=== ANCHOR POEM ===
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────
 there use to be this cute half life 2 mod called I think Zombie Master? maybe?
 anyway one of the players was a "zombie master" and the others were characters
 who ran around and tried not to get their brains eaten. It was pretty fun
 because the zombie master, of who there could only be one but who I think
 could have been a split role if they did it right, would click on parts of the
 map and zoom around invisibly and be like "ah yes I want to spawn 6 regular
 zombies in this choke-point so they have to painstakingly shoot them while the
 scary ones come from behind" or "hooray they're trapped in the closet just
 like I expected now I can turn on the buzz saws" or "the poisonous gas was lit
 aflame and now they can't see which way the flare is and got turned around in
 the confusion, ah oh well war is hell might as well just walk over that way"
 
 ... hang on what was I saying? Oh yes, I think it's silly that they don't make
 "game frameworks" like the Warcraft 3 editor or the source SDK. Human
 creativity is unbridled
                                                           ───────────┐
 similar                        chronological                        different═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────┘

=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===

--- #1 fediverse/2126 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┐
 There was this great game growing up called Neverwinter Nights 2 - I never       │
 really played it, but it was renowned for it's map-editor functionality. You     │
 could join a person's "game", when really they were in the editor window, and    │
 they could BUILD THE GAME RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. It was like, computer skill     │
 performance gameplay improv. It was beautiful.                                   │
 I did, however, play a Warcraft 3 mod with all the same ideas. Except, it was    │
 ONLY IN RAM. YOU COULD NOT SAVE.                                                 │
 so it was a lot simpler, and O M G it was the coolest thing ever.                │
 I played it like, twice though. Nobody ever hosted it, nobody ever showed me     │
 how.                                                                             │
 I tried to play it single-player, but I couldn't understand the mechanics. Not   │
 simple enough for me, I guess.                                                   │
 I couldn't help but think how many cool games a person could make if they        │
 could do that with the Warcraft 3 editor itself.                                 │
 Because I did work with that, a lot, which was NOT in RAM, but instead stored    │
 to the hard drive.                                                               │
 Hard drives which I've since lost, of course, but drop me in and I know ho       │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #2 fediverse/4908 ---
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────
 did you know someone once built a 1st person shooter in the Warcraft III mod
 suite?
 
 someone also made an entirely new game engine similar to Neverwinter Night's
 (or Baldur's Gate for you noobs) inside of the game. You could join a Warcraft
 3 map and start playing a D&D adventure narrated, controlled, and prepared
 by your DM, D&D style. Like a virtual tabletop before that was a thing.
 
 kinda wish stuff like that was open source, or at least open standards, so
 people could take those adventures with them.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┘

--- #3 fediverse/982 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────
 @user-707 @user-708 
 
 using this to control the buttons in VRchat would be like a person with a
 prosthetic interacting with real life :O
 
 minus the physicality of course, but that's next.
 
 can't wait to play Warcraft 3 and think "select all healers" so I can point
 them at a dying unit with my mouse.
 
 or world of warcraft where your rotation begins to feel like a song.
 
 maybe even a text-based adventure, where you reading the text corresponds to
 the results of the simulation, https://www.spreeder.com/app.php style. could
 make it so that if you wanted something else to happen, you had to willfully
 think it while the words are flashing in front of your eyes - the game would
 pause if you blinked, perfect for phones btw...
 
 could be a locally networked thing, like four to six people hanging out and
 playing a game like pictionary or charades. except, a story that developed,
 and whoever wanted could change it while everyone was reading it at once.
 sorta like a competition to see who can make the best twists and false endings
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘

--- #4 fediverse/4877 ---
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────
 you can make a functional prototype for almost any game in Warcraft 3's map
 editor
 
 that's why no real-time strategy game ever made an editor as good again
 
 FPS editors peaked at Unreal Tournament 2004 imho
 
 RPGmaker eliminated a whole class of game design jobs
 
 platformers you can make in godot
 
 menu based games too, though Twine also works well for that
 
 etc etc until you have a prdouct that you can justify sinking money into an
 engine for
 
 (the engine isn't THAT expensive geez and it's the most fun part to write)
 
 yeah I think you got this backwards, we should pay for the CONTENT not the
 structure it lives in. Why not just use godot? why not use a Warcraft 3 map?
 there are some things you can't do in Warcraft 3. You couldn't make Supreme
 Commander, probably, at least it wouldn't be as good.
 
 etc etc that's how it goes...
 
 game design, amiright? I miss thinking about that. Anyway gtg gotta log off
 for a bit [101  characters remaining]
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┘

--- #5 fediverse/5900 ---
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────
 I love programming, but I'm not a coder.
 
 you burn witches because you JUST CAN'T HANDLE THEM ANYMORE. I know, I get it.
 of course I do.
 
