I’m Reviving the Most DEAD Genre in Video Game History

I'm attempting to revive an entire genre of video games with My Next HIT Indie Game Title!
I will be building this as a solo development project over the next 6-9 months to release a fun polished game for Steam!
I will need your help to develop this game through suggestions and feedback in the comments, suggestions on livestreams where I develop the game(most Tuesdays), and poll voting through the KZbin Community Tab.
New Episodes Every Other Friday!
BUY Monster Tribe TODAY: store.steampow...
Discord Server: / discord
Twitter: / reecegeofroy
Instagram: / reece_geofroy
Watch The NEXT Devlog Video In The Series! (Devlog 1)
• I Added COMBAT To My R...
More Devlogs From My Good Friends:
How To EASILY Speed Up Game Development - Godot - • How To EASILY Speed Up... (Saultoons)
1 Year MAKING an OPEN-WORLD game - • 1 Year MAKING an OPEN-... (AIA)
Making a COZY Game in Scratch for the Day - • Making a COZY Game in ... (Goodgis)
Get a 90% discount on your .fun domain for one year on get.fun/reece
Check out my new site at: www.boundlessg...
#devlog #gamedev #indiedev #roguelike #autoscroller #platformer #deckbuilder #cardgame #indiegame

[@ReeceGeofroy]

So stoked to be working on a new game after 3 year! Let me know what you guys think of this CRAZY 3 genre crossover!

[@shloobington]

3 year 🥰 jokes aside, this is hype

[@RecklessOtter]

Turn the cards into attacks abilities or companions u have on the bottem of the screen for battling

[@Zackross712]

What app do you use to draw the pixel art

[@bread6851]

@@Zackross712 asprite, it says when he uses it on the top with the .asprite

[@MoonCalf3O]

Make A 99 Game Crossover Make Series To It

[@smooshed_in]

"Only one popular game from an entire genre since the 80s? that's insane!" *Geometry dash has left the chat*

[@use__less]

Yeah

[@alex135t]

people forget about GD even tho it has a massive community

[@whosthatkiddx4089]

Not really the same thing. There are no in-game tasks or objectives in games like GD, Temple Run, etc. All you do in those are dodge shit and pick up coins/collectibles

[@pndaMobby]

@@whosthatkiddx4089 beating levels and community levels to get stars and beating the hardest community levels to get recognized. mario run is basically geometry dash in the style and physics of new super mario games

[@FullCitris]

@@pndaMobby in-game tasks he said, the closest to that are user coins

[@defryingpan4290]

Hey! Quick tip: Autoscroller games tend to use a camera placed somewhat more ahead of the character. This allows the player to have better reaction to their surroundings before it flies into their face. Offsetting the camera in front of the player should make the game far more enjoyable.

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Great insight! I’ll play around with the camera however some classes may have minion card to fight alongside the player so we will have to see if it makes sense to shift the camera

[@Azure9577]

This genre is very much alive and THRIVING in the mobile market my guy

[@memesbelike]

ya

[@Azure9577]

@@MsTatakai why did you just randomly mention a roguelike my guy

[@MsTatakai]

@@Azure9577 yeah ... why? i will delete my comment

[@character640p]

"Swordigo"

[@gabrielp-l9905]

the binding of issac

[@Pilcro]

Geometry Dash is an autoscroller and that's incredibly popular. Jetpack joyride too. Though I guess there arent too many compared to other genres. But the genre deffo isn't dead

[@BrunoMaricFromZagreb]

Super Meat Boy Forever.

[@voidbite]

The most dead, right?

[@Reymax164]

Zombie Tsunami, literally dead 😆 I guess it's based on the new games released in the genre?

[@runrajrun]

Waaaa this sounds like a crossover that would work amazingly! I really love the colours you’ve used for this concept!

