Video summary

50 Game Ideas I Would Make (If I Had The Time)

Main summary

Key takeaways

Gaming

Game storyline / concepts

The video doesn’t focus on a single coherent storyline; it’s a brainstorm list of 50 separate game concepts. Each idea is briefly framed as a “what it would be about” pitch, often borrowing mechanics from existing games and remixing them into a new premise (e.g., platformer movement, incremental economy, roguelike structure, multiplayer party chaos, horror stealth/sound).

Gameplay highlights + key strategies / design tips (by idea/theme)

Movement & platforming

  • Dive-kick momentum platformer (unfinished prototype)

    • Core fantasy: build speed and keep momentum.
    • Adds: slide mechanic; inspired by dive-kick fighter + fencing mechanic (Nidhogg).
    • Older seed: an armadillo character that rolls into a ball.

  • Rocket-jump platformer

    • Mechanic: TF2-style rocket-jump as both movement tech and offense.
    • Design question: translate it to single-player and potentially 2D.

  • “No left/right” forward-running tower escape

    • Player can only jump forward; direction changes by jumping off walls (inspired by King of Thieves).
    • Theme suggestion: climbing upward while lava rises.
    • Add-on: roguelike upgrades/power-ups.

Incremental / economy loop ideas

  • “Dixium”-inspired incremental with action instead of idle waiting

    • Loop inspiration: dig/click artifacts → earn money → museum upgrades → faster digging.
    • Design aim: short completion window to avoid exponential “next upgrade takes days” boredom.
    • Variants:
      • Shooting targets like Aim Lab / Duck Hunt; earn money for better bullets/patterns (shotgun, full auto).
      • Click-speed combat test (arm wrestling → reskins like drag racing, chopping, typing speed tests).

  • Idle Breakout flipped

    • Instead of controlling balls, players purchase bricks.
    • Some bricks can be placed/moved to form money-making patterns.
    • Goal: turn repetitive physics into satisfying, player-planned layouts.

Physics & puzzle mechanics

  • Red Remover-style physics puzzle expansion

    • Keep green shapes; remove red shapes.
    • Improve with new physics tools/behaviors:
      • ropes, springs, bounce pads
      • wind boxes, gravity manipulation, liquids
    • Visual note: overhaul graphics/modernize art.

  • Single-player archer puzzle-platformer

    • Archer shoots arrows that stick into walls, turning them into platforms.
    • Arrow limits per level; later adds arrow types:
      • bouncing, homing, recall-from-ground.

Multiplayer couch / competitive party formats

  • Rounds-inspired roguelike power-up system

    • Twist: losers gain power-ups; winners get nothing → built-in balancing.
    • Reimagine options:
      • top-down twin-stick shooter
      • physics-based “push off the map” without health (mass/speed/nimble power-ups matter)

  • Flood/fast tower defense (Lambir prototype)

    • Less planning, more frantic turret placement.
    • Mitigation strategy: when a tower is lost, refund its full cost in scrap; scrap slowly converts back to cash.
    • Design goal: avoid long-term punishment for small mistakes.

  • Miniame party game (author’s ongoing collection)

    • Emphasis on many tiny games (1–2 minutes each) to enable quick, replayable content.
    • Examples described:
      • Tag platformer: “it” tags others; it slowly rotates with time eliminations; chaser slightly faster; jukes/fakes matter.
      • Competitive Plinko: multiple players drop balls; buckets grant extra balls/double score; stockpiling for payout.
      • Mine/musical-chairs mind game: mines shuffled; players select until one remains (less captivating, but fun at party scale).
      • Color match: Mastermind-style secret sequences (computer picks pattern; players guess; feedback = correct counts).
      • 1v1 outmuscle arcade reskin: inspired by an “arm wrestling” concept; reskinnable to themes.
      • Social deduction twist layer: players can “cheat” via a mechanic and are voted out/penalized (inspired by Spot the Sneak).

