After watching Patrick Klepek of Giantbomb.com and his cavalcade of friends produce a ridiculous number of tiny games based on the insane tweets of Peter Molyneux-spoofing twitter account @petermolydeux, I found myself trying to come up with just such an outside-the-box idea. I don't think I'm nearly insane/genius enough to get there, but here's what I came up with.
What about a game based around your wardrobe?
Specifically, I was thinking medieval attire, general fantasy trope business. War armor? Travel garb? Court attire? How would that affect what your character is doing at the time?
I load up my game, customize my character's look etc, then head to the palace in the middle of the Capital. I wear least mud-stained togs, and try to get a job- clerk, huntsman, guard. I choose whichever aspect of the game appeals to me most, say hunting, and get some good leather jerkins and pants. I'm given a small room, with limited customization options, and one set of decent clothes for when I'm in the presence of royalty.
Now the assignments come in. There are skirmishes, but I have no good armor- I act as scout/messenger/archer. There are riding missions, with a goal of foraging, hunting, or delivering a message, and for those my thick travelwear is perfect. But perhaps I'm ambushed. That iron sure would be nice about now. Other assigments take place on the streets of the city, and who knows what outfit is best for that- embroidery, leather, armor, it depends on who you're going to meet with, what part of town, etc. Some armor covers two roles, like fancy ceremonial armor being good for anything except running through a forest.
I've got more to this that I'll get back to later.
