Well although FASA has a Trademark on the term "BATTLEMECH" and legally it could be possible to use "Battle Mechs"... The problem is that there is already a VIDEO GAME with the EXACT SAME NAME.
And as the game implies it is very similar in THEME (because it's Mechs also).
So we need to come up with ANOTHER name for the game!
Name ideas and suggestions welcome...
It doesn't need to have the word "Mech" or "Mechs" in it either...
I rapidly tune out games that try to sell themselves on big robots shooting each other - I've seen it all before.
Your game needs to be distinct from battletech and alpha strike for it to have a chance. What sets it apart from battletech, alpha strike, battle mechs and all the other many MANY imitations out there?
Find the thing that makes it unique. If you can integrate that into the name you'll have a better chance of anyone even noticing your game.
(side note: which genre has been more beaten to death at this point: robots or zombies?)
I don't entirely agree with the previous poster: the mech theme may be a cliche, but that is because it is so immensely popular, like it or not, so it will probably not hurt its marketability (whether or not he or I like it personally). But he does have a point: if you try to make it as close as possible to some "canon" mecha universe/subgenre, it will probably just blend in and get lost in the sea of mechness. In my personal opinion (and I'm an engineer, not a marketing professional, so take with a pinch of salt!), calling it M3k or "Mech 3000" will make this worse - it sounds like it is part of some other well-established universe in the genre, even if it isn't. I'd try to give it an interesting back-story which would probably also help you think up a more original (and noticeable) name.
Maybe the mechs are all piloted by russians - then a phonetic rendering of "mechanical armoured walker in russian (mekhanicheskoye bronirovannyy khodok according to google)
might be a good starting-point for a title (a bit long as is, though!).
Or maybe you could go for a steam-punk theme - "Her Majesty's Mecha" might create the right impression (and be a surprising enough juxtaposition to attract notice, even among people who don't usually like all things mech).
Not that you should necessarily use these specific suggestions, of course.
That's a genre unto itself.
I agree with previous posts; the more original and speaking to your unique facets of your game. There are also other words which could help distinguish your game from "mech" titles...Titan, Metal, Machine, Armor, Guard, Hulk. Throw some of those together and you get some interesting names: Titan Guard, Metal Hulk, etc.
You can always put the term "mech" in the subtitle if you really feel it needs to be present: "Metal Hulk-Mechs of War" or something.
Either MECHA or WANZER (walking panzer (aka walking tank))
just my 2 cents!
design on the 2 preview cards look nice
Shouldn't walking tank be "wanker?":P
At the moment, we have tried to bring the SIMULATION to life. And what I mean by that is using DICE to simulate Mech battles - is well sort of difficult. As I said in the other thread, we went through many Dice Systems before we settled on a STRANGE seven (7) dice set.
What makes THIS game UNIQUE is that it BORDERS on a TCG/CCG... The BASE game has the seven (7) custom dice, three (3) Mechs, one (1) Mission and nine (9) hardware cards.
Those "hardware" cards are supposed to ALLOW "expansion". So ASIDE from getting another Mech, another Mission, you are also getting a bunch of NEW hardware in the expansions. And we're thinking about FIXED boosters like in a Living Card Game (LCG).
So this game although SMALL is EXPANDABLE.
That's what makes it UNIQUE. Of course BattleTech has extra "Manuals" of NEW Mechs - but ours are actually "cards". And I really like this idea. Why? Because ONCE you BUY the BASE set, why should you buy MORE dice??? You already have the dice system, all you need is more Mechs/Missions/Hardware.
And the other aspect of the game is that it can be PLAYED SOLO, PvP, or CO-OP.
The other thing is "combining" Missions to form a "campaign". If you are playing SOLO or CO-OP (3 players), you get to pick and choose alone or as a TEAM which missions to embark upon. I can't show you the other missions, we have five (5) so far... because we want to wait for BUYERS to experience the surprise when they buy an expansion.
As far as the GENRE being overly done, I was not aware of many Mech games as being well known in TableTop Games. I would have to search BGG for "Mech" and see how many games there are... I did not think this was a SATURATED category of game.
Thanks for all your input!
You could try something with "Gundam" in your name.
Two comments for names...
"Forlorn Steel" came to mind... no idea why but it sounds really cool!