[@gamedev8508]

Are you planning on doing a post mortem on Monster Tribe? According to the data on Steam it doesn't look too good, 38 reviews so far, daily player numbers are in the single digits, I'd be very interested to know, and I believe I'm not alone, how you feel about this and what's next for you.

[@swirliesweets]

This game seems really interesting! When you described the concept and made the art, the first thing I thought of is a game where you collect cards and the game automatically plays them, but you as the player have to use the computer’s choices in your attacks. Whatever you choose to go with, it sounds really interesting! This makes me want to actually make a game myself! (Even though I don’t know how to code and the most I’ve done is played around with construct 3)

[@rmt3589]

I've been playing Tap Ninja for the past month or so, which is a autoscroll idle game. I've been wanting to make a cross between it and Armies of Magic, though I have a lot of other games I'm working on first. This new game of yours looks cool though. I'll have to subscribe if I'm not already.

[@RIPinPaivas]

Geometry dash, flappy bird, Mario run, subway surfers, the Dinosaur browser game… The genre is not dead and it’s one of the simplest concepts. I don’t mean to be rude or a hater, but I just don’t agree with the way you’ve decided to go about this. It’s okay to wanna make an auto scroller, but don’t be ignorant about your own industry like that. I believe you can do better and I hope to see you evolve and improve. Best of lucks!

[@6powah]

this comment

[@LineOfThy]

... those aren't auto scrollers those are auto runners

[@RIPinPaivas]

@@LineOfThy yes, true, but it still applies, in the video he gives the example of Mario run, which is an auto runner, but still, every Mario game that ever existed has a bunch of auto scroller levels, real auto scrollers where Mario can still go back and forward within the screen, and especially in Mario Maker 1 and 2 where there’s pretty much infinite amounts of those levels. The concept is around and alive. I wanna see if His game is gonna be a true auto scroller or if he’s gonna have the character locked to an area of the screen, but I have very high doubts it’s gonna be anything as revolutionary as he is trying to make it seem. But again, I just really wanna be proven wrong, I don’t want to push anyone down. I want him to succeed in what he is creating. I am just saying the way he is talking about it will make him sound super pretentious and ignorant if the game doesn’t end up being a masterpiece

[@LineOfThy]

@@RIPinPaivas Mario run isn't technically an auto runner because there is much more complicated movement systems than just "press to go up" Also you need to say more with less so you don't sound so pretentious

[@RIPinPaivas]

@@LineOfThy Sure, but same with Geometry dash and subway surfers, they have different and interesting mechanics. That doesn’t invalidate them and the other games like them that have been released in the last decade or two.

[@janwesleyalipio8464]

Hi! I hope I catch your attention. Monster tribe is unplayable on low-end computers because of the lighting. When it is nighttime and you're near torches the frame rate drops to abysmal values.

[@Seem_gDev]

Man I didn't even know this was a genre. Your concept and idea look really exciting, I'm sure this game will come out awesome! Also damn, you have a whole-ass pillar in your house??

[@JuhoSprite]

Its Pillar John

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thanks seem! I really liked the prototype concept. Really excited to see it come to life!

[@pixel_pizza]

Isn't Jetpack Joyride an auto scroller? If so, the genre's not really dead then since that game is so popular

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Haha nice profile, but yes I totally forgot about this one :(

[@tryctan2399]

geometry dash is literally one of the best selling game of all time it has over 242 million downloads as of mid 2022. since 2.2 is gonna release in 2-3 buisness days. the game is still a self scrolling game

[@XqlWasTaken]

reece: im gonna choose a primary color and a secondary color (chooses red and blue) (both primary colors)

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Main and secondary was just referring to a main and side colour not primary and secondary colours, don’t worry I know my colour theory very well lol

[@Mightym8man]

Off the top of my head, there are many auto-scrolling games that I have played. Like Geometry Dash, Bit Trip Runner, Jetpack Joyride, Gravity Guy, etc. In my opinion, the most dead/dying genres are either FMV games. With technology getting ever more advanced by the year, we seem to have no need for these games anymore.

