March & April are filled with CHEAP CLONES
March 8th, 2011
A lot of game developers don’t seem to get the credit they deserve. You know the ones – poor souls toiling away at making the next great original iDevice title that just happens to greatly rip off an existing mechanic down to the very look and feel of the game. Sometimes they’re even original enough to use the original assets from the game they’re inspired by!
In honor of these great game making pioneers, we’ve decided it was a great time to flood the market with CHEAP CLONES of existing titles. Just take your favorite game and make the most horrible B-rated version you can – points for including a link to the original game so we can see how far you’ve gone.
And because making cloned games is hard, we’re giving you two months to do it. With that much time you could even clone your own game!
We're a group of indie game developers, running a friendly competition every month. The rules: Make a game based on the month's theme, and don't spend more than 7 days. New games posted at the end of every month.
63 Comments, Comment or Ping
kind of a boring theme. why would anyone want to clone a game… and make it worse on purpose… for two months?!
March 8th, 2011
Not the most inspiring theme, it has to be said.
March 8th, 2011
The picture seems inspiring enough. Doing something analogous to that but for a game… Or focusing on the “cheap”, what happens when the physics for game X is completely broken? Does it suck or is it suddenly the most hilarious thing ever?
March 8th, 2011
2 months? Entirely? So it’s not one week anymore for this theme?
I was kinda expecting an adequate theme for my first EGP though… but nvm, I’ll try to think of something~ to copy…
March 8th, 2011
I like this idea. It doesn’t completely rule out originality either. I’m going to pick a mechanism that’s just part of another game and make that my entire game. It’s possible to really run with something like that and reach new places too.
March 8th, 2011
@ JAKEL168: http://experimentalgameplay.com/blog/about/
Looks like it’s 7 days to make the game. The theme just stays up for a month or two.
March 8th, 2011
I approve.
March 8th, 2011
hahah this is a GREAT theme. gonna have fun with this one.
March 8th, 2011
great track and my first EGP!
March 8th, 2011
Haha! I love it!
I expect a lot of Iphone’s hit ^^
March 8th, 2011
…with birds.
March 8th, 2011
Haters gon’ hate, this is a great theme!
March 9th, 2011
Cloned zombies, sounds scary.
March 9th, 2011
haha im gonna have a lot of fun with this :D
March 9th, 2011
Fake Game, hummm
I ll find something
March 9th, 2011
I don’t understand why some people aren’t happy with the theme. I’m sure everyone has played a game that they liked and wanted to make their own version of it. Now there is an event that allows it and encourages you to copy a game. What this does it forces you to analyze and break down an existing game and find out what the mechanics are, what works and what doesn’t. It is harder than it looks. Good luck everyone!
March 9th, 2011
Excellent point, well made! I also think the potential for hilarity is high with this one. :)
March 9th, 2011
This is a great theme: the most popular games today are clones of past titles, from farmville (various jprgs) to COD (doom/quake) to a super meat boy (a bajillion super mario style platformers)…
If you look back at all the EGP past entries you’ll find at least a 33% clone ratio. A “clone”, if we take the meaning lightheartedly, would be any game that has gameplay inspired by a previous popular game.
And, be honest with yourself, most of the game concepts that you and I have ever worked on are truthfully quite similar to those games we have played in the past.
I say, RUN WITH IT! Have fun! And humbly acknowledge that generally nothing is truly original. We aren’t always genre-busting mavericks with a gameplay idea that nobody has ever seen before.
For those of you who also love to LUDUM DARE, this weekend the MiniLD perfectly complements this theme. So why not enter two game jams for the price of one?
Heck, why not also join this week’s 7DRL (7 day roguelike challenge) and join all three with a single game!
Have fun! I can’t wait to play your games!
March 9th, 2011
Breakdance, you speak from my heart.
This can get so wrong and perverted that I cant wait for the end :D
Just for fun I added screeming voices and blood effect to GM Pacman example everytime you kill the ghost, game got whole new perspective
and it gave me a lot of enthusiasm for this theme
March 9th, 2011
This is the best theme so far! Sounds really fun.
March 9th, 2011
@FORFAKESIES I know it’s supposed to be 7 days… But because they say: “And because making cloned games is hard, we’re giving you two months to do it. With that much time you could even clone your own game!”… that’s what confuses me…
If it were just 7 days, they could’ve just make it a March theme, instead of both March and April… And again, they mentioned “with that much time”…
March 9th, 2011
This theme has me stumped :|
March 10th, 2011
I gotta love this theme… just in a good way, haha…
I’ll make (maybe 2…) a game for this theme :D
March 10th, 2011
Actually, I think I’m gonna join this EGP. It’s gonna be the best EGP ever, and I want to be part of it.
I’ve never done any video-game, and I have no idea how it works, but….”make the most horrible B-rated version you can”? I sure can do that!
Although, I already got a nice idea!
March 10th, 2011
GREAT !!!! :D
March 10th, 2011
Here is my entry for the “cheap clone” experimental gameplay project.
http://www.mcfunkypants.com/super-skill-jump/
Behold the majesty of a true gaming classic. Enjoy!