 I'm always so concerned that someone might stumble upon me. that they might
 read me. what a vulnerable state, to be afraid?!
 
 I really really really really wanna play world of warcraft
 
 my message to blissard is: treat World of Warcraft like a game engine, not a
 theme park please. I mean, the theme park should still exist, because it's neat
 but... the rest of the game engine could be used to create essentially
 anything with a 3rd person camera.
 
 singleplayer doesn't even need to worry about clipping animations. (lag)
 
 I wonder if you could run World of Warcraft on lowest settings in vanilla
 burning crusade or wrath of the lich king? good thing those are open source
 now, so you can host your own if you want. well, except the client, but nobody
 has bothered to write another one besides the owner and primary developers of
 the engine.
 
 movement system plugins? data memory?~~~
                                                           ────────┐
 similar                        chronological                        different════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────┘

--- #6 notes/wow-chat-raids ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────
 wowchat would make a great game for raids.
 have the monsters spawn at specific spots that you go through and identify
 on the geometry
 tell them to run and attack the nearest of foes
 give the players the goal of bringing themselves through to the end...
 or, later on, in building an internal expedition.
 
 wow-chat, where monsters spawn in a circle around your character and walk to
 ward them. you can meet characters who'll follow and protect you, and you can
 meet monsters to fight. also vendors to take your junk and give you cool
 things,
 and trainers to teach you and quest-givers to guide you and treasure for you to
 find.
 
 in raids, there are more things for you. monsters spawn at specified locations,
 and only the nearest few in a radius. then, they attack over the landscape-of-
 -imagination, and as they do they show you where is the most powerful loot.
 
 if you raid a monster's den/hiding/spawning choice, then you have to defeat the
 boss. this boss is larger, mostly. has more hitpoints... monstly. or maybe it's
 just the most respected, who can say.
 
 anyway, you get treasure if you do. the monster spawns for you when you find
 it.
 and you have to sense it by searching for whichever monsters spawn at higher
 and
 higher levels and in different types.
 
 different monster type, different boss that way.
 
 when the boss is slain, that type goes away.
 
 at least, until the raid resets next week.
 
 or maybe...
 
 until enough resources have been gathered to make another attempt.
 
 death knights should be able to command the minions to work in the haunted
 mill.
 it should be reasonable for a fighter to hire a peasant host.
 mages should have golems or spirits or enchanted objects or elementals or
 wizard
 hats
 warlocks should have covenants with dark hosts
 darkness is not evil unless you use it for evil...
 paladins should have retainers and disciples
 elves should sing to the woods
 clerics and charmers should be well understood.
 celebrants and diviners are two of the same,
 and pillars of plunder [warrior or rogue class] and rough and ripe [from the
 stoner]
 oops gotta go, sprung a leak
                                                           ─────────┐
 similar                        chronological                        different═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────┘

--- #7 fediverse/1436 ---
════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────
 there's this fun game that people sometimes play on Reddit where someone will
 make a post that says something like "comment on this post and then edit it
 after I reply to make me look bad" and someone will say something like "how
 are you doing today man" and he'll reply "oh you know pretty good actually
 it's pretty nice honestly" and then they'll edit their comment to say
 something like "how do you feel about the droid attack on the wookies" so OP
 looks like they're condoning mechano-violence against tall furry humanoids
 
 that's just an example, usually it's for comedic effect
 
 I just think that's an interesting illustration of a process that could be
 co-opted by a "man-in-the-middle" attack to alter the perception of a person
 partway through their journey, perhaps when it's at the point where they're
 most despised (or perhaps in pursuit of that state)
 
 something something cancel culture plus deepfakes
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent══════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────┘

--- #8 notes/supreme-commander-appeal ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────
 a game like supreme commander but fantasy themed and each unit used a special
 move everytime their mana was full and there were spellcasters who restored
 mana to targets to increase their power
 or, hear me out, or, just do that in wowchat
 
 I betcha could do it
 
 I bet it would be fun as hell
 
 please?
 
 as a favor to yourself?
 
 build the game you want to see
 
 and it'll get done
 
 please
 
 -- stack overflow --
 
 your journals were originally a way for you to remember what to think,
 
 remember?
 
 old projects meant to show you light and life
 
 remember?
 
 you are alone in this soul
 
 act like it's your own
 
 celebrate your period of mental denial
 
 as a refraction of your infinite travaille
 
 which lasts for quite a good long while
 
 have you ever dreamed of the nile?
 