[@muuubiee]

I've had a genre breaking game idea for a auto scroller for a while... I wonder if I'll ever get to do it. There's no combat involved, auto scroller, rogue-lite... and now, you gave me the idea of adding cards, which would solve a lot of the gameplay difficulties.

[@crazycolinproductions7228]

I love how the concept is looking! One thing I think could be cool is if the dream world background had some parallax. Really excited to see this game come to life!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Don’t worry, you will see what I did on parallax in devlog 1 coming this Friday!

[@Skeffles]

Ooh new game! I remember having lots of fun on similar flash games and definitely think they work incredibly on mobile. Good luck with this new game!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thanks skeffles

[@ominouspigeonmaster1571]

1:01 I mean, Gradius is a Shmup/Shoot em up, and Shmups haven't really gone anywhere. But if you mean like a 2d platformer runner styled game, yea, obviously I'm not saying anything new, in that many exist in the form of mobile games. But many mobile runners are fairly primitive, so there is a lot of potential to take the concept forward! It's an old game from the 16 bit age, but I highly checking out the game "Atomic Runner" on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Aside from the bosses, it's exclusively an autoscroller, and a real good one at that. Maybe it'll offer you some ideas.

[@KozelPraiseGOELRO]

I recommend setting limits in what you add to the game and when you reach them, check if you really need to break them in order to add fun or is better to just exploit what is already added. Unless you don't have the same problems I have.

[@stephenboi4543]

Incaved Runner is another indie game developed in the same genre.

[@GGCannon]

The actual most dead game genre is actually "3D God Game". The last popular game of this Genre was Black & White 1 in 2001 and only a few 3D god games came out since then.

[@deadhunter_dev8622]

After finishing a Gigantic project like Monster Tribe .. I bet you are stoked to start on a brand new project :D Can't wait to see how it shapes out! - P.S recently brought a copy of Aseprite and a graphics tablet :D Improving my art for my game is priority number one! GOOD LUCK BRO!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thanks you! Yeah it’s great to work on this new project :)

[@spicyicedcoffee1150]

3:40 lol i literally thought this was a forager video when i clicke don it

[@ZTF666]

ok now i've learned how to do clouds in a fast way lol !

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Haha glad I could be helpful :)

[@TheShelfman]

Love the concept art! Looking forward to seeing what this game will turn into😁

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thanks Shelfman :)

[@SquareCeption]

cool!! I love your pixel art!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thank you!

[@gamedevreasearch]

@Reece Geofroy THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Reece, listen to me. I know I'm just a stranger, and have no qualifications, but you technically don't either, so just listen to me. You need to be EXTREMLY careful about how you proceed with this. I don't want you falling into the trap I've seen you fall into with Monster Tribe. You keep trying to combine genres, and that can be good thing, if it's done right. But you can't overclutter your game. Let me say that again. DO NOT ADD TOO MANY GENRES AND MECHANICS OR YOU WILL OVERCLUTTER YOUR GAME. I don't know for sure, but from what I've seen, you seem to think very highly of yourself and your skills. And that's great! Confidence is always a good trait. But Reece, you aren't perfect. You aren't a game dev god, and you can't do everything you want. You may be good, but sometimes you need to say no. SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO SAY NO TO THINGS YOU WANT TO ADD. Sometimes you have to "Kill Your Darlings" for the sake of the game. YOU NEED TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME. That's not always what you want, but sometimes it's what the project needs. You aren't so revolutionary that you can make everything you want come to fruition. No one can. Even Nintendo developers, even Toby Fox (he's my favorite), can't include everything. They all have to make sacrifices and cut content. You do too. IN ORDER TO MAKE A GOOD GAME, YOU NEED TO CUT SOME CONTENT. I hope this didn't hurt you, but I feel I had to say something. I say this because I care about you, and want to see you succeed. I hope you take this advice to heart, and create some phenomenal and polished games.

