#31. Stealth Game Idea (Based on the article by Yahtzee)

Guess what? I'm back, finally, from my service. Now I'm back to my ordinary daydreaming and time-wasting routine, so here we go:

Few weeks ago I found this article from The Escapist by none other than Yahtzee himself. Now, I'm not a big fan of stealth-based games if anyone asks, and my latest experience on sneaking in videogame was that curtain scene from Super Mario RPG. Still, the genre is quite attractive, and I'm quite sure I'm not the only one. So, hey, why not? Maybe I can come up with some neat ideas, based on Yahtzee's suggestions.


The cheapest way to stealth-based game plot seems to be something dirty and fishy, such as espionage and burglary, so I'll take some shortcuts. Imagine there's a team of not-so-law-abiding citizens whose lifestyle is literally based on someone else and unwitting, and give them the title of protagonists. We shall call them The Team.

Yahtzee suggested three types of non-lethal stealth characters: The Sneak, The Spy, and The Conman. The Team is composed of these three, and player should make good use of them. Well, duh. It's a videogame, what did you expect?

Here's the catch: You don't go directly to your target location to take stuffs, hack computers, and leave without a trace. The Job will be composed of Pre-Job, In-Job, and Post-Job, and every part should be taken seriously. In Pre-Job you pay visit to the site, either public or incognita, to locate your target and study the surrounding environment. You will make a map based on Pre-Job part experience, and this will keep you moving during In-Job part. The Spy and The Conman can just walk right into the building, look around, and walk out of the place, without getting any suspicions. If the target is in somewhere out of reach, or the target is protected with maximum security, The Sneak can jam laser traps or cut some wired in Pre-Job part for other teammates.

In-Job part is the main event, where you reach to your target. If the process involves crawling through air vents or moving through shadows, The Sneak will be your choice. If it is mainly taking some super-important intelligence and walking away, The Spy and The Conman can pull it up nicely.

So you snatched that diamond, uploaded that database to your Google Drive, but that doesn't make everything all clear. This is where Post-Job part comes to play. In this part of the game, your work is known, but your existence is not... yet. You expected no one would find it strange when a diamond that big is gone? Your objective in Post-Job part is to avoid suspicion, whether by putting a fake diamond in original's place or blaming someone else for network breach. This is the part where The Conman shines the most, as (s)he can convince the others more actively and effectively than the other two.

Okay, that's it for now. Special thanks to Yahtzee for his brilliant article that sparked my brainstorming. End transmission.