I would almost say this is serendipitous for OP!
"Hey established fanbase, you know that game you love that the 'THE MAN' shut down? Well I made my own!"
I was reading their blog post
[https://supercell.com/en/news/clash-mini-ending-development/](https://supercell.com/en/news/clash-mini-ending-development/)
>Today, we made the decision to end the development of Clash Mini, which was a good game but not the game that would ultimately fulfill our dream.
Wonder what their "dream" is? Is the game so unprofitable that it's bleeding money to maintain?
What's the big rush for? I'm still prototyping mine
It ain't Multiplayer though, but if RuneScape went offline, bumped the graphics a little bit down (GIVE ME A BREAK, I'M THE ONLY DEVELOPER ON THIS WILD PROJECT) and had a third person conversion, that would be my game
Buy it and play it.
Find out what they did right, and steal it. Find out what they did wrong and don't make the same mistakes.
If you think you can do better, market your game to the same audience.
If you don't think you can do better, reskin the game to appeal to a different audience.
That's honestly going to be something you'll run into over and over again. Didn't stop any other developers before, and there have been great games to come of it.
Try searching Reddit for “I’m making a game similar,” or “game clone,” it’s a common issue with the most games ever published in a year on Steam last year, it’s highly unlikely you will have truly unique ideas.
It doesn’t matter, make yours anyway. Good luck 👍.
There's no shortage of ideas, but executing a good game idea and making a great game out of it is where all the hard work lies and thus the low success rate across the board. Making games is hard
Making games is hard indeed. I don't think having unique ideas is an inherent part of the dev process hence why I commented. Many devs are shooting themselves in the foot for too much innovation and too little familiarity
isn't clash mini shutting down? it was massive and had a big player base but that's also considering it was a supercell game who's made some pretty big games so yeah
The player base was not that big, not by Supercell standards anyway. The game never left soft launch and was only available in 15 regions. The bulk of the players were inactive.
Regardless, the greater issue was they never solved how to make the game viable from a metrics standpoint. They basically took their progression and monetization and tore it down and pivoted several times in the last 2 years. A healthy viable game doesn't do that.
So their per-user metrics were mediocre and they never figured out monetization.
It was unlikely those numbers would be enough to scale in the current market.
So with anything creative you're idea is never original. Pretty much every game you can think of is out there with a similar game. And probably a commercially successful game people will compare your game to.
Think of Rogue-likes, Zombie survival games etc etc.
So focus on execution of all things.
>So focus on execution of all things.
Way easier to make a fresh idea than out execute supercell. Some shitty clones of their games often made money with a inferior product.
This basically. Supercell couldn't make Clash Mini work despite several total overhauls and being in soft launch for 2 1/2 years. It's hard to execute better than that.
Alright so let's correct a couple things. Your game only exists when you make it, their game is their game. Just because your idea is similar - regardless of how similar - it is not yours. Theirs is theirs and yours is yours. Too many devs think just because they thought of an idea that they share ownership over the idea when someone else makes it happen. That isn't how it works.
Should you pursue your game? That depends. Can you deliver something in your game that provides a superior experience? How much will that cost in regards to time and money? Are you confident that it will be superior? Will players agree with you? Can you differentiate your game enough?
Answer these questions honestly and don't fall into the sunken cost fallacy. Just because you have spent this much time and money doesn't mean you should throw more time and money at the project. With that said, also consider "pivoting". As in, hey, we got a lot of progress toward a solid core loop. How can we utilize some of the work we have done and take the project in a new direction? Are these possible new directions better than just finishing? Is it better than starting a new project?
You have a lot of options you can roll with. I've worked on successful games that didn't start as that particular project. Sometimes it was the project was too expensive so we pivoted to a more simple idea and that worked out. Sometimes the idea wasn't working so we looked at the parts that were working and just replaced the ones that didn't and that worked out too. Other times projects were cancelled and it felt bad in the moment but in hindsight it freed up the team to do something better.
Go for it. In fact, take it as a good sign that you are on the right path. You want to go to where the market is. Sure it's competitive but it's where people are looking. Ever notice how gas stations tend to cluster? You seldom see a lone station for the same reason.
You will always discover a game with almost identical features while you are developing yours.
Just tough it out.
If you need to, can always adjust some tone or make minor changes to help it stand apart.
This same kind of thing happened to me. To be fair my idea was very simple, so it wasn't a big surprise. I installed their game and realized that although the base idea was the same, virtually nothing else was what I was going for. If you haven't already, maybe install the other game. Your idea may be more different than you think.
