5 Indie Games With Mechanics Worth Cloning (Using Different Fluff)

For the most part, video game clones have a bad rep. The scorn is often well-deserved, given the number of cynical attempts to capitalize on the success of popular casual titles – after all, who’s looking for the Nth Flappy Bird mod, or yet another first-person infinite runner in the Temple Run vein?

But every so often, a game inspired by an earlier title will outperform its predecessor, just as Minecraft borrowed from Dwarf Fortress and Infiniminer. Likewise, Guitar Hero arguably distilled the best elements of Guitar Freaks. So it just goes to show that there’s value in remixes, mashups, and homages, especially when the original gets due credit. With that in mind, here are five independent titles with gameplay elements that could be adapted to interesting new settings with a bit of creative refluffing.

Spaceteam (iOS, Android)

Screenshot via Wired UK

Spaceteam is “local cooperative” mobile game with a starship crew flavor. Basically, multiple players sync up their devices, then bark orders at each other, by reading mock Star Trek technobabble instructions that appear on their screen. Then other players respond to those orders, as a quick time event, based on their view of the ship’s control panel. Every so often, a shared event – like a meteor shower or FTL jump – will happen, for all players to respond to simultaneously.

The wonderfully chaotic gameplay lends itself readily to other settings. I could see it work for high-seas Age of Sail piracy ("Batten the hatches!" "Swab the deck!" SQUALL!), combining-giant-mecha team ("Use Laser Sword!", "Fire Electromagnetic Shuriken!"), or even inconsequential stock trading ("Short GeneriCo!" "Sell ACME!" "Buy ABC Inc.!")

And it *seems* relatively simple to code (to my untrained eyes, at least). SO WHY IS THIS NOT A THING YET?

The Yawhg (PC)

Screenshot via NeoGAF

The Yawhg is a multiplayer choose-your-own-adventure, with RPG elements. Almost everything happens within a doomed town, which will be razed by the titular creature (or event – it’s never clear), within six weeks – or six turns in-game. But the player characters don’t know that. So the players take turns going through their characters ordinary lives, making choices that affect their various attributes. Hopefully, everyone builds up the necessary skills to survive the inevitable onslaught of the Yawhg. With several possible endings for the individual characters, and the town, as a whole, the replay value is immense.

A turn-based countdown to certain disaster seems like the perfect set-up for the outbreak of an unsuspecting zombie apocalypse. By adapting developer Damien Sommer’s basic game structure to a contemporary rural community, players would be challenged to deal with the misadventures of small-town life, while simultaneously prepping for the outbreak to come.

Papers, Please (PC)

Screenshot via Gamerwife

In Lucas Pope’s indie puzzle game Papers, Please, the player controls a nameless immigration officer at the border checkpoint of Arstotzka, a fictional communist nation, in the early ‘80s. Your mission is to keep out undesirables: illegal immigrants, known criminals, smugglers, or even would-be terrorists. During the course of every work-day, you are tasked with inspecting the paperwork of the various people who approach the booth. The documents can be as straightforward as a passport and work permit, or as complicated as a diplomatic license. If you spot a discrepancy, you can opt to investigate further, using tools like interrogation, fingerprinting, or a full-body scan. But watch the clock – how much you get paid depends on the number of people you process. Along the way, you’ll encounter opportunities for bribery, threats, or personal appeals to bend the rules. Use your own discretion, but always remember – every choice you make has direct consequences for the protagonist.

Given the basic mechanics, the most obvious clone would be a reskin for a Tropico-style banana republic – a riff on pre-Revolution Cuba, maybe. It would feature a healthy mix of tourists, refugees, and Cold War era spycraft to fully embroil the player character.

However, more than any other setting, I’d like to play a town gatekeeper in a generic Tolkien-esque world. Seriously, how fun would it be to cross-check visitors’ Race against their Class using an in-game rulebook that follows real-world character-building logic? Like, "Hey, all halflings are nature-worshippers – you can't possibly be a cleric. DENIED." To give the process a D&D flavor, let’s throw in some practical, limited-use spells like Detect Evil or True Seeing, as consumable power-ups.

Gods Will Be Watching (PC)

Screenshot via Kambyero

With just one single, retro-looking level, Gods Will Be Watching puts the player in charge of a crew of weary survivors. They’re trapped on a hostile planet, facing hunger, sickness, and the wrath of the elements. You must make tough practical and ethical decisions about managing key resources, while also keeping up the morale of the group. Each party member has their own special skills; applying them correctly might be the difference between possible rescue and giving in to slow, creeping despair.

It’s possible to keep the basic rules – manage resources; uplift group morale; stay alive – while adapting the characters and setting to a number of different genres. I envision shipwrecked travelers, stranded on a Jules Verne-style mysterious island, after their ill-fated voyage on a Victorian Era steam liner. Or transplant the whole game to a broken-down stagecoach in the hostile Old West, facing threats from bandits and Indians alike. (Just swap out the robot for a wise Chinese laborer.)

400 Years (PC)

Screenshot via Player Theory

This free browser-based game feels like a standard platformer with puzzle elements, but with one crucial difference: in order to get past obstacles, you must speed up time. By making the seasons pass, you can wait until the elements are in your favor. Trees will grow, bear fruit, or wilt. Lakes freeze up, then melt again. NPCs will establish settlements and build bridges for you to cross. Oh, and did I mention that you play a nigh indestructible living statue, who’s trying to avert the end of the world, within the given timeframe?

The time-manipulation element is what makes this game so unique. It goes a long way to establishing the laid-back, contemplative vibe. But what if your goal was the complete opposite? Imagine playing a reskinned 400 Years as a Cthulhu-like eldritch abomination, slowly plotting the destruction of the universe, before you too are smote from existence (after all, with strange aeons, even death may die). Skip forward until the stars are right, and your underwater kingdom rises from the sea. Manipulate villagers into forming cults to worship you, then speed up time until your power has grown. If you ever wanted to know how it feels to be an ominous cosmic horror, this could be your chance.