[@RABBIDFF]

lol honestly hoping enemies fall over unconscious so you can either A. kill them to get resources or B. Ally or Befriend them or just Spare them and let them go, you can also just ignore them but honestly those 2 would probably work best as you get a different reward for the choice you choose (Aka more gold/items or a new ally who could faint during battle.)

[@rapidreaders7741]

I'm surprised this is considered the most dead genre, and not whatever the Commandos games were in the early 2000's

[@darthpika1218]

The bit trip Runner games are favorites of mine, so I’m excited to follow this project!

[@NeroTheAngel]

already love the Artstyle. Curious what comes next

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thanks Nero!

[@otto_kau9951]

Super Chicken Jumper is an auto scroller that became prety popular too

[@terencegooberton]

what did you use to make the background, it looks really easy to use and I would like to try doing 8bit art edit (not even 4 minutes later): nevermind i actually found it, it's aseprite, right?

[@lucasnogueira3232]

One amazing recent indie game on this genre is the Super Chicken Jumper of the Brazilian gamedev Gemapls

[@TlMEL0RD]

bro there is ,Geometry dash, run series, subway surfers, temple run series. and that is just a few

[@theoneandonly1833]

This concept sorrrta reminds me of the old “Finn and Bones” game from the CN site back when they actually had games. This is sure to be interesting!

[@makeitmarvel9589]

Hi, sorry i wanted to start doing pixle art and i wanted to ask what program you use to do your art?

[@10gamer64]

I would argue there are definitely deader genres, like Full Motion Video games, maze games (like Pac Man), or whatever genre the game "lemmings" was in.

[@SkidesGames]

Good luck on your next project!!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thanks Skides!

[@GamesBySaul]

Sounds like this will be an interesting game, and I'm looking forward to seeing the journey!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thanks Saul!

[@huxxny]

hmmm... the New Super Meat Boy is an Infinite Runner (auto-scroller) and its not like its obscure or anything... like i don't want to burst your enthusiasm, but its far from being a dead genre... Like there's the bit.trip runner series or Geometry Dash that have been fairly popular, and those 3 are only the ones i could come up with from the top of my head....

[@KoPumpkin]

Finally I found something unrelated to gd that I can comment "GEOMETRY DASH!" on and it's not extremely unrelated to anything whatsoever :D

[@FreshWaffles3]

sounds sick, hyped to see the following the devlogs

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Glad you like the concept!

[@sabharishrinivas4895]

The MainScene shot looks cool! When you picked blue and red I was like eww but after all the different shades, it looked cool. Any tips on selecting a good color palette?

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Hmm I think just playing around with different colours / just trying things out was what helped me the most. Looking up colour theory videos and understanding hue shifting / colour shades is very important as well

[@rogercruz1547]

canabalt, temple run, subway surfers, flappy bird?

[@spideyosiris]

Hi, could you make a video about the differences between 1-bit, 2-bit, 8-bit, etc? c: I'm specifically interested in making something 2-bit and I just can't find any tutorial or video explaining it.

[@MichaelCoorlim]

Huh, thought the most dead genre was parser-based text adventures.

[@fresas_king.]

Actually Cookie Run Ovenbreak (not to be confused with Kingdom) is a korean auto side scroller mobile game that has been on for 6 years already (if we don't count its predecessors). I don't want this to sound as a discouraging comment or smth, because that's not what I'm trying, I'm just bringing the game up cause yk, a side scroller that is between being totally unkown and somewhat heard of. Anyways, I'm curious to see how the game will turn out like 👀

[@LastGamerName]

Looks awesome and looking forward to seeing how it transforms over time. Also, fun fact since you mentioned Forager, it was actually made in GMS too. You probably already knew that though. Good luck on the new project!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thank you! Glad you like the concept

[@multigenerator]

Vector was also a really good auto scoller

[@Jimblemimble]

Have you played Chikis Chase? Its a really good auto scroller with rougelike mechanics

[@DanCreaMundos]

This is a very fun idea, I bet it can be a good way to revive this kind of genre. Besides, everything is better when you add roguelike to it

[@nyn2k259]

Looking out for this game to become a reality. Tell me, do you have tutorials on how to build a card building deck game? I have an idea for a card game and need some help to create it especially as I can't code. Thanks.