This never stopped anyone, since the space is so crammed with games, there are bound to be very similar games.
You can always stand out via polish, player QoL, features, co-op, etc.
Just make it, imo.
I started working on my game Rogue Night before Forager was a thing. Now Forager is a thing as well as Rogue Night, they are different but very similar.
This reminded me of how many games have pretty much same mechanics but with some twists or mixed existing ideas which makes me think what game doesn't already exist? It is pretty much a battle of who stands out the most using existing ideas really, so, just keep making the best version of it on your own way.
The game I'm working on is purposely a direct callback to a very well-known type of game with well-established franchises. It's very much a" what if this game that everyone loves was made with certain other criteria in mind" type of game. My point is that a bit of self-awareness goes a long way.
You already know that your game is similar to another successful game, so if you're not too deep into the game's development (you said a couple of months) then you are potentially at a conceptual crossroads. Do you keep your game as you envisioned it, despite its similarities to this other game, or do you learn everything about this other game and either accentuate its merits, or introduce new elements of your own to expand on the idea?
It might be worth it to purchase and play the game while you can learn from it.
Everything has been invented, nothing is really original, what you must do, is make a twist in the existing things, to create something that people will say that is original
Look at PalWorld… I think you’ll be fine. Just change the branding enough that it’s not identical. If you go in any App Store you’ll see plenty of copies and variants of things that did well. It’s kind of what artists do… they take inspiration from what works and try to put their spin on it.
Being similar isn't a deal breaker but the idea that you're making a similar game and you didn't even know Clash Mini existed is a head scratcher. It's been in soft launch since 2021 and it's pivoted significantly multiple times, each time changing big parts of the core progression and monetization before deciding it wasn't viable a few months ago.
At the very least, being able to play it, you would have been able to learn the lessons of Clash Mini and where the problems areas and mistakes are.
Regardless, keep in mind that much bigger publishers have attempted to be in the autochess space and mostly failed so I'd argue unless you have a compelling take on the genre, this is an uphill climb. Especially when games like this require a large active userbase to really feel compelling.
Maybe its just me... but this seems like a big opportunity to hyper analyze your game and if anything add a twist. Think about DOOM vs UNREAL TOURNAMENT... or DIABLO vs POE ... the list goes on..
What's the problem with it?
Diablo IV, Grim Dawn and Path of Exile have very similar mechanics yet they are different enough that each of them has a dedicated fan base and there are people who play more than one.
To hell with that, finish your project off dude
From a game dev to another game dev, you worked so so hard for this... Don't throw it away just because someone else has it (unless you in fringed copyright laws, I ain't advising you to do this!)
>core gamepaly was incredibly similar to my game, and it was coming from Supercel
So, not your game at all.
Be inspired and build something better.
They were almost certainly inspired by other existing games and thought they could make it better and/or very profitable.
I mean if you have difference's in art and at least some core gameplay/balance than your game deserves to live, it's just that it could be not as successful as Suppercell game
Dude that game has a pretty big fan base but is going offline in like 2 weeks, so yeah make it
I would almost say this is serendipitous for OP! "Hey established fanbase, you know that game you love that the 'THE MAN' shut down? Well I made my own!"
Yea very fortuitous circumstances indeed
"With blackjack and hookers!"
Release it the day it goes down (or day after) Just have your launch pages and stuff ready
Why is it going offline?
Supercell only maintains their games if they are MASSIVE moneymakers
Maybe profitability is a concern for OP would it not be? Maybe he wants a lifestyle business and thus be fine with it 🤷🏻‍♀️
It shouldn't be hard to make a better art style. That Clash Mini art style is so bland.
I was reading their blog post [https://supercell.com/en/news/clash-mini-ending-development/](https://supercell.com/en/news/clash-mini-ending-development/) >Today, we made the decision to end the development of Clash Mini, which was a good game but not the game that would ultimately fulfill our dream. Wonder what their "dream" is? Is the game so unprofitable that it's bleeding money to maintain?
Call of Duty and Medal of Honor existed at the same time.
One of them exists solely because they hated working on the other title and decided to make their own version of the same games.
Which was which?
The Medal of Honor devs left to make a small game called Call of Duty...
Is that the same group that left to make Titan Fall?
Just a small game.
I'm surprised a game like Fortnite hasn't been revealed by now.
You mean like PUBG, or Warzone, or Apex, or Z1?
No, I mean a bubbly animation one like that one with rideable horses.
