Was similarly concerned when the excellent Nemesis System was patented in 2021. We should have seen a whole wave of game devs pushing the nemesis system in exciting new directions. Instead, it's appeared in 1 other game since 2014, and then WB closed the studio
This kind of thing is real bad news for game design. 'Summoning a character and letting it fight another' is far too broad a concept and should never have been taken seriously in court, but it shouldn't be possible to patent game mechanics anyway #gamedesign
Nintendo has successfully acquired a US patent covering the ability to summon characters in a game and make them battle for you.
https://t.co/1O7vcGYe7i
There’s nothing flashy about Öoo’s bomb mechanic. You place a bomb (or a segment of your body - I’m not really sure!) and then blow it up to create motion. When it comes to extracting all the potential depth out of a simple concept though, Öoo is an absolute masterclass
Mechanic of the Month! Each month I'll be highlighting an exceptional game mechanic from a recent game. For August I'm choosing the bombs from Öoo, which has to be one of the most elegantly designed games I've played all year #indiegame#gamedesign