I know there was a board game about those
evil looking "living dead dolls"
I just saw the movie, SAW and I'm wondering
have you guys thought about making a serial killer game?
serial killer games
Tue, 05/09/2006 - 23:54
Wed, 05/10/2006 - 07:17
#1
serial killer games
I haven't thought about it until you mentioned it, but I think the basic storyline of Saw II (several people/players trapped in a house trying to avoid the killers planned traps to kill them) would work great for a boardgame.
You would have to find a clever way to randomly generate the traps for each player, to guarantee replayability, and implement a way for the players to go around the house finding clues that will, eventually, set them free.
The main problem would be how to handle player elimination. In the movie you have some characters killed early, and you will probably want a different approach in a boardgame. A twist like the one in the movie would be nice and might help keeping the game variable and unpredictable (I prefer not to mention it in detail in case someone hasn't seen the movie yet).
A game based on the Saw movies could alse be marketable. (Does that word exist? Pease excuse my english here.) Not likely for self publishing, but a potentially mainstream game. But that's the least of your concerns at this point, I guess. :-)
Seo
Wed, 05/10/2006 - 07:29
#2
serial killer games
Interesting Dete, I'd been thinking about something like this too. I haven't seen the Saw movies, but was also thinking about the market (and yes seo, "marketable" is indeed a word) for the serial killer idea steming from CSI popularity or the Silence of the Lambs movies. Kinda wishing I'd caught Saw now, because I've heard the twist is cool (no clue what it is), but from what I know about the movies I'd think it has a real possibility. And as seo mentioned, the bonus of a mass market appeal is there.
As far as player elimination, maybe each player has 2-3 characters (depending on # of players) to guide through seperately. This way there is a distinct possibility of a character dying early and that should add to the tension from the get go.
Anywho, cool idea!
Wed, 05/10/2006 - 10:59
#3
serial killer games
Ska_baron wrote:
(and yes seo, "marketable" is indeed a word)
I thought it might be right, but was too lazy to open the dictionary. :-)
Ska_baron wrote:
Kinda wishing I'd caught Saw now, because I've heard the twist is cool (no clue what it is)
I saw (no pun intended) both, and I liked the first a lot. The second one is fine, well worth the price of the movie ticket (specially in my case, as the distributor is a client, hence I didn't need to pay ;-P), but as usual with sequels, the first one was the best, IMHO. And the twist in both movies took me totally by surprise.
Seo
Wed, 05/10/2006 - 19:28
#4
serial killer games
A game based on any killer-thriller would indeed be cool, but imho trying to find a nice medium in player elimination would be a killer itself. A "medium" is actually what I'm trying to find in my newest zombie game titled Fright.
Quote:
As far as player elimination, maybe each player has 2-3 characters (depending on # of players) to guide through seperately. This way there is a distinct possibility of a character dying early and that should add to the tension from the get go.
If I'm not mistaken, each player in Dungeon Twister has more than one character that the use during the game. Each character has it's own pros and cons and after escaping, it earns you victory points, with the most points coming from the weakest player; who in this game is the Goblin.
Like Ska_Baron said you could use this to add a major amount of tension. Maybe the wickedly-cute blond-bombshell is worth more points than the steriod-taking jock because she easily attracts the killer or monsters either because of her good looks or her amazingly loud screams.
You could even put a twist on this by making the game more like a t.v game show. Which character do you think will last the longest? Each player could then place different traps to try and make their predictions come true.
Good luck!
Justin
Wed, 05/10/2006 - 21:46
#5
serial killer games
Hmm, Beign traped in a mansion with a serial killer! It looks almost like "Escape from the Death Star" with less gore, where Darth Vador is the serial killer (^_^).
Anyways, the only serial killer game I have played so far is London 1888. The only diference is that it is more an investigation game and you are not trapped some where, you can move all around the city. But it is a serial killer game.
Sat, 06/10/2006 - 18:15
#7
it's a good idea...but...
like everything else, it's already been done....
i'd like to see more like it though.
Sun, 06/11/2006 - 13:12
#8
serial killer games
mccanna23... DA is a very shallow game (my opinion al least), there is no much mechanic. the whole game based upon charts...
DSfan loved your idea about the TV show... but I wounder who will buy a game where you gamble who will die first or who will stay last, kind a creepy.
In my mind I think to fuse the survive genre games with deduction, there is a killer but who is he? the players also need to survive his traps and the encounters with the killer.