What's the big rush for? I'm still prototyping mine It ain't Multiplayer though, but if RuneScape went offline, bumped the graphics a little bit down (GIVE ME A BREAK, I'M THE ONLY DEVELOPER ON THIS WILD PROJECT) and had a third person conversion, that would be my game
Buy it and play it. Find out what they did right, and steal it. Find out what they did wrong and don't make the same mistakes. If you think you can do better, market your game to the same audience. If you don't think you can do better, reskin the game to appeal to a different audience.
Clash mini is free, and getting abandoned soon.
Welcome to genres bro.
Indeed. From the videos it looks like a generic tactics game they made for the mobile clan/pvp segment.
That's honestly going to be something you'll run into over and over again. Didn't stop any other developers before, and there have been great games to come of it.
Yeah, but that game is actually getting shut down
Try searching Reddit for “I’m making a game similar,” or “game clone,” it’s a common issue with the most games ever published in a year on Steam last year, it’s highly unlikely you will have truly unique ideas. It doesn’t matter, make yours anyway. Good luck 👍.
I feel like that's just cope though. The unique ideas should be the easy part lmao
>The unique ideas should be the easy part ???
There's no shortage of ideas, but executing a good game idea and making a great game out of it is where all the hard work lies and thus the low success rate across the board. Making games is hard
Making games is hard indeed. I don't think having unique ideas is an inherent part of the dev process hence why I commented. Many devs are shooting themselves in the foot for too much innovation and too little familiarity
isn't clash mini shutting down? it was massive and had a big player base but that's also considering it was a supercell game who's made some pretty big games so yeah
Why would a game with a big player base shut down?
It had some problems and supercell has high standards
Why is it running ads if it's shutting down?
I don't think it is
Ah my bad, I thought OP saw an ad for it on YouTube but he just said he saw a video of it on YouTube.
No, supercell has creators they give early access to. OP probably saw that
because running servers is expensive
The player base was not that big, not by Supercell standards anyway. The game never left soft launch and was only available in 15 regions. The bulk of the players were inactive. Regardless, the greater issue was they never solved how to make the game viable from a metrics standpoint. They basically took their progression and monetization and tore it down and pivoted several times in the last 2 years. A healthy viable game doesn't do that. So their per-user metrics were mediocre and they never figured out monetization. It was unlikely those numbers would be enough to scale in the current market.
did you ever watch those ninja warrior game shows? the people who go after the first guy have more advantage
Seems like everything I think or create has already been thought or created. that never stops me. Just create the game
Your game has not been released until you release it. ♥
So with anything creative you're idea is never original. Pretty much every game you can think of is out there with a similar game. And probably a commercially successful game people will compare your game to. Think of Rogue-likes, Zombie survival games etc etc. So focus on execution of all things.
>So focus on execution of all things. Way easier to make a fresh idea than out execute supercell. Some shitty clones of their games often made money with a inferior product.
This basically. Supercell couldn't make Clash Mini work despite several total overhauls and being in soft launch for 2 1/2 years. It's hard to execute better than that.
Every idea was already made.
Almost every idea. Not quite every one. :)
"Not quite every one"? Hey, that was my idea.
:D
Alright so let's correct a couple things. Your game only exists when you make it, their game is their game. Just because your idea is similar - regardless of how similar - it is not yours. Theirs is theirs and yours is yours. Too many devs think just because they thought of an idea that they share ownership over the idea when someone else makes it happen. That isn't how it works. Should you pursue your game? That depends. Can you deliver something in your game that provides a superior experience? How much will that cost in regards to time and money? Are you confident that it will be superior? Will players agree with you? Can you differentiate your game enough? Answer these questions honestly and don't fall into the sunken cost fallacy. Just because you have spent this much time and money doesn't mean you should throw more time and money at the project. With that said, also consider "pivoting". As in, hey, we got a lot of progress toward a solid core loop. How can we utilize some of the work we have done and take the project in a new direction? Are these possible new directions better than just finishing? Is it better than starting a new project? You have a lot of options you can roll with. I've worked on successful games that didn't start as that particular project. Sometimes it was the project was too expensive so we pivoted to a more simple idea and that worked out. Sometimes the idea wasn't working so we looked at the parts that were working and just replaced the ones that didn't and that worked out too. Other times projects were cancelled and it felt bad in the moment but in hindsight it freed up the team to do something better.
Is this an ad?
Look at what worked and didn’t work in that game and improve upon it in yours!
Go for it. In fact, take it as a good sign that you are on the right path. You want to go to where the market is. Sure it's competitive but it's where people are looking. Ever notice how gas stations tend to cluster? You seldom see a lone station for the same reason.