  • Real-time turn chaos: board-game Katon with timed turns

    • Everyone places in real time (e.g., every 30 seconds).
    • Trades allowed at any time (board-game negotiation energy).
    • Playtesting focus:
      • robber behavior on a “7”
      • initial settlement/road placement method (snake draft vs mad dash)

Social deduction & game theory

  • Social deduction + corrupted resources

    • Good players guard “corrupt” ores/trees.
    • Evil players gain powers only via those resources.

  • Two-player prisoner’s dilemma-inspired social deduction

    • Players choose actions (cooperate/cheat) in a repeated, game-theory-friendly structure.
    • Four outcomes described:
      • both cooperate
      • player 1 cheats
      • player 2 cheats
      • both cheat
    • Inspiration: “evolution of trust” interactive guide concept; extended into longer ruler/neighbor-kingdom decision loops.
    • Proposed storyline layer: randomized events (invaders) and how choices affect future decisions + trust.

Horror: sound-centered stealth

  • Pure sound-based horror suite
    • Critique: most “sight monsters” are common; sound-based enemies are rarer.
    • Inspiration: In Silence, but aiming to reduce tedious “always quiet” gameplay.
    • Proposal:
      • different enemy types with different sound rules (one hunts well on sound; another can be scared away loudly)
      • multiplayer fear: puzzles requiring coordination/talking, where friends’ chatter becomes a threat.

Roblox / infinite map survival structures

  • Infinite IKEA store survival (SCP-ish story inspiration)
    • Day: wander/collect resources.
    • Night: hide from employee monsters.
    • Use furniture as defenses.
    • Variant: “infinite parking lot” with car theft/hotwire scavenging; night scavengers; possible escape structures like farms/communities.

Roguelike / Metroidvania progression remixes

  • Metroidvania with “unlocking jumping” as a core gate

    • Twist: start unable to jump; jumping is a major upgrade (unlike most Metroidvanias where you already move).

  • One-bit monochrome Metroidvania with unlocking colors

    • Colors change mechanics:
      • blue turns platforms into water you can dive into
      • colors reveal destructible walls / secret info / hidden messages
    • End-state: world radically transforms via color unlocks.

Shooter / space / strategy remakes & systems

  • Astro Fleet power-up ships → scrap-to-build mechanic

    • Instead of firing to collect ships, collect scrap metal to fill a build meter.
    • Magnet idea: not shooting can activate magnet collection.
    • Constant trade-off: shoot to survive vs stop shooting to harvest scrap.
    • Add wave stages and boss fights.

  • FTL boss-fight-forward remake concept

    • Love of FTL’s ship upgrades/crew, but wants more surprise emphasis in boss design.
    • Desired feature: continue/keep fighting after the final boss (ship ultimately destroyed).
    • Suggested re-scope:
      • focus on ship-to-ship combat + weapon/shield synergies, or
      • focus on boarding with real-time troop combat.

  • Chess roguelike (deck-building pieces like Into the Breach)

    • Mix roguelike chess ideas: piece values mapped to deck-building placement.
    • Proposed special pieces:
      • steel moves twice
      • glass limited moves
      • gold earns money on move
      • bomb detonates when captured, destroying nearby pieces

  • Ant-themed beginner colony sim (stripped down)

    • Core loop: ants gather food/water; defend queen from insects/enemies.
    • Player makes high-level decisions: where tunnels/rooms go; dispatch ants to fight.
    • Emphasis: “dead simple” systems for absolute beginners.

Algorithm / education / interactive web tools

  • Maze algorithm difficulty leaderboard (interactive website)
    • Compare algorithms by human solve time:
      • randomized DFS, Prim’s algorithm, Chris’s algorithm, etc.
    • Twist: start point affects solvability (start at end creates dead ends; reverse solving changes difficulty).
    • Optional: code playground to design maze generators and submit to the leaderboard.