March 11th, 2011
This theme is awesome.
Btw, someone on tigforums is making minecraft/call of duty hybrid. Beat that
March 13th, 2011
@BREAKDANCE MCFUNKYPANTS: I cannot adequately describe how brilliant that is.
March 14th, 2011
I’d like to submit my entry, which I actually made for MiniLD 25, but fits this theme nicely =)
My game is called Hero Test, and is heavily inspired by Portal. You can play it in your browser (and read more about it) here:
http://www.stevegargolinski.com/hero-test-a-48-hour-game/
March 15th, 2011
My entry is done: http://tinyurl.com/65uw4he
It is called Zella.
March 16th, 2011
I´m giving away this idea:
GAME CLONE STORY:
a game in which you run a company that makes cheap clones of succesful videogames, with a staff of clones of famous videogames designers.
March 18th, 2011
Excellent critic, there are MANY COPY GAMES in the industry and I think it is GOOD to take the place of the developers…
March 19th, 2011
Hero Test was great fun! I wonder if you can win at the end if you bring enough pink blocks though
March 19th, 2011
@Bloocheese565 : Nope. I tried ^^
March 21st, 2011
I don’t really like the idea of making bad games on purpose but I’m going to participate because rapid prototyping a clone sounds fun. I plan on doing a mashup of Blaster Master and Metroid. I’ve never done a pixel art game before so this should be a fun experiment.
March 21st, 2011
I think there are three main ways of going about this theme. 1) Take an existing game and downgrade it, essentially creating a parody game. Great for laughs. 2) Take an existing game and change its gameplay, giving a new spin on an old franchise. Kind of like Super Mario Crossover 3) Take an existing game, keeping the same gameplay, and try your own hand at making quality new content/levels for it. Sort of like a fan game. See if you compare to Miyamoto in level design.
March 23rd, 2011
The most popular game that everyone wants to clone is Tetris, a very simple yet very popular and legendary game. It is worth to be cloned !!
http://bitsitsgames.blogspot.com/2010/09/tetris.html
March 24th, 2011
Mine is done — Vexed Hedgehogs. Completely utterly and totally original in all ways, it bears no relation to any previous games ever ever ever. It does have blue hedgehogs, so I suppose it has the vaguest similarity to Sonic, but it is unique. Totally and absolutely unique.
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/vexed-hedgehogs/files/vexed-hedgehogs/download/4826/6446/
March 24th, 2011
Yey, My entry is finally done and can be found here:
http://juippi.kapsi.fi/p/425
March 26th, 2011
A networked clone inspired by “Escape the Room”-style Flash games.
http://pinothefrog.blogspot.com/2011/03/escape-cage.html
March 26th, 2011
Haven’t been able to post from my phone so took a while just to state my intent..
Ever played Legend of Legaia? Great ps1 RPG with a really fun battle system. Thats what I plan to clone, the Tactical Arts battle system. (basically turn-based combos) I have some different ideas than what they used and I might not use a magic system at all, depends on if I have time.
March 30th, 2011
Here’s our game for this month’s entry:
Ultimate Pong
Link: http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/arcade/ultimate-pong/4911/
Original Game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong / http://www.pong-story.com/pcpong.htm
Created by Putera Nik (AizenSousuke) and Mok Swee Hoe from Republic Polytechnic, Singapore.
Instructions:
Left click to interact with the Menu screen.
Press the arrow keys to move the paddle.
For more games from the creators please visit:
http://lovepeacestudios.blogspot.com [AizenSousuke]
or
email: mok_hoe@hotmail.com [Mok Swee Hoe]
–Expect the unexpected–
–Rated the worst Pong ever–
April 4th, 2011
I bring to you… Super Paper Space Invaders!
http://www.evilissexy.com/SuperPaperSpaceInvaders.jar
A friend of mine who uses a mac said it wouldn’t run for him… no idea why. I don’t know anyone else with a Macs, so I don’t know if that’s actually the problem… no one else I know has had trouble running it, however.
To fully appreciate the music in Super Paper Space Invaders, you might want to remind yourself what the original sounds like. You may do so here: http://www.freespaceinvaders.org/ :)
April 7th, 2011
Here’s another game of mine for this month’s theme:
Landing
Created by AizenSousuke a.k.a Putera Nik Dimas Bin Ahmad from Republic Polytechnic, Singapore
Brief Description:
Landing is a game inspired by flight control and chu chu rockets. It was originally planned to be created for a school project but ended up as a freelance project for my own personal portfolio. Most of the assets in this game are by me with the exception of some sprites (clouds and backgrounds).
Two weeks was needed to program and polish this game up – one man studio.
How to play:
To play this game, you just need a mouse. The objective of this game is to guide all the coloured aeroplanes to the correct coloured parking. You must put arrows on the ground to make the aeroplanes turn when they are on them. Avoid crashing them into buildings or other aeroplanes and don’t make them miss the airport!