[@SniffzyMysti]

What Sprite editor/pixel art editor do you use??

[@JAwesomeSauce]

I think you should add overalls to the green guy that would be cute

[@Deadmoon-mo1rk]

That's a cool idea for a game you should make it look much better than the concept you have drawn

[@Andrew.60]

This game sounds amazing good luck with it!

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Thank you!!

[@Pasakoye]

Twin stick? Oh, autoscroller.

[@DaydreamStudios_Official]

You're really telling me that "Text-based adventure" Is not more dead than "Auto-Scrollers"???

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Haha very true

[@Plaredl]

really just violated cuphead like that

[@dieolive7877]

Can you make a card with a bomb on it, and if you drag it on e.g. breakable Walls, they will explote and the charakter can progress going right.

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Great idea! Writing down a version of this for when I start creating card spells :)

[@Pekkas_Pancakes]

oh yeah… i forgot that after someone makes a game they generally make another

[@ReeceGeofroy]

LMAO

[@pixelsbykris5494]

First thing's first. I'm excited for a new deck-builder game to be made and hope to watch this one progress. Even if I HATE rogue-lites and how oversaturated the market is with them. I don't have any issues with the people who enjoy them but I think there's too many in general. It's gotten to the point where I see a game tagged as a rogue-lite and get disappointed. It feels like a lot of developers are either making their game a rogue-lite because EVERYONE is and thus think their game won't sell as well if it doesn't have those elements, or doing so because it's a popular genre and they want to chase trends. I enjoy a couple of them, sure, but I'm just not good at them and it just feels like there are so many games I could have enjoyed if they weren't rogue-lites. That said: This is video false advertising. The most dead video game genre is the on-rails shooter ala House of the Dead. Other than the remake of the OG House of the Dead, what's the most recent on-rails shooter you can think of? I guess the case COULD be made if you specifically meant Auto-Scrollers in the vein of Super Mario Run, though. Because bullet hell games could also be considered auto-scrollers and those games are THRIVING. Especially in the Japanese doujin game market. (This second half of my comment is half-joking please don't get mad at me for it.)

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Hey I totally get that, it definitely is a popular market with rogue like type games, however I just want to make something that will be fun to create alongside a KZbin Audience and something I will find fun to develop! It’s been 3 years since I’ve given myself the ability to create something new so I hope you enjoy where I take the game as the devlogs progress!

[@pixelsbykris5494]

@Reece Geofroy Oh, I understand completely! As tired as I, personally am of roguelikes, I also get that I'm probably in the minority. And, even if I wasn't, what matters is that you're making the game that YOU want to make. Not the game you think will sell (even if it probably will, but I think you know what I mean) just because it's popular. I'm a HUGE advocate of creating what YOU want to create as long as it's not actively harming anyone. So I'll definitely support you in this. Besides, I DO enjoy deckbuilders and auto-scrollers, so 2 out of 3 ain't bad. ;>

[@Belltower_Basement]

Finally, a roguelike that will play itself so I don't have to.

[@Splashyclip]

Geometry Dash: Am I A Joke To You?

[@atesin_dj]

scramble, gradius, flappy bird, geometry dash, r-type, etc etc etc

[@appleturdpie]

That was a feather? Looks like the character was hit over the head and has a bloody wound lol.

[@awso0075]

how did u made the brush for the blue background

[@Amipotsophspond]

what's flapy bird and that chrome dinosaur game it's like on every computer.

[@artman40]

What about text-based adventure games? Haven't seen those for a while.