Sensor-based “LIDAR Metroidvania horror”

  • Combine ladder (1D), 2D, and 3D LIDAR sensors as progression upgrades.
  • Start with a basic “laser pointer” sensor; later acquire advanced sensors needed to survive tougher monsters.

Strategy puzzle/management remixes

  • Mini Metro with cat chaos

    • Add unpredictable obstacles like cats.
    • Enables faster handling: pick up trains knocked down, divert routes, possibly pick/drop trains to shorten paths.
    • Resource sink idea: cat treats/toys to distract cats, or cats as “helpers” to generate money.

  • Railroad ramen + trains (cat-shelter origin story concept)

    • Narrative/business pivot: cat began playing with trains → became a hit → the “restaurant/cat shelter” concept.

Procedural/local multiplayer hide-and-seek

  • Prop hunt improvements

    • Inspired by Garry’s Mod prop disguise; constrained to local multiplayer.
    • Add more “almost caught” moments:
      • random lights-out
      • smoke grenades
      • disguises as moving NPCs/mobs
      • or 1 hider vs a team of seekers

  • “Invisible ghost” seeker/hider but with NPC blending

    • Instead of gamepad visibility, create a sea of similar NPCs.
    • Hider evades using flashlight-based seeker logic while matching movement patterns.

Educational “historical mechanics” puzzle game

  • Point-and-click artillery math hit game
    • Inspired by Band of Brothers artillery scene.
    • Player applies rule-based lookup:
      • measure distance
      • look up angle from a table
      • launch shell
    • Story layer: fictional or historical events with immersive endings.

Misc. classic remake ideas

  • Joust (1982) modern couch remake

    • Fly around defeating enemies on buzzards; updated graphics + new modes.

  • Insane Aquarium remake

    • Fish drop coins; players buy food/upgrades; manage feeding and defend against attackers.
    • Later choices: carnivores eat smaller fish for bigger money payoff.

  • Age of War / Battlecats RTS-ish modernization

    • Adds economy-investment choices (risk vs later payoff).
    • Emphasize ranged/slow/tanky/splash, plus troop weaknesses/synergies.

Unique small-session ideas

  • World’s Hardest Game-inspired “juice” version

    • Same simple top-down dodge core, but with juicier effects, Geometry Wars-like visuals, and a killer soundtrack.

  • FTL / Super Hexagon-style “simple input, addictive feel”

    • Cursor dodge concept: visuals + music create addiction.

Named gamers / sources featured

Game/series references used as inspiration

Nidhogg, Dixium, Aim Lab, Duck Hunt, Red Remover, Rounds, Bonk.io, In Silence, SCP Secret Laboratory, Escape the Back Rooms, Hollow Knight, Toki Tori, Johnny Upgrade, Galaga, Kingdom, Roblox, Roblox arm wrestling game (unnamed), Over the Garden Wall, Muk (progression system), Nuclear Throne, RimWorld (and Dwarf Fortress), Little Guys (unreleased), Super Hexagon, Team Fortress 2, Slay the Spire, Rogue likes in general, Age of Empires II, Super Auto Pets, King of Thieves, Grounded, It Takes Two, Joust (1982), Insane Aquarium, Plants vs Zombies (mini-game reference), Mini Metro, Boomerang Fu, Hidden in Plain Sight (inspired by Wii U game mode concept), Papers, Please, Spelunky, Kung Fu Chess, Katon (board game), Lambir studio games (Super Crate Box, Nuclear Throne), Flood (Lambir prototype), The Breach, Into the Breach, Mastermind, Deal or No Deal arcade (reference), Spot the Sneak (Wii U party game), World’s Hardest Game, Geometry Wars, FTL, FTL mods (incl. Multiverse mod), Kung Fu Chess, Roblox games, SCP lore / IKEA store story (as a cited inspiration).

Creators/channels

  • GameMakers Toolkit (specifically a video about “Game Juice”).

Original video