 -- stack overflow --
 
 if a doorway takes you to the fae, then where does a river bring you?
 
 like raindrops on the floor, racing for an eternity's splendor.
 
 what does the rainbow think, as it's cast from the prismatic orb?
 
 are each photons aware?
 
 bouncing between stars
 
 light is beautiful and large
 
 beloved by all
 
 revered by one
 
 ephemeren
 
 the totality of all things
 
 ------------------
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────┘

--- #9 fediverse/3909 ---
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────
 I don't really like singleplayer games
 
 sometimes a multiplayer game is too much effort to play with extra players,
 like Factorio where like anytime I'd play with other people they'd just kinda
 fuck off and do their own thing (whatever, I wanted to design a factory
 together, not play singleplayer together >.>)
 
 sometimes a multiplayer game has no players, RIP
 
 sometimes a multiplayer game has incredibly skilled players who shit on noobs
 and don't teach, RIP
 
 and sometimes a multiplayer game has no IRL friends that are into it,
 (personal RIP then)
 
 ... anyway, games are fun and we should play more of them. I wish I didn't
 have so much time to waste, but hey I guess that's where I'm comfortable, so...
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┘

--- #10 fediverse/1238 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┐
 did you know you can run runescape classic offline, locally, just for your own   │
 server? You can keep several computers ready for a LAN party, each with their    │
 own accounts ready to go.                                                        │
 "Oh we're level 30 this time because so-and-so is hosting and this is how far    │
 their computer has levelled up."                                                 │
 vim ~/games/runescape-classic/credentials.txt                                    │
 at least, I think you can. I know it's singleplayer, so worst case scenario      │
 you can all be doing the same things at the same time in your own games. Maybe   │
 split up for a mission or two, but it can get hectic if everyone's in the same   │
 room.                                                                            │
 =                                                                                │
 a game jam where everyone works on the same project, uses the same asset list,   │
 but builds their own collection of minigames.                                    │
 common functions could be shared, and art references distributed and together    │
 they could design a whole land. Like, there's no reason minigames can't be       │
 fully fledged experiences. You can have as many as you want, all in the same     │
 engine and built from a massive (yet sandboxed) environment.                     │
 an all in one game.                                                              │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #11 fediverse/2063 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┐
 "No I haven't played that PC game before. Do you want to watch me play it for    │
 the first time? We can have a laugh and eat cheetos as I die to the first boss   │
 a hundred times. Maybe next time we'll get tacos and then perhaps we'll find     │
 that we're spending so much time talking about things that we never really got   │
 a chance to engage with the game. Until next week of course, when we'll          │
 definitely spend more time playing. Maybe even with friends? I know a guy        │
 who's into this game but I never really played it with him - maybe we could -    │
 oh yeah sure totally we'll talk about that next week."                           │
 "or maybe we'd unlock the secrets hidden in the narrative, and learn cool        │
 lessons we could share with one another. Like two 12 year olds playing Ocarina   │
 of Time together, working through each boss. "let me try this time" "yeah that   │
 one got me too" "ah so close" "YEAH DUDE you nailed it" "this part is kinda      │
 scary ngl" "wait shit when did we use that health potion"                        │
 old hardware forced us into a different experience compared to z                 │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #12 fediverse/4794 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────
 ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: roleplaying-games-mentioned │
 └─────────────────────────────────┘


 I want to play a roleplaying game! anyone wanna do TTRPGs? I've got a map of
 the county jail, we can pretend to be wizards sneaking in to retrieve the
 staff of Dolomis the Wanderer who coincidentally must be carried by the last
 person who fought the one who slayed the last person to hold it.
 
 ... what? oh, so, like... it can only be carried by your enemy?
 
 something like that. anyway it's currently held by a zealot for a religious
 order who's intent on NOT following you out, so you better be ready to
 incapacitate and retrieve a still quivering sack of bones and malice.
 
 ... I don't actually have a map of the county jail. lost it in transit, oh
 well. Well, we'll come up with something. maybe make something up. or perhaps
 someone else has something...?
 
 ... no?
 
 okay I'll just play Baldur's Gate again. boooooring
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────┘

--- #13 notes/that-thing-about-money-is-power-corrupts-absolutely-true ---
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───
 is that a blossoming bloom or a predatasaurus ready to consume
 
 ah. scary.....
 
 what was I saying? oh yes. if you remember that thing about money you'll have
 to
 agree, one buildion is not worth a billion dollars. how much is a
 1,000,000,000$
 goal? not much if you ask me, to never have to worry about a problem like "this
 part of the world can't get clean water" ever again. Could be useful when sore
 spots start showing up on the other part of way back [in/then].
 
