Game "gimmicks" - Fez, Braid, Max Payne even.

SubJeff on 31/7/2013 at 22:40

I've been playing Fez and I love the mechanic, the gimmick.

It got me thinking about game gimmicks and all the interesting ones I've seen over the years.

The first time I remember a game "getting" me with something that I just laughed at because it was so cool was in Sonic on the Megadrive. There was a drop that was so high you accelerated off the screen, or nearly off. It made my stomach do a flip. I don't think I saw it again in that game but I was playing at a friend's so...

The coolest gimmick I remember is the map in Zelda on the DS where you have to close the DS to transfer something from one screen to another.

Other gimmicks of note, in my gaming history are:

Max Payne - bullet time. Such a wow the first time.
Half Life 2 - the gravity gun. In Ravenholm. With saw blades.
Braid - all of the time stuff. Great.
Dishonored - blink.
Portal - portals! Shame you couldn't portal through a portal like in Narbacular Drop
Closure - light = substance.
Crysis - the suit abilities.
Dead Space - the limb severance.
Fez - the perspective business.

I'm looking at my small list of Steam games for reference.

Many games don't actually have a gimmick as such. GTA for example; it has a lot of, err, stuff in it. You could class carjacking as the gimmick I suppose, but it's not the same as the things I've mentioned above, which more or less define how you are going to play and enjoy a game.

So people, with regards to gimmicks or interesting game mechanics, what are you favourite? I'm not talking about whether you like the game - I understand a lot of people find Fez a bit dull - but the gimmick/mechanic.

And what gimmicks have you seen spread to other games? Bullet time and gravity "guns" are all over the place now. Is there anything else?

june gloom on 31/7/2013 at 22:53

GTA's gimmick was (as of GTA3 anyway) and is a small-scale recreation of a living, breathing city as best as the technology will allow, and in this regard I believe it succeeded. Each new game (with the exceptions of the Stories games, which were essentially expansion pack sequels to GTA3/VC) were successive iterations and improvements on the previous models, with an increasing granularity to detail to the point where Liberty City in GTA3, while seeming very vibrant at the time, definitely comes off as somewhat cardboardy compared to Liberty City of GTA4 -- and San Andreas is closer to GTA4 in terms of detail than it is to 3.

Volitions Advocate on 1/8/2013 at 04:17

You could easily put MGS on the list. While it was easy at some points like switching controller ports to fight Psyco Mantis, I remember being so confused and frustrated trying to find the CD case that I missed that had Meryls codec freq on it. sometimes they are better in theory than in execution.

Chade on 1/8/2013 at 04:45

Don't we need a different word then gimmick? A gimmick is something that appears unique and "cool" on the surface but is ultimately insignificant. Of the games I've played on that list, I wouldn't call any of those things gimmicks.

Muzman on 1/8/2013 at 05:22

It's got a negative connotation but I'd dare say it fits. Games are sold on 'that thing this does different' be it larger set pieces than the other guy or that thing you can't do in other games. It is a bit broad though, I agree. The distinction is already between gimmicks and mechanics and we hit the problem of some mechanics are gimmicks but not all gimmicks are mechanics.

Anyway, Red Faction Guerrilla is all about gimmicks (so is the series actually. More so than most). Its gimmick of being able to demolish buildings its so good they don't even have to mention you can fly around in a jet pack. That'd receive top billing in a lot of games.

twisty on 1/8/2013 at 09:08

It's not really that great a fit if you take a look at the (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gimmick) definition of the word. But as SE's examples tend to be describe interesting novel game mechanics, I'll go along with that as it's a good topic.

I think if anyone put there mind to it though it would be a really long list so I'll just stick with a few that spring immediately to mind:

Thief - guards speaking with each other or to themselves. It really made the AI come to life.
Ultima 7 - cooking, knitting, sailing...
Ultima Underworld - enemies that run away when injured but join in the fight again if joined by any of their comrades.
Dragon's Lair - cartoon-grade quality graphics.
Silent Hill - radio monster detector.
Tomb Raider - well the gimmick were the boobs, but I remember being wowed at being able to swim and climb in a 3d environment with a perspective that changed with context or the direction that Lara travelled in. I was in the Virgin shop in central London watching it on a display and it was the game that made me buy a Playstation.

SubJeff on 1/8/2013 at 10:04

That's why I put it in quotes, and I was thinking more of this past of the definition:

"An innovative or unusual mechanical contrivance; a gadget."

henke on 1/8/2013 at 10:37

Quote Posted by twisty

It's not really that great a fit if you take a look at the (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gimmick) definition of the word.

Seems like the word covers a lot of ground, but "gimmick" defenitely has a negative connotation, at least in my ears. I'd say there's a difference between "innovative gameplay mechanic" and "gimmick".

Innovative gameplay mechanic: Portal. Because the majority of the game is based around the use of portals, the game wouldn't work without them.

Gimmick: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrKnkw1C4ik) Sideway. You play as a piece of animated graffiti stuck on a wall, that's the gimmick. But in actuality the gameplay is hardly any different from any 2D platformer. You could get rid of the stuck-on-a-wall aspect and it would barely change the way the game plays.

Chade on 1/8/2013 at 10:48

Ok then, seems the free dicitonary does include more positive definitions of "gimmick" that fit the sort of mechanics SE is talking about.

I've never really heard positive uses of "gimmick" before, or perhaps I've heard them and assumed they were meant in a negative fashion, so I've learnt something today.

Kuuso on 1/8/2013 at 10:59

Severance: Blade of Darkness - limbs and violence (waaaaay before Dead Space :p), I would like to place it's lightning here as well, but I think that is just fucking great work instead of a gimmick.