Game Inspirations

Throughout the history of video games, several titles stand as monuments to massive innovations in game design as well as just games I’ve played for hundreds of hours. Several games have had lasting impacts on me and shape how I play and look at any other games in similar genres, and sometimes even vastly different ones.

I personally have thoroughly enjoyed:

• Super Smash Bros has literally logged more than at least two thousand hours from me across both the Wii and the Wii U versions. It’ll forever be my favorite game to pull out when having friends over, due simply to the fact that not only was it perfect for friendly competition, but even when playing alone the amount of strategic depth means that you can find a ton of replayability in it.
• Call of Duty is by far the most adrenaline-pumping game I’ve regularly engaged myself in. When playing online, it’s so easy to lose yourself in the fierce player competition of not only being the better team, but also the best person on your team. Trick shots and other epic moments are immensely gratifying, particularly since they’re so difficult to execute and require an immense skill foundation. While not very oriented towards casual play, back in my days of more competitive play, this was definitely the game to try to perfect.
• Clash of Clans, while not necessarily a good example in my book, certainly did suck many hours away from me. It really isn’t that great of a game, as so many aspects of the game require lots of real time wait periods or using a highly valued in game currency in order to move forward. It was absolutely incredible at causing you to just need that next upgrade or item, but ultimately the game is a vicious cycle of endless upgrades and wait times for a flawed combat and defense system.

Additional games to check out and study include:

• The Legend of Zelda (particularly the older ones and the newest one Breath of the Wild)
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
• Kingdom Rush
• Block Fortress
• Bloons Tower Defense (5)
• DOOM
• Tomb Raider
• Diablo 2
• Spelunky
• Super Meat Boy

And many, many, many others!