"Crushers" is the working title of a mech themed game I've been working on. That also involves dice.
It did get a little off track (thanks chris!) but some cool names coming up!
We did mention in passing of using some of the other BGDF member names to call the Mechs / weapons or even enemies vehicles...if they wished of course.
Would anyone be interested in this? Feature yourself in game?
Something different at least :)
If you'd like to either Name or Design (or Both) a Mech, please feel free to take a look at the PDFs and the Encounter Table.
What I'd like to propose is that IF you Name a Mech, we'll give out a "Thank You" in our OFFICIAL rulebook (or perhaps our website for the game).
So IF you think up a cool Mech name and want to have us ADD it to the game, we'll give credit to you (either your Nickname or your real name, whichever you prefer)...
We of course will be rehashing the names for the OFFICIAL game - since these are the COMMON Mech names.
We are using the WORKING title "MM3K".
And as you have all suggested "What makes the game unique" and my thoughts on this was the "Missions". Yeah Mech games have missions too (obviously) but I put some real "effort" in designing the Mission cards. There are 5 already designed and I have shown the "public" one (1) of them.
Ok so now about the title:
"Mech Missions 3000" = "MM3K"
This is our NEW working title for our Mech game.
Been a while, but couldn't resist contributing a pun.
Bot: Pocket
Also M3K or MM3k brings to mind MT3k
I can't resist a pun either: Techs Mechs
What's MT3k - found an "unknown" band but nothing more regarding MT3k??? I saw "Mystery Science Theater 3000" which is MST3k... Is that what you were referring to?
Oops, msT3k: Mystery Science Theater 3000. Guess didn't bring it to mind that strongly that I forgot the T.
Hi I'm just bumping this thread, because maybe other designers may have input for name ideas for a "Mech" simulation game.
All jokes aside, we're still open to changing the name even if we have as a working title "MM3K".
Ideas and thoughts welcome...
For the game title, it does not need to have the name of the "machine" used in the game.
Normally the common designation which I think is free of copyright for designing mechs is actually "Mecha". It is what is used to designate all the Anime series mechs.
I suggest if you want to be creative about it I recommend calling them by their function or what their roles are. If they're piloted by a single person then they're a mount akin to a knight on horseback except this horse is heavily armed and armored. Delving deeper into variations of the term can allow you to play with some acronyms and such. Like ACM could stand for Armored Combat Mount.
Perhaps try a naming convention like another familiar called Chrome Hounds that deals with an element or an animal mythical or real.
Sometimes you can just be generic and straight to the point. Everyone knows what a tank is so why not go with something like a walker? You don't need giant robots as a selling point. Then again I'm a sucker for "practical" science fiction military hardware.
I hope this helps!
Silent Hull
Titanomech
Armorjocks
Servomonsters
Dire Constructs
Hellwalkers
MM3K feels like WH40K, but doesn't roll off the tongue as smoothly
As many people have already mentioned, mechs is overused to the point that it is no longer a "theme". It's almost a genre.
Your game needs a story, or lore. Nothing fancy, just something that sets the tone.
For example, if you wanted an over the top tone.
Explain your ccg mechanism with some bullshit like importing battlemechs from the future, along with the pilots. Everybody knows time travel only works one way, so the pilots are trapped in the past, doomed to fight a war they do not understand, but a war they must win or have the future of their past erased. Name would be preordnance.
Or maybe a more realistic tone.
Say some new tech like AI enables building craft that would kill a human pilot. States churn out thousands of automated mech fighters to fight never ending wars. Name would be proxy doctrine.
If you already have campaigns and battles in the works, perhaps naming the game based on those is a good idea?
Also, going back to "missions". Mission-type mechanical tactics MTMT. (mission-type tactics is an actual military doctrine)
I like Racing Spiders' name: HellWalkers.
But how about these titles:
1: StormKnights
2: Armored Trident
3: W.U.L.F. (Wanzer Unit Life Form)
4: Saber Blaze
5: C.O.R.N.( Cyber Optic Robot Network)
6: S.W.O.R.D. (System Wired Optic Robot Design)
Happy hunting,
Stormy
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Hamish is proposing to make the name of the game "M3K". And in my mind this stands for "Mech 3000" = "M3K".
What do you guys think???
Is this cool or not.