Tetris, is one of the few games that is known to most people. And it is a very addictive and accessible game. What do you think are the elements that have contributed to its success? Although many have dreamed of making the ''NEW TETRIS'', I don''t think that anyone has come close (in sales, and certainly not in ''brand recognition''). So what attributes of the design Tetris do you think are important, and what do you think stops people from rivalling it?

Sorry Waverider, by the NEW TETRIS, I just meant a new puzzle game that was similarly fun / addictive / accessible, as Tetris. (Or more widely, any genre of game that would exert the same kind of attractive power on people).

Hmmm, so basically your asking whats the next big thing? Sure, like i''d tell you!

hmmm.. a simple and easily picked up control scheme is certainly a VERY important factor. You can play Tetris with left, right and down (to speed up the drop).

Not only this, but the spatial representation of the game is fairly easy to get used to, as it is not ''3d'' and is fairly easy to see if you are lining the blocks up right.

Whereas, one of my favourite puzzle games Bust-a-move / Puzzle-Bobble is not quite as clear and simple in either its spatial representation, or its control system. It has left and right and fire, but these controls change the angle that the balloon is fired at, and the balloon can bounce of the walls of the play area (kind of like Pool).

So, whilst the control system is fairly simple =rotate left, rotate right and fire, the spatial representation system that this is linked to is not as easily picked up as Tetris. It takes a while to become used to the angles, and be able to line up your shots so that they bounce off 2 walls and hit a Bubble that couldn''t be hit otherwise.

Another reason that people may be put off from playing Bust-a-move, may be the cute / weird characters that they use in the game (Cute dinosaurs, and other characters in what is known as the ''super deformed style). These characters and the bright colour scheme may give the impression that the game is just ''for kids''. As opposed to the more sober graphical style of Tetris.

By the way, I recomend trying out Bust-a-move as it is a very fun game! You should be able to find a demo of Bust-a-move 4 on the internet, or even Super-bust-a-move (which I don''t like as much, as the graphics are slightly different)

quote:Original post by Punx
A new Tetris would have to allow the player to pick up and play, long play times shouldn't be needed to enjoy the game. For this to happen you need simple rules with immediate and constant rewards. These were the strong points of Tetris, the rules were simple enough and clearing rows of blocks was a constant reward.

Good post. Most other games don't offer such constant rewards. Not only that, but most games offer frequent *punishments* to the player (especially to the inexperienced player), whereas Tetris does not punish the player. Except, in a passive sense, when the player puts the block in the wrong place and suffers the consequences.

This relative lack of punishments (probably) avoids disencouraging people who would be put off if they were to play other more difficult games where they would be quickly wiped out by (the enemy characters).

[edited by - Ketchaval on July 3, 2002 6:31:08 PM]

I recommend playing Rotris