 "we didn't even get to use any of the plastic anyway" - some guys in nigeria
 
 "quick, we better burn through as much of this as we can" - some guys around a
 metal barrel bin why do they never do that anymore these days?
 
 we used to take better care of the homeless. now they don't even get a fire to
 shamble around mindlessly around like weirdos who bonk into things like metal
 barrels full of fireplace ashes
 
 oh, were they just burning plastic? no, I swear, it was candlesticks and
 matches
 
 man there's always this nasty touch to the air.
 
 "yay free firewood for hobos!" boom solved a problem and I didn't even need a
 billion dollars to build the infrastructure for the solution to the problem
 that
 I solved.
 
 I really want to play World of Warcraft as The Ashbringer. But alas, they don't
 let you play through the most celebrated of events solo or with a party members
 chosen as one of the characters who was there LotR on Gamecube style but in the
 WoW engine because it's an engine for that sort of thing. (see my gameplay
 prototype wow-chat)
 
 there, solved another problem for "how to make money as Blizzard for the next
 couple of years" probably maybe idk if it's that valuable of a dungeon feature
 but it might be who can say idk remember again why I'm so sad that video games
 are going out of fashion, as people struggle to remember what any of them were
 called.
 
 god, I hate that kind of future.
                                                           ──┐
 similar                        chronological                        different══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──┘

--- #14 notes/unreal-tournament-2004-notes-displayed-for-utilization ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────
 capture the flag
 map with lanes (you'll see)
 also was included with the demo of the game back when it was released
 which implies that the developers thought it was one of the best maps
 (at least, the one that best showcased the gameplay style of the full game)
 they let you host multiplayer servers too, which was cool
 just with the demo
 for free
 but like... only 3 or 4 maps
 (I forget how many)
 
 also no mods, which was half of the appeal
 
 I like to play in a way that is non-standard
 
 because I believe it shows the most dense formations of combatants
 
 (the bots can be kinda dumb)
 
 so I put them on "experienced"
 
 be careful not to hurt your allies (hundred percent)
 
 scary! D: D:
 
 regular :)
 
 you can create your own "mutators" by the way
 (just some C++ code, run in their environment, so no need to mess with
 compilers
 )
 
 3 paths to your enemy
 
 omg :O :O
 
 that's one style of play
 pushing forward
 consistently
 
 but check out this other style that is *also* pushing forward consistently
 
 adrenaline makes you bonused
 
 hey we got a point :D
 
 told ya boosters gave ya bonuses
 
 anyway I just played this map
 and couldn't wait to show it to you
 so let's try a different one
 (because I've already played this one for 31 minutes now
 
 woof too looooong)
 
 biiiiiiig battlefield
 
 thin crevasse
 
 scarrryyyy D: D:
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘

--- #15 fediverse/1028 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────
 there's this really fun video game I like to play called "Legion TD  2" - it's
 based on a Warcraft3 mod.
 
 In this game, you make tactical and strategic decisions on a fixed term - a
 competitive game between 4 or 8 players with an incredible array of randomness.
 
 it teaches you to work with what you got, and to make decisions based on your
 opponent's weaknesses. Good luck figuring out what they are, though, as you
 can't just memorize them out of a book. You need to adapt, in the moment, to
 the decisions of your foes, while primarily focusing your attention on
 accomplishing a different task.
 
 I really like it because it's taught me to be strategic in plenty of other
 ways. I used to love the game Overwatch because it required adaptibility. The
 game was always changing, so no strategy stuck forever, but every match you'd
 play against a slightly different opponent.
 
 but then Blizzard changed the game because they wanted to make more money, and
 it got worse and worse at what I liked about it. Sadface. : (
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘

--- #16 notes/symbeline-battlefields ---
═══════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 in Symbeline, there are moments where large armies of enemies gather to face a
 mighty challenge. These calls are often answered by other evil parties, but at
 times the burden must fall upon the shoulders of the good. Light battles dark,
 and in a climactic finale the justice of the world is laid bare. These
 encounters comprise more than both an adventuring party and a horde party. They
 are represented on the map as a circular icon the majesty can click on and open
 a screen that gives them command over a single battle. Essentially adding a
 tactics minigame. The battles take place in real time, with the majesty
 directing and giving orders. There'll be a system for expression in the orders
 each player gives - there can only be 6 total (3 for before 
 
 what if the grand canyon was the seat of native american power and it crumbled
 and that great calamity shook the very society to the core. the only reason
 that
 europeans could get as far as they did was because there who two calamities in
 a
 row. Disaster was afoot, and everything felt like it was burning. A calamitous
 event.
 
 what I mean to say is um do you ever feel like everything is burning? Like the
 world is on fire and nobody seems to care. Like, literally on fire. Like it'll
 catch like a tinderbox and go "crack". Nobody survives that, it'd be the end of
 the world. That's not something to fucking play around with you pieces of shit
 
 and by that I mean well not only is a lifetime so sheltered, from all that was
 weathered, by the past unbeknownsted to our selves.
 
