Videogame designers are problem solvers by trade – but there’s alchemy involved in the role, too. Throughout the creative process, they must conjure up pragmatic or imaginative solutions to the obstacles they face. The very best games, of course, tend to involve a combination of the two.
Sometimes those problems aren’t really problems, but rather alternative ways of looking at a concept: a ‘what if’ reimagining of a familiar scenario. Take Drinkbox’s Nobody Saves The World, for example, an action-RPG that gives your blank-slate avatar the opportunity to choose between multiple, wildly different character builds at the wave of a magic wand. Some encounters might call for a bow-wielding rat; alternatively, you might prefer to switch to a horse that can kick enemies to death and then bring them back as zombie minions.