High Concept Indie Game Generator 1.0
child or young adult of ambiguous gender
female-coded artificial intelligence
a mysterious underground kingdom.
a derelict space station.
a socially awkward scientist
an ugly but well-meaning monster
an eclectic band of fellow exiles
a spirit or deity of uncertain motives
a mysterious benefactor who communicates though notes or recordings
the player (who the protagonist is aware of and can talk to)
… our hero harnesses the power of:
grotesque physical transformations
a childhood hobby or pastime
… and contends with fearsome foes via:
turn based JRPG-style combat
ritualised sports matches
talking about their feelings
… to overcome the forces of:
In the end, it’s revealed that:
the narrator and/or the user interface has been lying to you
this has all happened before, and will happen again
the player character is secretly the villain
it was all a dream - but not your dream
we’re all just characters in a video game
reconciliation of sworn foes.
the hero’s ascension to godhood.
the hero’s tragic but willing self-sacrifice.
escape from the prison of reality.
Reviewers harshly criticise the game’s:
short and linear narrative
heavy-handed emotional manipulation
… but universally praise its:
The fandom, for their part:
become obsessed with an incidental side character
argue endlessly over the appropriateness of popular ships
produce vast quantities of angsty YouTube AMVs
harass the developers on social media
attempt to start a religious movement
draw lots of anatomically improbable porn
… thus cementing their public reputation as a bunch of weirdos. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated sequel fails to eventuate owing to the fact that:
the creative lead has left the gaming industry to become a lumberjack.
the Kickstarter spent all its money on novelty t-shirts.
the source code has been lost in a mysterious accident.
the developers all burned out on console port QA.
the writer and the artist had a falling-out and hate each other now.
the cliffhanger ending was just trolling you.