 I'm proud of how far I came. I feel like a statue in the garden, a spirit
 inhabiting the house. I feel like an interpretive dance, like a statement of
 being on our behalf. swirling and chaotic, yet never amnioxitc, alight and
 aloft
 to our pleasures.
 
 for {bool shouldGameEnd = False; !shouldGameEnd();} {
    
    // game code
    
 }
 
 okay anyways back to symbeline - the commands issued before a battle are things
 like "have more spearmen here" or "hold and attack the rear" and stuff like
 what you'd give in Dominions, except with fantasy armies.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

--- #17 fediverse/3063 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────
 @user-570 
 
 true. the "massively multiplayer" aspect of WoW is about as important to the
 game as the "A" is in "ARPG".
 
 I can't help but feel like the "impromptu groups" functionality feels a bit
 better than matchmaker instancing... though anything worth running a group for
 in WoW after TBC was instanced >.>
 
 Honestly I think there's just too many games these days for people to really
 get "into" MMORPGs, unless they're sufficiently unique in their mechanics
 (like EVE or Runescape)
 
 any ARPG MMOs are dead on launch, as you said. That design space is tapped
 out, at least for now, until someone comes along and makes it a deckbuilding
 roguelike or whatever. cough cough
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘

--- #18 fediverse/1329 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┐
 @user-941                                                                        │
 well, your computer only has so many 1s and 0s that it can use at once. Like,    │
 having a trillion hands that can each hold a single grain of rice. Every         │
 character in that txt file would be like, 8 grains of rice, minimum, meaning     │
 you'd need at least 8 "hands" (or spots to put a zero or a one) for each         │
 letter!                                                                          │
 Hmmmm that's a lot of bits and bytes if everyone's writing to the same file.     │
 Maybe if we split the file up into smaller sections, then we could just read     │
 part of it at once. Then we could "scroll" through it to make sure we've read    │
 the whole thing, starting from the top and going to the bottom.                  │
 ah but if everyone's SSHing into the same computer and reading it there, then    │
 that computer will have to present different parts of the file at different      │
 times to different people, as they read from the top to the bottom. Maybe we     │
 could just send them the file, so they can read it at their leisure?             │
 Yeah! And we could use tags to organize it and make it look pretty, like an      │
 HTML file except... wait hang on                                                 │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #19 fediverse/4586 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────
 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: video-games-mentioned-testicles-gestured-at │
 └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘


 I just got the strangest urge to play Neverwinter Nights. Haven't thought
 about that game in years. Gee I'm sure glad I have the technology to check
 that game out. Sure glad I have the time to use the technology that I have to
 check that game out. Sure glad I have the tools and the know-how to use the
 technology that I have the game that check out. Sure glad that wage labor
 slavening hasn't struck my particular part of the peninsula yet. When those
 colonialisms come around the riverbend I'll handle it, trust me they can't get
 past me. I'm stronger than ten men. No sirree, you can count on me, it's just
 a flesh wound or some such thing.
 
 (nuts, I dropped my raspberries)
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────┘

--- #20 fediverse/895 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────
 most video game ideas suck
 
 most of the time they're like "oh what if we had a racoon who found a magic
 hat and saved the world from sentient apple blossoms"
 
 that's not a game idea, that's a painting
 
 a game is mechanics, and you can use the aesthetic to justify the mechanics,
 but not generally the other way around.
 
 the art isn't bad, but the art isn't the game. a game idea is "what if
 tic-tac-toe had an extra square in the center" or "what if chess was played
 with checkers, to hide your moves from your opponent"
 
 there have been thousands of super mario bros. if games were designed as an
 API, we could use whatever visuals we wanted, and those could be copyrighted
 and sold if you really want. but mechanics are the basis for everything they
 are built on, so doesn't it make sense to separate the two? abstracting the
 logic such that two complementary functions are accomplished, [see code editor
 idea], more flavors of game could be produced.
 
 rulesets can be switched in and out too, as an API is just an engin
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