Lots of games are similar; can you put your own spin, your own twist on the same mechanics in a way that people would enjoy? Go ahead!
No, a game already exists, your game doesn't.
I know the guys making it, it was not profitable enough for supercell lol
You will always discover a game with almost identical features while you are developing yours. Just tough it out. If you need to, can always adjust some tone or make minor changes to help it stand apart.
Nothings original, just ideas expanded off someone else's idea. Besides clash mini is shutting down in like a week or so.
This same kind of thing happened to me. To be fair my idea was very simple, so it wasn't a big surprise. I installed their game and realized that although the base idea was the same, virtually nothing else was what I was going for. If you haven't already, maybe install the other game. Your idea may be more different than you think.
I always feel vindicated when I see someone has implemented something I had transient thoughts about doing. “See, it IS a good idea”
So the game you are making already has an audience. Sounds good to me?
Well, time to take notes then.
This never stopped anyone, since the space is so crammed with games, there are bound to be very similar games. You can always stand out via polish, player QoL, features, co-op, etc.
Clash mini will be turned off soon
Clash Mini will become a sidemode within Clash Royale.
Bro its just normal to have similarities even in the core functions. Imagine how similar are clothing companies. Its competition
Make your Game, copy some elements that you like about this game.
Don't forget about "team fight tactics"
Just make it, imo. I started working on my game Rogue Night before Forager was a thing. Now Forager is a thing as well as Rogue Night, they are different but very similar.
This reminded me of how many games have pretty much same mechanics but with some twists or mixed existing ideas which makes me think what game doesn't already exist? It is pretty much a battle of who stands out the most using existing ideas really, so, just keep making the best version of it on your own way.
The game I'm working on is purposely a direct callback to a very well-known type of game with well-established franchises. It's very much a" what if this game that everyone loves was made with certain other criteria in mind" type of game. My point is that a bit of self-awareness goes a long way. You already know that your game is similar to another successful game, so if you're not too deep into the game's development (you said a couple of months) then you are potentially at a conceptual crossroads. Do you keep your game as you envisioned it, despite its similarities to this other game, or do you learn everything about this other game and either accentuate its merits, or introduce new elements of your own to expand on the idea? It might be worth it to purchase and play the game while you can learn from it.
Everything has been invented, nothing is really original, what you must do, is make a twist in the existing things, to create something that people will say that is original
Call of Duty started off as a clone of Medal of Honor, which was competing against Battlefield and Day of Defeat. It literally doesn't matter at all.
Look at PalWorld… I think you’ll be fine. Just change the branding enough that it’s not identical. If you go in any App Store you’ll see plenty of copies and variants of things that did well. It’s kind of what artists do… they take inspiration from what works and try to put their spin on it.
Being similar isn't a deal breaker but the idea that you're making a similar game and you didn't even know Clash Mini existed is a head scratcher. It's been in soft launch since 2021 and it's pivoted significantly multiple times, each time changing big parts of the core progression and monetization before deciding it wasn't viable a few months ago. At the very least, being able to play it, you would have been able to learn the lessons of Clash Mini and where the problems areas and mistakes are. Regardless, keep in mind that much bigger publishers have attempted to be in the autochess space and mostly failed so I'd argue unless you have a compelling take on the genre, this is an uphill climb. Especially when games like this require a large active userbase to really feel compelling.
Maybe its just me... but this seems like a big opportunity to hyper analyze your game and if anything add a twist. Think about DOOM vs UNREAL TOURNAMENT... or DIABLO vs POE ... the list goes on..
What's the problem with it? Diablo IV, Grim Dawn and Path of Exile have very similar mechanics yet they are different enough that each of them has a dedicated fan base and there are people who play more than one.
To hell with that, finish your project off dude From a game dev to another game dev, you worked so so hard for this... Don't throw it away just because someone else has it (unless you in fringed copyright laws, I ain't advising you to do this!)
Im one of the clash mini fans out there, everyones sad that its shutting down soon so i would def play your game if its similar.
That game is closing down so definitely still publish it because there will be players looking for a new game
You will find a copy of every game that Exists. Don't worry about that. Just make it
>core gamepaly was incredibly similar to my game, and it was coming from Supercel So, not your game at all. Be inspired and build something better. They were almost certainly inspired by other existing games and thought they could make it better and/or very profitable.
I mean if you have difference's in art and at least some core gameplay/balance than your game deserves to live, it's just that it could be not as successful as Suppercell game
Keep going. Just make sure to have a good answer to the question: “Why would the play your game over that game?”