Pronoun Trouble

Apparently my new special skill is coming up with good video game ideas 😂

Today's entry:

New super simple computer game or phone app idea:

- It’s like whack-a-mole, except it's for practicing your friends'/loved ones' pronouns.

- Representations of people pop up in designated spaces with randomized sets of pronouns. You click on/tap the ones that are correct, and avoid the ones that are incorrect.

- The game includes some customizable data where you can basically make "characters" who look like the people whose pronouns you want to practice, BUT you can also upload your own pictures/photos/drawings/whatever images to represent them as well/instead.

- Regular mode is just one person and the pronouns they use; in challenge mode, you can have multiple people pop up in a single game and practice all of them at the same time. Maybe up to five people?

- Prizes for winning are, like. Collectable stickers or something, IDK. Maybe you can put that person’s avatar into cute frames that get fancier as you win more? Bronze, silver, gold, platinum?

- No penalties for losing, you just get to try again.

- If someone’s pronouns change, you can "retire" their old pronoun set and start fresh with a new one, keeping your old prizes in a special imaginary cabinet for inactive pronouns or something, or you can delete the old one entirely.

- Some sort of option for people whose pronouns depend on circumstances; maybe tied to an accessory or specific photo? Not sure how it would relate to Challenge Mode, though.

- Maybe some stock characters to practice on?

Added since my initial post:

- For people whose pronouns are "Any/all", incorrect answers will be a set of random nouns. Like "chair" or "staircase" or "tree" or something.

- You can take profiles back out of the "retired" cabinet if someone decides to go back to a previous set of pronouns.

- If someone whose pronouns have changed once wants to go to a previous set of pronouns and also keep their new pronouns and you have a previous profile in the "retired" cabinet, you can add new pronouns to their current and/or you can merge their current profile with their retired profile.


And that's all I have right now. A coder who's working with me on Language Town has expressed interest in making the game, and I've given them my blessing, so maybe it'll even happen!

(I swear I haven't given up on Language Town, executive dysfunction is just a terrible beast.)

...Fuck me, someone on Tumblr saw my language learning game proposal and messaged me with their skillset to see if they could get involved.

I'm not a project leader! I suck at managing things! I cannot deny that it's cool that people want to be involved to the point of listing their relevant skills, but having a cool idea does not automatically a leader make!

*pant pant pant*

Okay. Okay, I think I'm somewhat calmer now.

Maybe I should just start a Discord server for this. Call it Language Town or something. Let the three people who have offered their coding expertise rock-paper-scissors over what platform(s) to release on.

...Dear sweet mercy, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Edit: Smallest possible game version: Your Aunt Minerva(?) has decided that she wants to spend the rest of her life traveling, and asked if you want her house. On the one hand, free house! Who's turning that down in this economy? On the other hand, Aunt Minerva's house is in the remote Language Town, where only a few people speak the same language as you. Everyone else speaks [other language]. You're free to move in and decorate the house as you see fit, and your aunt also left you with a reasonable chunk of change she got from selling most of her worldly possessions, but you still need to understand the language in order to get by. Thus begins your new life in Language Town.

Smallest possible game version includes furnishings and clothing stores with rotating stock, the mayor or whoever who can help translate things for you, basic items in the house with basic interactive functions, and maybe a way to earn a bit of money. Selling flowers, maybe?