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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

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Fri, 01/13/2006 - 12:09
Zzzzz
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Ok I was trying to search the net and come up with a list of themes that would be *hot* or *common* this year for table top game market. Well my search is not going well so I turn to you the members of BGDF to help me create a list of Top 10 Game Themes for 2006!!!!

So here are a few questions to get us going, i hope...

What themes do you feel will be *hot* this year?

What themes do you feel will be OVER used this year?

What themes do you feel game makers should avoid this year?

And finally, What themes do you feel should be on a Top 10 game theme list?

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Fri, 01/13/2006 - 18:23
#1
english
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Re: Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

Zzzzz wrote:

What themes do you feel will be *hot* this year?
What themes do you feel will be OVER used this year?
What themes do you feel game makers should avoid this year?

Well, it's the world cup in germany this year so I guess that will see a fair amount of spin-offs.

Although probably in the PC/console market rather than board games.

Depending on how you feel about football (soccer for you guys in the states) I'd say it could fit in all three categories.

Saying all this though I'd imagine all of this merchandise is already being shipped to the various retailers as I type this so opportunities will be slim for anybody thinking of jumping on the bandwagon.

Aside from sporting events another good radar to use would be the cinema releases that are scheduled - they'll give you an idea of the genres that will be in the public eye.

That might be a place to start looking for any hints on what is going to be being 'talked about'.

cheers
c

Come on England!...ahem... sorry, couldn't help myself :)

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Fri, 01/13/2006 - 18:37
#2
Rick-Holzgrafe
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Re: Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

Zzzzz wrote:
What themes do you feel will be *hot* this year?

What themes do you feel will be OVER used this year?

What themes do you feel game makers should avoid this year?

And finally, What themes do you feel should be on a Top 10 game theme list?

Movie and TV spinoffs are always popular. I'd expect Narnia games this year, and maybe Battlestar Galactica.

I caught myself looking at a popular Eurogame a few months ago (I forget which one) and thinking, "Oh, great. Another game about commerce in Renaissance Europe." It was a good game, too; it just felt like an over-worked theme.

I wouldn't even think about "top ten themes" unless I were deliberately out to to take advantage of a fad; and in that case, I'd be tempted to develop the game first, then look for the fad it most closely resembles and glue on the chrome afterward. Fads fade fast, and if you target one from the beginning of your development, it might be old hat by the time you're ready for market.

(And the next time you're bored and alone, try saying "fads fade fast" five times, really fast!)

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Sat, 01/14/2006 - 02:28
#3
Johan
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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

This is mine unprofessionally guess.

Politics: With the current president in the White House (so many people outside US, see him as the major terrorist leader in the world (also in Europe)), we can probably expect games around politics but not directly point him out.

Trains and railroads starting to be popular and I think we will get several “follow-up” games from Ticket to Ride and Railroad Tycoon (I can already see a higher interest for the old classics from Avalon Hill as 1829, 1830 and so on…).

Classic games from the 80’s. Either in new print or a new version. We have seen them coming and more is on its way.

Dungeon crawlers are back and that thanks to Fantasy Flight. Also epic adventure games will be on the menu.

Steam punk combined with classic Horror games. We have seen films like “The Grimm Brothers” and “von Hellsing”. Where are the games?

Werewolf’s, Vampires and Zombies is still hot. Specially in I modern version.

For the last four or five years, cards has been the major components in games and I believe that Cards are here to stay. Card games and Card based games will still be hot.

Poker has been rely popular the last year and that will probably soon be reflected in games (with a half year delay from idea to the real product, it should be time for them to hit the market soon).

// Johan

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Mon, 01/16/2006 - 07:04
#4
Nestalawe
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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

Johan wrote:

Steam punk combined with classic Horror games. We have seen films like “The Grimm Brothers” and “von Hellsing”. Where are the games?

Werewolf’s, Vampires and Zombies is still hot. Specially in I modern version.