Link: http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/arcade/landing/4609/
For more games please go to http://lovepeacestudios.blogspot.com
–Based on Chuchu Rocket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHBsA-PZXiA–
April 10th, 2011
My game for this one’s done:
Prism Light
(Links)
Game Jolt – http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/other/prism-light/4981/
YoYo Games – http://www.yoyogames.com/games/171115-prism-light
A maze game inspired by different mouse maze games. Guide your light from the prism through 35 levels of darkness. Collect shards and avoid touching walls and traps. Features 35 levels, Speedrun mode (after finishing all the normal levels), colorful visuals, and more…
Warning! Flashing lights are included in this game (not all times though but still… get your eyes prepared) …
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTDbJPWz6Xk
April 13th, 2011
My first take.
A cheap clone of “WaveSpark” or “Tiny wings” depending on how you look at it. Made in 6 hours so it’s a little rough on the edges. I’ll surely polish that later next week.
http://alexisandre.com/2011/04/15/brave-wing
April 15th, 2011
I’m working on a game I’m calling “Commander Clone” … a Run N’ Gun genre “cheap clone.” I hope to finish a version 1 and then clone my own game to make a version 2 before the theme expires on April 30. So far I’ve been trying out the Akihabara engine.
A screenshot:
http://cl.ly/610E
April 15th, 2011
I made a clone of many Breakout clones: http://www.embergames.net/games/Brick-Whacker
Controls are simple: move with the mouse, esc to pause, left click to do everything else. A screenshot and video are on the game’s page. Should run on Windows, Linux, and Mac.
April 15th, 2011
Hi to all!
That’s my first EGP.
I’ll start today my project. It’s going to be a clone* of a very recent game (from a well known franchise) working on a 25 years old home computer.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a 25 years old computer and a blank tape to test the game, you will be able to play it online.
An advance:
10 cls
20 mode 1
30 ink 4,7:paper 2 : pen 4 : border 20
*clone… or “joke game”
April 17th, 2011
I went a little overboard and worked on my game for about 3 weeks. Its a crossover between Metroid and Blaster Master. The game is pretty big, probably the biggest game I’ve ever made. I could use some feedback from players about difficulty and other comments. Here’s the download link…
http://frankforce.com/?page_id=2003
April 17th, 2011
I’ve fixed a nasty bug that made the game unplayable the second play-through. That should be far easier to change islands now.
Let’s consider this as a 6 hours+alpha version.
Still available at the same address:
http://alexisandre.com/2011/04/15/brave-wing
April 17th, 2011
This is the direction I’m headed for my cheap clone of the Run N’ Gun genre… here’s a very, very early test:
http://www.zachstronaut.com/projects/commander-clone/0.1/game.html
Literally all you can do is walk, jump, and shoot. There’s not even anything to shoot at. heh
April 18th, 2011
oh man, I just got neat idea :P. Can it be for Iphone?
April 18th, 2011
I got bored with my main project (still intend to finish it) and made a quick clone of a game recently on Bytejacker in response to being called crazy on the show. Hah, showed them!
The game I voted for that came in second place was Viriax by Locomalito, very good game. Upward scrolling survival, bash enemies game. http://www.indiegames.com/blog/…/freeware_game_pick_viriax_loco.html
Mine scrolls down and I added some things that were seen in the video response I sent in as my vote.
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/arcade/dead-bunny-soup/5000/
April 21st, 2011
Hi there,
My entry: “Motion Columns”
A Columns clone where instead of matching diamonds with the same color you have to match diamonds which share the same movement pattern.
Also, it’s totally cheap as it’s entirely made out of classic cliparts.
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/puzzle/motion-columns/5008/
April 22nd, 2011
Hi to all!
My cheap clone “game” is ready…
Nintendogs 3ds + Amstrad CPC 464 =????
check yourself!
Playable on Youtube or on emulator
http://madeinpda.blogspot.com/2011/04/fleaz-my-experimental-gameplay-project.html
Source code package includes Locomotive BASIC code, a .dsk image to run on emulator and a wav file to load it on a real cpc!
April 23rd, 2011
The UI on mine is now a little less confusing: http://pinothefrog.blogspot.com/2011/03/escape-cage.html
April 24th, 2011
I feel I need to put a caveat on Vexed Hedgehogs ( http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/vexed-hedgehogs/download/4826/ ) which did originally obey the rules in having a short 7 day-ish dev time, but has now grown and grown since the Cheap Clones theme has run for a while. Long enough for me to get to 54 levels (including 9 cheesy Royal Wedding themed levels — Angry Birds: Seasons missed a trick there, I think), 18 powerups, and achievements. If this theme ran for much longer I think it would end up bigger than the original.
April 24th, 2011
Madeinpda, I was surprised how much I enjoyed playing your game in Youtube.
April 25th, 2011
Aaron!
Happy to read it! =)
FleaZ is a little silly thingy made for fun and enjoyment, so that’s the point!
It’s a proud for me your comment, you have done lot’s of amazing experimental art!
Regards!
April 27th, 2011
Welp, I cloned my cheap run n’ gun clone. But this might be as far as I get for the theme… we’ll see. Bit of a failure, but still kind of fun I think:
Commander Clone 0.2 – Training Mission
http://www.zachstronaut.com/projects/commander-clone/0.2/game.html
Let me know what you think!
April 29th, 2011
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