Ok, so after I published my first round of ideas for the theme Delay the Inevitable, I started to really like the idea of a game about urban decay.
A reverse city builder?
I thought about a city block that would slowly get potholes in its streets, broken windows, crumbling building foundations, etc. You need to fix things, and you have to prioritize what gets fixed because there aren’t enough resources to go around.
On top of it all, your fixes won’t restore things beyond a certain point, so everything gets worse, but you can at least slow it down.
But as I looked up urban decay to see if there was anything I could use to inspire the mechanics or theme, I realized that a lot of urban decay is the direct result of white supremacy, systemic racism, and redlining.
I think it would make for an excellent educational game topic, but I don’t think I have the ability to gain enough expertise on this topic to treat it with the justice and sensitivity it deserves in 48 hours.
I tweeted about it, and Jayenkai suggested I could still use the urban decay concept in a non-realistic world:
Then don't go the realism route. Let the 80s Arcade stylings take over. What if, instead of people in a real environment, they were Pac-Man style ghosts? What if Pac-Man was darting around the maze, smashing it up, and the ghosts had to try to fix it..?
— Jayenkai [JNK] (@Jayenkai) April 2, 2022
So now I am thinking about where else urban decay could apply. An ant hill? A rabbit burrow? A castle dealing with dragons, wizards, and angry villagers? An open office space?
I’m about 2 hours into the compo, and it is getting late. I think I’ll draw some concept art and then go to bed.