Finding the right reference

How can you create a game mechanic based on an existing one? How do you find the right reference to start creating your own?

The first step is to look for games that include mechanics and features similar to what you are envisioning for your game. Your game concept should give you a clear idea of which games you should look at.

At this point, you should have a clear idea of who your competitors are (as we have seen in Chapter 2, Preparing a Game Concept) and it is important to look at your competition’s game mechanics with special attention. This is for two reasons:

• Here you will find the basic mechanics of your game.
• It will give you a clear idea of how games similar to yours play. Your goal is to make something different in the end, not just copy and paste what’s already been done!

Let’s have a look at some practical examples.

Let’s say you are building a real-time strategy game and need to define...