Mon, 06/12/2006 - 05:37
#9
serial killer games
DSfan wrote:
You could even put a twist on this by making the game more like a t.v game show. Which character do you think will last the longest? Each player could then place different traps to try and make their predictions come true.
reminds me a bit of that movie 'the running man' (based on a Stephen King novel)
>> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093894/
Mon, 06/12/2006 - 15:01
#10
serial killer games
dete wrote:
I would think there is a killer loose, players compete with each other but also they need to cooperate a lil, to put the killer away quick, if not the killer will continue his killings of NPC.
replay value will increase as players will say things like lets play again and try to put him away under 5 kills this time.
Perhaps a nice twist on player elimination could be that a player's character getting killed doesn't knock them out of the game, but instead makes them change sides.
Like they become zombies, or like the Traitor in Shadows Over Camelot once exposed, once someone gets killed they work for the "dark side" and the forces of evil get a step up in power.
What better way to get revenge on the people that are still alive than by trying to make them dead too? ;)
Things would have to be well balanced though, so that two characters getting killed wouldn't make the game impossible to complete for the remaining players
Mon, 06/12/2006 - 19:25
#11
serial killer games
I'm shooting from the hip here, but perhaps you can make a virtue of both player elimination and king-making, as follows.
Each player tries to murder all the others; last man standing wins the game. But...
At the start of the game, each player is randomly and secretly assigned one opponent as his "second choice" for winner, a different opponent for his "third choice", and so on for all the opponents. In addition, each player's second choice must be different from all other players' second choices, and likewise for third, fourth, etc. (Need a mechanism here for making those secret-and-random assignments. Probably not hard, but I'm at work and I can't spend too much time thinking about this right now!)
A player who's been murdered can't win the #1 position, but remains in the game as a ghost who can affect events for the still-living. A ghost player can get second place if his "second choice" player wins; so when you get killed, you shift your efforts from staying alive yourself to keeping your second-choice opponent alive. You get third place if your third-choice player wins, and so on.
Hm. I might try doing something with this myself! :)
Sun, 06/18/2006 - 06:34
#12
serial killer games
(all (well, both) puns are at least semi-intentional, and due, at least in part, to the author's twisted and unpredictable sense of humor) ;)
Gut reaction here...while such a game would be technically feasible, it's appeal would be extremely limited, and probably would find itself as more of a "cult following" type game (I can't imagine the religious fundies lining up in droves to purchase the new Serial Killer game, for example, while Charles Mansion fans and followers--significantly fewer of these--might find it most intriguing.
Then again, I am the proud owner of A "Cheapass Game" called "Unexploded Cows" so yeah...I'd prolly give it a go. :)
-=Vel=-
Mon, 06/19/2006 - 01:04
#13
serial killer games
I have a murder/mystery CCG/card game about 85% done and it uses multiple routes to victory.
The 2 things that exist in mystery currently from what I have seen are:
Clue variation with a checklist or
Once played, forever ruined (like How To Host A Murder series).
The latter was done a bit better with the Avalon Hill release Betrayal at House on the Hill, where there are like 50 seperate potential outcomes in the game.... which means there could be further expansion. While not a traditional mystery because the adventurers know who is the betrayer (he/she reads victory conditions from one book and the remaining players from another), it is still a nice game.
My game uses the Clue variation with multiple methods to uncovering the murderer. I know it has alot of extras going for it, but the genre is really so bad for attempting a game... especially if attempting a CCG. I'm watching a game called Case Closed (Score Entertainment) because it is a Detective CCG based on the Animae of the same name.... unfortunately it doesn't play anything like a mystery... it plays more like a game of Spycraft (Alderac Entertainment Group) where people are combating over scoring a prize.... both the criminals and the good guys!
Lastly, I pull a hats off to Perplexcity.com and it's namesake game... this game incorporates a couple of concepts that I had hoped to use in my game.... they have a contest offering $200,000 US to the winner... using anagrams, riddles, hidden visual clues in the cards, and many other tricks to hide their prize. Dang, I hate being second fiddle because of lack of funding. Though their card game is not a game but a series of puzzles mostly, they are really good at what they do and have created a new type of CCG that integrates well with the internet (in fact internet access is mandatory to play as far as I know). In all honesty, they are so much better at some of those aspects I may seek out those people for help in designs if possible at some point. While they aren't necessary for my game, if I can afford to have a $$$ prize and a "mystery within the mystery game" as I have planned.
Sorry if this got off the serial killer concept, but I've been working on my game for over 7 years off an on!
thanx for the replies and sorry mine is super late.
I'm thinking basically Clue on acid or something like that.
I would think there is a killer loose, players compete with each
other but also they need to cooperate a lil,
to put the killer away quick, if not the killer will continue his killings
of NPC.
replay value will increase as players will say things like lets
play again and try to put him away under 5 kills this time.