It seems like the vast majority of games involve killing a bunch of enemies. Whether its enemy soldiers, aliens, or zombies, violence is the the main form of entertainment. The show Extra Credits, on the Escapist, has talked about some examples of non combat games, and a few other places on the web have also put forth some ideas. I thought I’d add my voice with what I think would be an interesting non combat game.
I prefer not to use historical events, cause it gives me more freedom with the scenario and how the game unfolds, but if I wanted to give people a general idea of what the game was about, I would say, “think of Gandhi and the Indian independence movement.” The game revolves around organizing peaceful protests, organizing strikes, and traveling the country to recruit people to your cause.
I suppose the people in the game could belong to many different groups, but for now lets just talk about 2 groups, the small, yet powerful ruling group, and the large, but incredibly oppressed group. Very few people in the oppressed group will be interested in peaceful protests at the beginning of the game, most will just passively accept the injustice, so you must travel around giving speeches to convince them to join you.
There will be another, more militant faction, of the oppressed group. They will start small, but will grow in power throughout the game. As the militant group grows in strength and boldness violence against the oppressors will increase, and in response the oppressors will escalate violence in retaliation.
This escalating violence will be tracked by a violence meter. Not incredibly realistic but serves its purpose for the game. When the violence meter is completely full the country becomes embroiled in a full scale civil war, which is a fail condition for the game. So, in addition to trying to take down the current oppressive government, you must also compete with a more violent faction for support of the people, because letting them get too powerful will cause a civil war.
So what is the ultimate goal of the game? To take down the oppressive government. Unlike a violent revolution, this will be a long and slow process. Protests and strikes will put pressure on the government to make small concessions. Giving people more rights and protections from the government, some elected officials to get partial sway in the government, with the eventual goal of making a completely democratic government, at which point the oppressors will be removed from power, and the game will be won.
What about the involvement of foreign nations? Well that would be very complicated indeed. The ruling group may be getting weapons and other support from other countries. If your non-violent movement gets the attention of international news, they might lose support giving you a better position to negotiate from. There are so many complicated ways other nations could be involved in this game.
You’re free to think of your own ideas and post some comments here. If you happen to know a game like this that already exists, let me know.
MaxFF's Blog 