Thinking about what to do for the final year project

8/9/23 Throughout the summer break, I put down ideas for the final project in a note document. 

My main inspiration was a 3D minesweeper game which I played with my friend a few years ago. 

bLockerman's Minesweeper

This screenshot is from the bLockerman's Minesweeper game page, it shows what happens when the players fail the game. It also showcases some of the different flags you can obtain.

This game follows the basic rules of Minesweeper but it is 3D and you can "walk" around the game board. There are also features such as picking the type of flag you use (Which you could unlock by winning games) and the game is also multiplayer so you have to work together with other people (Including people you don't know) to complete the game. Because of this, some people might sabotage the game. There was also the chance to mess around with friends in the game due to it being multiplayer, for instance, my friend enjoyed taking risks by trying to jump across the map and we also sometimes played without using flags which added to the challenge. There would also be times when you would spawn on a small island and would have to take a risk or wait for someone to bridge over to you. The effects used when failing or succeeding in the game were also a necessary feature and due to it being 3D the explosions of the mine create a chain reaction which seems more realistic with the 3D effects.

The downside to this game is that it does get repetitive after a while (Like most games like this), therefore this made me think about how the main game mechanic of Minesweeper could be adapted and added to in order to make a potentially more interesting game. Also using the base mechanics of a popular game like Minesweeper would allow people to feel familiar with it and therefore they would not struggle so much learning how to play. If you think of games like Candy Crush(2012), there are lots of games with very similar game mechanics but with different features added for instance, I have seen advertisements for a game called Royal Match(2020) which shows the shape-matching mechanic combined with things such as water which you have to guide (Although I'm not sure if this is actually part of the game since advertisements can be misleading).

To adapt and add to this concept, it is important to understand the main features of the classic Minesweeper. Minesweeper is a game which involves a grid and numbers. Certain squares in the grid are mines and you need to use the numbers to work out where they are then use flags to mark and avoid them. The numbers signify how many mines are in a 3x3 radius around the numbered square. If you have already found where the mine is in that 3x3 area you can clear/click on the squares which are not mines to uncover more numbers. When you uncover blank squares (which have no mines within the 3x3) usually all adjacent blank squares are uncovered too. 

There are a certain number of mines for each difficulty and there are also features like a timer and different numbers (eg 1, 2, 3..) have different colours to help distinguish them.

My ideas:

Minesweeper but with treasures and pets that you have to reach to save.

Giant sleeping monster and rather than mines some traps or things will wake the monster up.

Power-ups like invincibility (Can step on anything for a short amount of time) and creating a safe path (three squares in front of the character).

When the monster is awoken you have to run away avoiding obstacles. 

Could make the game more challenging by using shapes instead of numbers 1=circle, 2 semi-circle etc.

Different themes for levels.

To get the powerups there could be squares that are 'frozen' or something similar like in games like Candy Crush and you have to clear the safe squares around it to un-freeze it. 

Storyline(I haven't fully planned it so I will put the summary): The game is set in a village and the villagers tell the main character about a place where they can find treasures, however, there is a monster guarding the treasures. The villagers claim that the treasures belong to them and they are just retrieving them, but that might not be the case...

Could potentially incorporate a snakes and ladders sort of feature or portals that teleport around the map. Top 10 historical board games | British Museum I could also look at other board games like the ones in this article, so I could perhaps incorporate different game mechanics to make the game more unique and interesting.

The monster could be linked to ideas of dragons and have mythological representations and I could maybe have the art style connect to that.

To collect the treasures the player could use a shovel to dig for them like in games like Animal Crossing (City Folk is the only version I have played, but there are probably lots of games where you dig for treasure which could be used as an example) or there could also be treasure chest clues given by the villagers like in a game I have played before called Arcane Odyssey, where they give hints on where the treasure is located: 

Image source: Legendary treasure chart is just 5 common charts - Game Discussion - Arcane Odyssey

This idea could tie into the idea of having different themed areas and certain treasures could only be found in certain areas. Or colours could be used instead of numbers which could be used to provide hints on the location of treasure.

There could be collectable treasures which could be used to decorate a room/ gallery (user creativity) and a choice of character at the start of the game for customisation. However, this might be a bit complex to implicate. 

I definitely want to have an integrated tutorial which allows the player to learn the game by playing it. I could also include indicators for if the player is stuck near the start of the game (Which would appear after a certain amount of time) This could be shown with highlighted squares and later on in the game could be hints that you purchase.

Obviously, I most likely won't use all of these ideas but it is good to have different ideas to choose from.

Pre-existing games/ similar to my idea + analysis (Link to blog post)

Research: Research notes blog post 

Sources:

BLOCKERMAN666. (2021). bLockerman's Minesweeper. [Online] Roblox.

DREAM GAMES. (2020). Royal Match. [Online]. Mobile & Facebook.

KING. (2012). Candy Crush Saga. [Online] Mobile & Facebook.

Legendary Treasure Chart is just 5 common charts 2023, Arcane Odyssey. Accessed 8 September 2023, <https://forum.arcaneodyssey.dev/t/legendary-treasure-chart-is-just-5-common-charts/86575>.

Microsoft. (1990). Minesweeper. [Online] PC.

Top 10 historical board games 2021, The British Museum. Accessed 8 September 2023, <https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/top-10-historical-board-games>.

Vetexgames. (2019). Arcane Odyssey. [Online] Roblox.