I have two walls, a tile, and the beginnings of a design doc. I’m thinking I’ll use GameMaker Studio. Here’s my ideas

Minimalism

Anti-RPG

7 cities

Your goal is to find the 7 cities of gold. You can get hints by talking to and trading with the natives. In the cities, you have to put gold into the urns, boxes, etc, to proceed. Once you finish each city, you lose a level and have to give up a power.

You start with 7 powers.

Map:

• Isometric color block art with shadows
• Characters are stick-like figures with simple animations
• Overland map with terrain tiles, trees, etc
• Scrolling map
• City maps are like dungeons or mazes with a central temple-like structure where the “boss” resides

Character

• Your character starts at level 7 with 7 powers
• You expend chi?
• Lose a level and a power when you defeat a “boss”

Challenges

• The cities should be possible to solve with only one power but easier/faster with more powers
• Cities possibly randomly generated?
• Obstacles as well as enemies
• Should the cities adapt to your level? That way you don’t have to travel around too much and “come back to” a city.
• For replayability, all this should be randomized, but playability first.

Two walls and a tile in Paint.net