Sounds good to me ;)

Reckon I will have to get stuck into a Steampunk game soon...

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Tue, 01/17/2006 - 10:59
#5
Spel-Maker
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Re: Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

Zzzzz wrote:
"Oh, great. Another game about commerce in Renaissance Europe."

I Could not agree more.

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Tue, 01/17/2006 - 11:23
#6
OutsideLime
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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

Quote:
Zzzzz wrote:
"Oh, great. Another game about commerce in Renaissance Europe."

Ditto.

~Josh

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Tue, 01/17/2006 - 14:04
#7
jwieringo
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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

Quote:
What themes do you feel will be *hot* this year?

Isn't the new superman movie coming out this year? If so I'll be expecting a phlethora of super hero games. I've also heard rumors of xmen 3 and fantasic 4 2 (2 numbers in a title!) coming out in about a year. Oh! And you can't forget about your friendly neighborhood spiderman. I'm a comic book fan if couldn't tell.

Quote:
What themes do you feel will be OVER used this year?

Now this one is a bit harder to predict. I'd have to guess pirates though if my life depended on an answer.

Quote:
Steam punk combined with classic Horror games. We have seen films like “The Grimm Brothers” and “von Hellsing”. Where are the games?

I've never The Grimm Brothers. Is it worth watching?

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Tue, 01/17/2006 - 23:24
#8
jwalduck
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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

I am not sure how much film and TV flows into board games.

The comic/superhero theme has been strong in films since 2000 with X-men, Sipderman, Dare-devil, Hulk, Electra and Fantastic Four all out and up coming Superman, Wonder Woman and sequels. Other comic conversions include League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Hellboy.

I have not seen an increase in games based on superheros/comics.

Narnia to me is a child of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Both HP and LotR as a license have spawned games, but I do not see a growth of a broader theme in board games. Fantasy is always popular.

I do see a growing infatuation with the myth of the supernatural: TV's Medium, Ghost Whisperer, Supernatural. Hand in hand with this are other "we are not alone" stories: 4400, Invasion, Threshold, Surface. Both of these threads may have a lot to do with the success of Lost.

Again I am not sure if this will translate into games. To me it indicates that a dominate theme will come from a rash of clones trying the capture the success of a monster, break-out trend setter (Like X-men 1 in film, Lost in TV) but that a theme will not neccessarily translate from one medium to another.

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Wed, 01/18/2006 - 05:18
#9
Johan
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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

jwalduck wrote:
I have not seen an increase in games based on superheros/comics.

How about the CCG and the never ending releases of Heroclix!

jwalduck wrote:
Narnia to me is a child of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
For me Harry potter is a child of Narnia ;).

jwalduck wrote:
Both HP and LotR as a license have spawned games, but I do not see a growth of a broader theme in board games. Fantasy is always popular.

Both yes and no. I think that Fantasy games has been less streamlined (other plots then good vs. bad) and we also see a lot of irony around fantasy. Fantasy has also been more acceptable in family games.

We maybe not have direct games that are based on HP, LotR or Narnia, but several it has effected the market.

// Johan

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Wed, 01/18/2006 - 08:16
#10
Scurra
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Top 10 Game Themes for 2006?

jwalduck wrote:
Narnia to me is a child of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
Johan wrote:
For me Harry potter is a child of Narnia ;).
The Narnia movie is certainly a child of HP and LotR. The Harry Potter novels are certainly more a child of LotR and Narnia (and about several million others! But hey, who said you needed originality to be a success. You just need talent and a certain amount of luck.)

Johan wrote:
We maybe not have direct games that are based on HP, LotR or Narnia, but several it has effected the market.
We had an avalanche of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings games triggered by the first movies in their respective sequences. And they were a good mix between relatively interesting ones and cheap cash-ins. Narnia is a much harder proposition to design good games around (although my Dawn Treader game is suddenly looking like it might be worth pitching to a few places now!)

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