[@enderfire3379]

i played that tax collector game once. it was the only game from that genre i played

[@lelouchvibritannia3513]

I thought that "On-Rail Shooter" was the most dead genre. I'm sure I've played plenty of new mobile games that include auto-scrolling in them. Mainly runners and roguelikes.

[@banish1265]

Wuuuu i love finding devlogs from GameMaker devs

[@cameronmoore136]

*Cries in Godot*

[@realElzie]

I like the style and I already want to play it on my switch, hopefully you can release it on console

[@TazukeiOtakai]

Am i the only one who thought the lil protagonist looked similar to an octoling with that Feather design? 💀

[@drakomatic]

someone has made a universal hacking tool for game maker. Any sprite, script, level, or music file can be exported and modified with ease I can see this as both a downside and an upside, so I'd say put some thought into this.

[@Ryuu28_voidgames]

Devlog youtubers try not to make a rougelite challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

[@itskevinbutler]

More like “what is the easiest genre to churn out for a vid”

[@popotat0]

Autoscroll games are one of my favorite genres

[@DJ-ec4jk]

I am amazed this video is not about a text adveture game

[@DemonPig666]

Exciting stuff

[@schwegelbin]

Thought about making a game from this genre a few months ago. But I didn't. I also wanted to use GameMaker...

[@xXChaD]

Wouldn't text adventure be the most dead genre? I can't think of a single modern text adventure game.

[@KittenKatja]

Auto scroller aren't as dead as you think. Super Mario Maker has lots of great player made levels, and they have to use auto scrollers to make the music, that plays, consistent. And KZbinrs consistently give their opinion on auto scrollers, too, if they do appear annoying. (like in troll levels)

[@redvoltron]

the middle card is amogus and the left card is upside down amogus and the right card is amogus without a head and the right hill on the background middle layer of clouds is amogus

[@404-AnimationYT]

4:20 AMONG US CARD MMMM!?!?!?!?

[@BloodyScythe666]

wait... aren't shmups actually autoscrollers?

[@thec1one70]

THERE ARE SO MANNY OF THESE they are not dead XD... geometry dash, flappy bird, crossy road, jetpack joyride, subway surfers, literally every indie game. and thats from just the top of my head. but this seems interesting its just a little bit click baity i thought it would be a genre I've never even heard of not the genre that MOST KIDS know by heart.

[@azitel5640]

What is the paint software he is using?

[@aykarain]

If you stop when you reach an enemy, this concept has been done before, and isnt really that much like an auto scroller

[@gryzlaw]

I think you are mistaken in your assessment, and don't seem to play that much mobile games. If you look the stores there you will find many popular examples. That said I can also point you to franchises on other platforms like Bit.Trip Runner (incld Runner 3 ) and Super Meat Boy Forever, both available on the Switch. In addition if you're adding also shmups (like gradius) then that just explodes. But your idea looks like it has potential, well done on a great way to revitalise an unpopular genre

[@תוםבר-ע7ג]

damn this could turn out really sweet if it works good luck to you and for your game

[@goobertnelius]

I could write a whole essay on why it's not a dead genre but seems like everybody else in the comment section is doing that for me.

[@renlikesfish]

what did he use to draw the background?

[@iambored1528]

geometry dash, subway surfers, jetpack joyride, every hypercasual game more or less:

[@xsinam]

Imo the most dead genre are roguelikes, and I'm not talking about roguelites, but true strategic turn based roguelikes. Only a handful of games are true roguelikes and even less are getting updated to this day, and one of this games is from 1980's

[@ArjunTheRageGuy]

what's that one of the games from 1980s that you're talking about?

[@xsinam]

@@ArjunTheRageGuy nethack as I remember

[@ArjunTheRageGuy]

@@xsinam ok then

[@sheepcommander_]

1:47 BRUH I THOUGHT SOMEONE JOINED MY DISCORD VC

[@Ghosty2098]

I just don't know how you are gonna make this