correct answer to dealing with an obstacle which I feel is compounding the issue of repetition within the game. A key point I also took into consideration was the game being at the appropriate speed as when it is too slow the players are not presented with enough decisions. The list I ended up with:
• Repetitive
• Single note answers
• Speed
Ideas
I then began to develop ideas which would complement the positives of the genre while also attempting to subdue or remove the negatives. This was tricky than I thought.
The first game concept was a car driving in traffic, the player would not be allowed to stop and other drivers would change speed, lanes. The player would not be able to instantly turn as well which would result in the player having to plan ahead. This could work in theory.
The second concept was a brother and younger sister running from an event, say a nuclear bomb, zombie event or something around these lines. The aesthetics would similar to limbo and the gameplay would involve avoiding obstacles while looking after your little sister, such as picking her up when she falls, helping her over things etc. These interactions while be very simple and more cut scene in nature would involve risk and options. The player would also encounter other people which may be hostile or friendly with different outcomes. This could possibly work and would provide a grounding for the gameplay while also allowing the player to feel a sense of control.
The third idea involves the player having missions they are required to do on a map, these would be selected and then a level would begin. These would most likely be take-downs like an assassin trying to infiltrate a place, gathering information by following targets etc. The player would then use actions to change directions. This would add a puzzle sort of system into the mix. These would all work towards a common goal. The concept would allow for more options and add more sense of control and progression while playing. This concept could however be taken as more of a stealth game where the player is trying to escape an area on high alert, this would give purpose for the continuous movement and haste. (Maybe not involved the actions being required to change direction).
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