nv-moba/design.md

A Nonviolent MOBA

A team game with an emphasis on movement (with no shooting), inspired by Overwatch and Zineth

Main mechanics ideas:

• Teams start side-by-side and must get to objective
• Objective is a see-saw: have more mass on your side of point

Side mechanics ideas:

• Maze-like map
• After enough movement, player can switch characters (switching is a mechanic, not a meta-game! no one-tricks)
• Speed up slowly over time. Reset on switch

Ideas for characters:

• Blink (Tracer) - no cooldown, but loses all speed on hitting walls
• Merge (Mercy) - combines with someone to boost their speed
• Amp it up (Lucio/Zarya) - Area of effect or zarya-like cast, speeds people up
• Changes side of see-saw for each team (should it be mechanic instead??)
• Build Zineth-like rails for anyone to use
• Teleportation (for others!), like Symettra (but faster pace)
• Heavy guy - Slow, but very heavy for the see-saw

Key concepts:

• From mobas we take:

  • An emphasis on teamwork (Objective-based is a plus)
  • Rich, emergent interaction
  • Quick battles (very high replay value)

• From Zineth we take:

  • A rethinking of racing games
  • High skill cap, low skill floor
  • Forgiving gameplay