Here’s an issue I keep running into lately while writing down game ideas. I keep feeling like all I am doing in rehashing mechanic ideas that I have for one game and mashing them up into another.

I’m trying to get my head around whether or not this is actually an issue or if that’s just normal for a game designer.  I have certainly noticed that some game designers have a specific style and that it indeed comes out in their game mechanics.  I would also say that to a certain extent it does seem like the core mechanics of several games find themselves in other games.

When I really think about that it brings to mind something I have heard many times, “There are no new ideas”.  Which while I find very sad, I think it is at least somewhat true.  There are so many games out there that many of them are bound to have similarities in game mechanics.

I have a background in filmmaking and there’s an old adage that I think applies to game design.  It’s how movie execs say you may a successful sequel: “Give me the same thing, only different.”  Which when you think about it makes a ton of sense.

So here is where I find myself after writing the previous paragraphs… It’s okay to rehash some mechanics and some portions of gameplay as long as you make them different.  Make them unique. Find away to use them in each different game in a way that will surprise people and really add to the gameplay and of course the overall enjoyment of the game.

Whew!  I feel better now.

So any thoughts from the community?  Am I wrong?  Remember I have no idea what I am actually doing… I am just a first time game designer!

Hit me up with your thoughts: @JASlingerland on twitter or buildingthegamepodcast@gmail.com

-Jason